CAMHS Highly Specialist Practitioner (N&S OPD AAFS)

CAMHS Highly Specialist Practitioner (N&S OPD AAFS) NHS AfC: Band 8a Main area: Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Grade: NHS AfC: Band 8a

Contract: Fixed term: 9 months (Maternity Cover)

Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week

Job ref: 334-CLI-

Site: Michael Rutter Centre

Town: London

Salary: £61,927 - £68,676 per annum Incl. of HCAs

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 20/02/:59

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.

We are committed to providing high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment. The Care Quality Commission rates our services as 'good'.

We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone's potential as change makers.

The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I'm going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you'll be part of something special.

As a Trust, we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job overview We are delighted to be recruiting a 1 WTE Band 8a Practitioner Psychologist to join our team on a 9-month fixed term basis for maternity cover. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a responsive, specialist service for young people and families who present with high risk alongside complex mental health needs and neurodiversity. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to consolidate skills in formulation, intervention, and risk management within a skilled and supportive clinical team.

Main duties of the job The post holder will provide a specialist clinical service to the Adolescent At-risk & Forensic Service, National and Specialist CAMHS. Main duties include:

1. Highly specialist assessments of young people with complex mental health needs, high-risk behaviours (e.g., self-harm, aggression, sexual offending) and/or risk of exploitation (sexual and criminal). Assessments include structured risk and neuropsychological assessments.
2. To provide direct and indirect evidence-based psychological interventions for young people, their families and the systems around them.
3. To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
4. To provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate.
5. To undertake service evaluation, audit and research.
6. To work as an autonomous professional within professional guidelines and codes of conduct and guided by the policies and procedures of the service.

Working for our organisation The N&S CAMHS Adolescent At-risk & Forensic Service (AAFS) is a national and specialist service within the South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. AAFS works with young people aged 10-18, their families, carers and professional networks, offering evidence-based assessment and intervention using CBT, DBT and systemic models. The young people seen by our service typically present with complex mental health needs, high risk across multiple domains (to self, to others, from others), have early and ongoing adverse and traumatic experiences and (often undiagnosed) neurodiversity (autism, ADHD, intellectual disability).

Our Trust headquarters is located at Denmark Hill less than 5 minutes from the train station (zone 2) and is within walking distance from the beautiful green spaces of Ruskin Park and the vibrant high-street that offers great shopping opportunities and a wide range of restaurants.

As one of the few Trusts in London, we are proud to offer flexible working as part of our new ways of working, and we are happy to talk flexible working at the interview stage. In this role you will be able to work Monday to Friday in the time frames from 09:00 to 17:00. (this may include working early mornings or late evenings and some Saturdays as part of the core working hours/working pattern for this post). On-site working a minimum of four days will be required.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities The post holder will provide a specialist clinical service to the Adolescent At-risk & Forensic Service, National and Specialist CAMHS. We are a friendly and supportive team committed to professional and personal development. We are committed to addressing inequality in access, experience and outcomes for children and staff from diverse backgrounds and take an anti-racist approach. Our team is made up of clinical psychologists, a forensic psychologist, a social worker, clinical psychology trainees, MSc placement students, and assistant psychologists. We are actively involved in research and have close links with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London, Doctoral Training Programme in Clinical Psychology. We recognise the benefits of a diverse workforce and the positive impact this has on our staff and our service users. We welcome and actively encourage applications from those with lived experiences of mental health and care services and from black and minority groups.

1. Highly specialist assessments of young people with complex mental health needs, high-risk behaviours (e.g., self-harm, aggression, sexual offending) and/or risk of exploitation (e.g., sexual and criminal). Assessments include structured risk and neuropsychological assessments.
2. To provide direct and indirect evidence-based psychological interventions for young people, their families and the systems around them.
3. To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
4. To provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate.
5. To undertake service evaluation, audit and research.
6. To work as an autonomous professional within professional guidelines and codes of conduct and guided by the policies and procedures of the service.

Person specification Qualifications

• Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent that has been accepted by the HCPC for purposes of professional registration. (A/I)
• Additional training in a specialised area of psychological practice (CBT/DBT) through formal post-qualification training (PG Diploma or equivalent) (A/I)
• Completed training course in clinical supervision. (A/I)
• Post qualification training and experience in complex risk assessment and management (e.g., AIM-3, SAVRY)

Experience

• Experience of having worked as a clinical specialist in a CAMHS setting with young people with complex mental health needs, neurodiversity and significant risk across domains (to self, to others, from others) (A/I)
• Experience of specialist psychological assessment (including neuropsychological assessment) and intervention with young people with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature related to risk. (A/I)
• Experience of supervising assistant and trainee psychologists having completed the relevant training.
• Experience of supporting, and supervising the support of, young people presenting in crisis via comprehensive risk management plans, safeguarding and extensive liaison with professional networks.

Understanding and Knowledge

• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological assessments and interventions for young people presenting with complex mental health and neurodiversity, emerging personality disorders, and where risk of harm to self, others and/or from others is high. (A/I)
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised risk assessment for risk of harm to self, to others and from others.
• Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in young people with complex needs (e.g., neurodiversity, social complexity, offending behaviour, contextual safeguarding concerns).

Skills

• To deliver psychological therapy across cultural and other differences. (A)
• To communicate skilfully and sensitively complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication including sensory, and emotional difficulties, cultural differences and hostility to or rejection of information. (A/I)
• To be able to liaise with referrers and relevant stakeholders in monitoring team activity and productivity.
• Able to offer effective supervision to junior psychologists, in relation to complex client presentations across mental health and significant risk needs, enabling safe and effective clinical work and promoting staff wellbeing.

Abilities

• Ability to manage emotionally stressful situations such as working with victims of abuse or trauma . click apply for full job details