Camhs Practitioner

YOUnited are looking for a Band 5 Associate Practitioner to work in our busy referral hub. If you are you are looking for a new challenge, enjoy variety in your work and wish to be part of a team striving to make a difference to children and young people with mental health difficulties then we want to hear from you.

You will be working as a member of the CAMHS YOUnited Team and YOUnited Referral Hub, providing screening of referrals, information gathering and consultation to referring agencies, young people and their families and/or carers. This role will give you the opportunity to develop your skills in this field working in a collaborative partnership with third sector and NHS colleagues.

This role is a hybrid role with a mixture of office and home working available. Office base is in Huntingdon and you will need to travel to base regularly.

We will provide the necessary support to ensure development within the role and any future ambitions.

The post holder will work collaboratively in the YOUnited Referral Hub as part of a multidisciplinary team. The Referral Hub supports access to help for children and young people’s emotional health and wellbeing and mental health needs in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

The post holder will process non-crisis referrals of children and young people referred. The post holder will be supported to triage each referral for risk and supported to make a decision about whether referral meets the threshold for specialist CAMHS pathways, a trusted assessment within the “getting more help” CAMHS interventions pathways or a “getting help” intervention pathway. If not, to signpost the referral to the appropriate service or offer suitable advice working autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the Referral Hub’s policies and procedures.

Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health & social care organisation dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion to improve the health & wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting & empowering them to lead a fulfilling life.

Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services not only via inpatient and primary care setting but also with the community. These services include Children, Adult & Older Peoples mental & physical health, Forensic & Specialist mental health, Learning Disabilities, Primary Care & Liaison psychiatry, Substance misuse, Social care, Research & Development.

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities

YOUnited role specific
1. To work as a member of the CAMHS YOUnited Team and YOUnited Referral Hub, providing screening of referrals, information gathering and consultation to referring agencies, young people and their families and/or carers.
2. To develop specialist knowledge to make decisions about a child or young person’s mental health needs and how they would most appropriately be met.
3. To assess clinical risk based on information available and additional information gathered, and to prioritise accordingly in partnership with senior colleagues.
4. To participate in the prevention and early detection of emotional and mental health difficulties in children and young people referred to the service.
5. To develop an awareness of the resources of the core, neuro-developmental and eating disorders pathways in main Community CAMHS.
6. To work alongside Community CAMHS to ensure that waiting time standards are met.
7. To contribute to the development of systems for managing referrals including screening, filtering, re-directing and fast-tracking referrals as appropriate.
8. To follow the Standard Operating Procedures of the YOUnited Referral Hub team.
9. To network and develop partnerships with CAMH professionals and other professionals within Social Care, Education, Early Help services, General Practitioners, Child Health services, Health Promotion agencies and the Voluntary / Independent sector.
10. To work within the framework of legislation, guidance, policies and procedures relating to the Children’s Act, Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act.
11. To maintain accurate and appropriate records of work undertaken.
12. To ensure that Trust policy in relation to confidentiality and consent is always adhered to.
13. To attend training opportunities to promote professional practice and skills development in line with professional body requirements.

Clinical role
1. To develop the skills to be able to provide comprehensive mental health assessments demonstrating the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of data from a variety of sources including, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client’s care, a range of direct work and evidence-based therapeutic intervention. To develop specialist knowledge to make decisions about a child o