Job summary
We are looking for an experienced Mental Health Practitioner who is confident in working in a fast-paced environment, able to make sound clinical decisions and committed to delivering person-centred care during periods of significant distress.

The post sits in our Responsive Adolescent and Childrens Home-Based Treatment Team (ReACH) Team (formerly known as the Crisis Team). This is not a desk-based role and isnt a service where two days are the same. Crisis work can be unpredictable, challenging and incredibly rewarding.

Youll be working with children, young people and families who experience acute mental health crisis in their homes, community settings, emergency departments and others. Youll need to be able to act under pressure, build rapid therapeutic relationships and balance risk with recovery focused care.

You need to be a registered staff member e.g Nurse, Occupational Therapist of Social Worker to apply for the role.

The team are based at Fieldhead Hospital, Block 9. You are required to have a driving license for this role and access to a car is essential. The teamwork in shift patterns of 8am-8pm on a 7 -day week.

If this role interests you and you want to hear more, please get in touch with Chloe Sennitt

At the time of advertising, this role does meet the minimum requirements set by UK Visas and Immigration to sponsor candidates to work in the UK. We look forward to receiving your application.

Main duties of the job

• Undertaking emergency and urgent assessments (these could be in The Accident and Emergency (A&E) department, Childrens ward or community/home settings).
• Providing intensive home-based treatment as an alternative to hospital admission
• Working collaboratively with service users, carers and partner agencies to develop crisis and safety plans
• Delivering evidence-based, recovery focused interventions during periods of acute distress
• Supporting safe discharge from crisis services and facilitating onward care
• Participating in multidisciplinary decision making
• Contributing to a service that operates 7 days a week, including bank holidays, weekends and shift work.
• Offering clinical supervision to colleagues
• Supporting with development within the team e.g trainees, students or those on a Band 5-6 development post.

About us
We are a specialist NHS Foundation Trust that provides community, mental health and learning disability services for the people of Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield. We also provide low and medium secure services and are the lead for the west Yorkshire secure provider collaborative.

Our mission is to help people reach their potential and live well in their communities, we do this by providing high-quality care in the right place at the right time. We employ staff in both clinical and non-clinical services who work hard to make a difference to the lives of service users, families and carers.

We encourage and welcome applications from all protected characteristic groups, we value diversity and want our workforce to be reflective of our communities.

Being a foundation Trust means were accountable to our members, who can have a say in how were run. Around 14,300 local people (including staff) are members of our Trust.

Join us and you will be one of over 4,500 staff committed to supporting and improving the mental, physical and social needs of the thousands of people we meet and help each year.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all colleagues and volunteers to share this commitment.

We do reserve to right to close vacancy before the advertised closing date if necessary, so please apply as soon as possible.

Job responsibilities
For full job description, please see attached supporting documents.

JOB SUMMARY
This job description is an outline of the main duties of the post. The post-holder will be required to undertake other duties commensurate with the grade as directed.

The content of this post will be reviewed in consultation with the post-holder when necessary and in line with the service developments.

The post holder will provide an emergency assessment and intensive treatment and outreach response to children and young people with mental health needs.

To provide a timely access to specialist services for children and young people that present in crisis or who present a significant and immediate risk to themselves and /or others, and outreach to those that are difficult to engage, providing intensive support where required to meet identified need contributing to the prevention of admission to residential provision and also the facilitation of timely discharge from residential provision.

To look after and ensure the safe keeping of equipment and materials used by self in the execution of this post.

To promote the safeguarding and welfare of children and young people.

