MHST Specialist Schools Senior Mental Health Practitioner

Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

We invite you to consider being involved in this exciting opportunity to be a part of delivering the government's vision and commitment of having integrated Mental Health Teams in schools as set out in the NHS Long Term Plan. This opportunity allows you to meet children and young people's mental health needs as early as possible using both targeted and holistic/systemic approaches. Our MHSTs support children and young people with emerging or mild-moderate mental health difficulties and 'Getting Help' within the Thrive Framework by delivering targeted evidence-based interventions in schools. The MHSTs also work with schools to co-produce and deliver Whole School Approach work and offer ongoing professional consultation and advice to School Professionals, acting as the 'link' between the school and wider EWB and MH services within Surrey.

Main Duties of the Job

Each MHST is co-located in a carefully selected group of schools within their Borough of Surrey, with services delivered across a cluster of schools for each area. You will be part of the Specialist Schools Team (SS MHST) who will work with Surrey Wide Specialist schools (based in Leatherhead).

The Specialist Schools Mental Health Support Team is a new team that has been co-produced with children and young people (CYP), families, and schools to support CYP attending specialist schools in Surrey. Specialist schools include those offering specialist provision for CYP with diagnoses of Learning Disabilities/Developmental Delay, Autism Spectrum Condition, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or significant Social, Emotional, or Behavioural needs. Our Team currently comprises Education and Clinical Psychologists, Clinical Supervisor, RTT ASC/LD, and the clinical Lead.

About Us

Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is the leading provider of health and social care services for people of all ages with mental ill-health and learning disabilities in Surrey and North East Hampshire. We also provide social care services for people with a learning disability in Croydon and ASD and ADHD assessment services in Hampshire.

We actively seek to engage people who use our services and our communities in improving the mental wellbeing of the local population. We work closely with other NHS and voluntary sector organisations who provide services and support people who use services and carers.

Surrey is a beautiful county lying just 30 minutes away from Central London and from the South Coast. Our historic market towns and bustling districts are enveloped in wonderful countryside, and our excellent road and rail networks bring the rest of the country within easy reach. For international travel, both Gatwick and Heathrow airports are nearby.

Please note that we reserve the right to close posts as soon as sufficient applications are received.

Home Working Contract Only - Eligibility to high cost area supplement is conditional upon candidates' residence and will be discussed on offer.

We look forward to receiving your application!

Job Responsibilities

This exciting opportunity means we are looking to recruit a Senior Mental Health Practitioner to join our MHST Specialist Schools Team in Surrey. As a Senior Practitioner, you will be responsible for delivering interventions directly to CYP and their families, providing consultation, advice, and training to other professionals, and managing and supervising junior members of the Team. The clinician will be a professional who has experience and a passion for providing direct interventions to young people with ASC and LD and special educational needs.

We are looking to build a multi-disciplinary MHST team whose strength will come from the variety of skills and experience brought by each team member. As such, we welcome applications from candidates with a range of experience and from various professional backgrounds including but not exclusively, CBT Therapy, Social Work, Psychology, Occupational Therapy, Child Psychotherapy, and Mental Health Nursing.

We seek measured, inspiring, motivated, dynamic, experienced, forward-thinking clinicians who are flexible and able to work effectively with partners in education, multi-agency partners, children, young people, and their families.

Please refer to the job description attached.

Person Specification Qualifications

• Professional degree qualification relevant to the specialist field (Including but not limited to Psychologist, CBT Therapist, Nurse, Social Worker, OT, Art Therapist etc.)
• Registration with a relevant professional body.
• Positive Behaviour Support Qualification.

Experience

• 2 or more years' experience working therapeutically, clinically, or consultatively within a CYP Educational or Mental Health Setting, with children and young people with mental health difficulties and their families.
• Experience of working with young people who have special educational needs, learning disabilities, language and social communication difficulties, neurodiversity, and behaviours of concern.
• Experience of multi-agency collaborative working.
• Experience of monitoring performance and outcomes.
• Experience of offering Supervision.
• Experience of working with people of different ages with a range of mental health issues and/or learning needs.
• Experience of delivering CBT informed practice.
• Relevant post-qualification training.
• Experience of delivering mental health interventions in educational settings.
• Experience of delivering CBT informed supervision at low intensity level.
• Experience in whole school approaches to mental health in educational settings.

Skills and Knowledge

• Knowledge of CYP IAPT & the benefits of low intensity work.
• Knowledge of CYP IAPT outcome measures.
• Demonstrable knowledge of relevant safeguarding and mental health legislation.
• Ability to motivate, guide and support staff to develop.
• Ability to provide culturally sensitive support and supervision.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to teach, train and provide clear consultation.
• Ability to think clinically/therapeutically about client needs.
• Ability to improve services to increase efficiency and enhance patient experience.
• Ability to write concise and informative reports and letters.
• Ability to use and interpret outcome measures to monitor intervention effectiveness. Competent ICT skills to collect and interpret data for reports, presentations, and service performance.
• Provide online support.
• Engage in online meetings.
• Familiarity with electronic patient management systems such as IAPTus, RIO, SystmOne etc.
• Awareness of relevant initiatives and frameworks, including MHSTs, Thrive, and CYP IAPT.
• Awareness of relevant data monitoring requirements.
• Experience of assessing/working with complex cases.
• Experience of developing clinical policies/procedures.

Abilities

• Highly motivated and a self-starter.
• Team player.
• Able to maintain professional boundaries.
• Dresses in an appropriate and professional manner.
• Prioritise conversations on diversity to respect the uniqueness we all have.
• Ability to cope with mental, physical, and emotional challenges of working with highly emotive, young, behaviourally challenging children as well as adolescents.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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.

Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Clinical Lead and Systemic Psychotherapist

£48,270 to £54,931 a year Incl. 5% High Cost Area Supplement per annum pro rata.