Senior CAMHS Practitioner- Social Worker

Job summary

This is an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic social worker to join Greenwich CAMHS. The post-holder will provide high quality specialist assessments, consultations, and evidence based therapeutic interventions for children and young people presenting with severe mental health difficulties.

The post holder must be a good team worker and be able to lead in areas of clinical practice and development and will be responsible for working independently and managing a caseload of young people, ensuring safe and effective clinical practices.

The post holder will work within the multi-disciplinary team developing a mentalisation-based approach to working with adolescents with complex mental health presentations.

Main duties of the job

-To co-ordinate and deliver individualised care packages / programmes for children and young people and evaluate these programmes, ensuring high standards of practice in accordance with national guidelines and trust policy.
-To provide specialist mental health advice and consultation
-To engage therapeutically with young people and their carers in a variety of settings.
-To be able to plan and facilitate appropriate therapeutic intervention including group work for the specialist client group and their families and carers.
-To be able to assess and manage risk in children and young people and to do this on an on-going basis within the role as care coordinator.
-To communicate risks often effectively and appropriately under difficult, circumstances to medical staff, other professionals and families involved in the care of the client.
-To act as an autonomous practitioner with an understanding of own limitations and recognition of when to seek support.
-To work closely with the school based and community health professionals, carrying out joint assessments when appropriate.

About us

Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children's centres, schools and people's homes.

We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.

Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:

-We're Kind
-We're Fair
-We Listen
-We Care

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key Task and Responsibilities

-Co-ordinate and deliver individualised care packages/programmes for children and young people, evaluating effectiveness and ensuring high standards of practice in line with national guidelines and Trust policy.
-Act as care coordinator, including ongoing assessment and management of risk.
-Engage therapeutically with young people and their carers in a variety of settings, including schools, community, and home environments.
-Plan and facilitate appropriate therapeutic interventions, including group work, for young people, families, and carers.
-Work collaboratively with school-based and community health professionals, carrying out joint assessments when required.
-Implement and support training/education packages for parents and carers in conjunction with colleagues.
-Ensure practice remains within legal, ethical, and professional parameters, complying with confidentiality and safeguarding responsibilities.
-Conduct risk assessments, including participation in the Duty rota system.
-Maintain live registration with an appropriate professional body and engage in ongoing CPD through PDP objectives.
-Contribute to service delivery and development, with a focus on the CAMHS care pathway.

Leadership

-Provide supervision, training, and personal development support for junior staff and students on placement.
-Offer liaison and consultation to schools, local services, and partner agencies on specialist CAMHS interventions.
-Represent CAMHS on Directorate/Trust committees, contributing to professional fora and service development initiatives.
-Promote best practice within the team through participation in case review meetings, reflective practice, and clinical discussions.
-To ensure that work is in keeping with both the Service and Trust policies and protocols.

Clinical:

-Provide specialist assessments, formulations, and evidence-based interventions for children and young people with complex mental health needs.
-Undertake and manage risk assessments relevant to the young person and their family network, escalating where necessary.
-Prioritise and respond promptly to young people at greater risk of harm or admission under the adolescent team pathway.
-Work inclusively with young people and families from diverse cultural, racial, and religious backgrounds, ensuring their needs are recognised and respected.
-Provide consultation and support to parents/carers (including foster carers) as part of treatment plans.
-Take case management responsibilities in clinical meetings, offering clear advice regarding assessment, formulation, risk, and treatment planning.
-Discharge young people from care when treatment goals have been achieved.
-Practice autonomously while recognising professional limitations and seeking appropriate support.
-Work jointly and collaboratively with colleagues to enhance the quality and consistency of treatment.

Please see attached job description and person specification for full details.

Person Specification

Qualification

Essential
-CQSW/CSS/DipSW or equivalent Social Work qualification
-Specialist training in a subject/skill relevant to Child & and Adolescent Mental Health (0-18 years) together with CYP IAPT Dip in CBT/SFP/IPT-A
-Registration with relevant Professional body

Experience

Essential
-At least 2 years post registration experience in a setting where mental health is the primary focus some of which should have been in a CAMHS setting.
-Experience of working within a high risk setting

Skills, Ability and Knowledge

Essential
-Ability to maintain and manage own workload and work autonomously within the specialist area

Effort and Environment

Essential
-Demonstrable ability to work under pressure and respond to emergency situations as appropriate
-The ability to engage and work with clients in differing environments in line with the needs of the service
-A flexible approach to client intervention and to be able to work independently and flexibly to meet client needs