KEY RESULT AREAS:

• To support the ongoing process of delivering a comprehensive CAMHS system and being party to the development of the Emergency Assessment, Intensive Treatment Response and Outreach element of the Specialist CAMHS portfolio in line with the service specification implementation plans and commissioner investment.
• To provide specialist assessment, intensive interventions, time limited therapy to children, young people with the most severe, complex and persistent mental health problems, including those who are severely mentally ill or at suicidal risk and where appropriate, families as both an autonomous practitioner and as part of a multidisciplinary team in a variety of settings to address need.
• To provide an immediate specialist assessment response to children and young people in crisis and those who present a significant and immediate risk to themselves and /or others and the development of an associated care plan
• To be responsible for managing a caseload ensuring robust assessment, care planning, interventions and therapy, onward referral and through-care as appropriate. Caseload Management.
• To support and be involved in, as required the, transportation of service users to identified areas of care.
• To participate in the development, audit and review of this extension to existing service provision.
• To undertake extended hours of work alongside fellow specialist CAMHS practitioners.
• To work collaboratively with Universal Services and Residential CAMHS providers to provide coherent and co-ordinated mental health services for children and young people as well as other significant partners, ensuring timely transition and relevant consultation, training and support to universal services and targeted groups.
• To use a range of Information Technology systems ensuring high quality data is collected appropriately, kept securely and confidentially.
• To participate in an agreed clinical audit programme for the service, and ensure lessons learnt from both audit and clinical incidents are reported.
• To comply with both clinical and corporate governance frameworks.
• To work in an innovative and child, young person and family centred way, in a culture of continuous improvement and learning.
• To apply a sound knowledge of safeguarding children and guidelines in clinical work.
• To support the engagement of service stakeholders and users in the development and monitoring of service delivery and identify opportunities for service improvement and redesign.
• To operate within the clinical and case management supervision framework.
• To provide consultation and supervision to other service providers and partner agencies as required regarding intensive interventions with children, young people and families.
• To identify and communicate any concerns through relevant management processes

All employees of the Trust are strongly encouraged to have their up-to-date flu vaccination to protect staff and patients.

Person Specification
Physical attributes
Essential

• Ability to undertake the duties and demands of the post. A satisfactory sickness record over the previous 2 years (subject to the need to act with fairness and equality of opportunity, particularly where the sickness is related to a disability and/or pregnancy).

Qualifications
Essential

• Relevant professional qualification, e.g. nursing, or other professional allied to medicine
• Dip SW or relevant mental health profession
• Membership of professional body

Desirable

• Post Registration qualification e.g. degree
• Post graduate qualification in mental health (e.g. CBT, Family Therapy, Counselling)
• A teaching and assessing qualification.

Specialist knowledge and skills
Essential

• Good verbal and communication skills
• Ability to manage own caseload
• Good negotiation skills, and problem solving skills
• Customer service orientation
• Effective record keeping and report writing skills to include care planning and risk assessments.
• IT skills.
• Have good team working skills. Be able to work across disciplines with an ability to predict and manage inter-disciplinary tensions and foster good working practices.

Personal attributes
Essential

• Able to work autonomously and as part of a team
• Commitment to multi-agency approach
• Ability to work and make decisions under pressure.
• Calm, confident, innovative, creative and assertive
• Clarity of decision making
• Willingness to be flexible and adaptable in accordance with changing service priorities.
• Commitment to challenging discrimination and improving accessibility of services.
• Ability to cope calmly in a crisis
• To demonstrate good self care and encourage the same in team members.
• A current driving licence and access to a car during the working day is essential (reasonable adjustments will be considered for any applicants who are unable to drive due to a disability)

Experience
Essential

• Substantial post qualification experience, some of which must be working with Children, young people and their carers in a mental health or other complex care setting
• Multidisciplinary team working
• Inter-agency liaison and consultation
• Experience of supervising/mentoring junior staff
• Knowledge of relevant legislation and guidance e.g. NHS plan, Mental Health Legislation, Childrens act, Education Act, Working Together, Childrens NSF, Every Child Matters, etc.
• Clinical/therapeutic knowledge and skills in mental health.
• Experience in assessment and risk management and ability to implement evidence based practice.
• Proven ability to work with other agencies and disciplines and in partnership with other organisations.
• Experience of safeguarding children and young people.

Desirable

• Experience of community settings
• Experience of working in different cultural contexts
• Knowledge and experience of working with Equality and Diversity.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).