Job summary
22.5 hours per week.
Are you a compassionate, courageous, and experienced
clinician ready to make a real difference in the lives of children and young
people? We are seeking a Band 7 Senior/Specialist Mental Health Practitioner
to join our multidisciplinary Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service at the Atkinson Secure Children's Home in Exeter.
We provide integrated residential care, healthcare, and education for children and young
people placed with us under Section 25 of the Children's Act due to significant risks
such as absconding, self-harm, or harm to others. As many of our young people have experienced relational trauma and adverse childhood experiences, the home
operates within a trauma recovery model supported by therapeutic parenting.
You will deliver high-quality, specialist
mental health care including expert clinical assessment and treatment, working closely with a
dedicated multi-disciplinary team that includes professionals from Nursing, Speech
and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and GP services.
We welcome applicants from a range of clinical backgrounds,
especially those with Social Work/Therapy qualifications, as we've found these
to be a great fit for the home. We are
always keen to promote professional development and can provide training
opportunities to support your own career development.
This is a rewarding opportunity to work in a
supportive environment with a strong team ethos, where your skills and
compassion will have a lasting impact.
Main duties of the job
- Undertake and oversee specialist mental health assessments and therapeutic interventions for children and young people with complex needs, within a secure residential setting
- Deliver a range of therapeutic interventions and provide expert clinical advice and guidance.
- Analyse and report on clinical data relating to care, interventions, and outcomes.
- Work autonomously, exercising sound clinical judgement under pressure, and seek supervision and professional support when appropriate.
- Make informed decisions in challenging situations, with support from peers as needed.
- Collaborate with the Atkinson multi-agency team to meet the needs of children and young people and contribute to service development.
- Organise, plan, and chair multi-agency meetings.
- Manage own workload effectively to ensure timely completion of tasks and appropriate prioritisation of clinical care
This role may not be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route; please refer to the Direct Gov website for more information with regards to eligibility.
Please note that Livewell may close the job advertisement earlier than the specified deadline.
All staff are expected to be able and willing to work across a 7 day service.
To learn more about the role or arrange a visit, please contact Maddie Mills, Operations Manager, or Karen Cloute, Principal Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Lead, on 01392 457999.
About us
Livewell Southwest is an independent, award-winning social
enterprise delivering integrated health and social care services across
Plymouth, South Hams, and West Devon, with specialist services in parts of
Devon and Cornwall. Our teams work in community hospitals, GP practices, sports
centres, and health hubs.
As an organisation with a strong social conscience we are guided by our values,kindness, respect, inclusivity, ambition, responsibility, and
collaboration. We focus on transforming services to ensure sustainability, while
empowering staff and those we serve.
We involve the people we care for, along with their families and carers, in
shaping the care they receive, striving to deliver the right care at the right
time and place. Centering our work on individual needs helps people lead
healthy, independent lives.
We prioritise employees' development, offering protected CPD time, training
pathways, leadership programs, and funding for qualifications like the Care
Certificate and Nurse Training Scholarships. Our induction and preceptorship
programs ensure a smooth transition into our organisation.
Livewell Southwest values diversity and encourages applications from all
sections of the community, including those with armed forces experience, lived experience of mental
health, neuro-diverse conditions and learning disabilities. If you need assistance or reasonable adjustments during the
application process, contact the Recruiting Manager listed in the job advert.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please refer to the attached Job Description and Person Specification for additional information relevant to the role.
MAIN DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES
- To undertake and oversee comprehensive or specialist mental health assessments and interventions for children/young people and their families/carers, presenting with complex needs.
- To provide a range of specialist therapeutic interventions and expertise and advice.
- To review, analyse and report on key data relating to the clinical care, interventions and outcomes.
- To work as an autonomous practitioner with the ability to use your own judgement to make decisions under pressure and seek support, supervision and professional leadership when needed.
- To act as an autonomous professional with responsibility for a defined caseload as well as the responsibility for the supervision of the practice of others, making decisions to prioritise care as appropriate.
- To make decisions, even in times of pressure or distress, in a thoughtful and informed way to meet the needs of service users and staff and seeking guidance by peers where appropriate.
- To work in accordance with codes of practice as defined by the regulatory and professional body.
- To work in accordance with organisational policies and procedures.
- To work with others to provide a co-ordinated response to meet the needs of children and young people and their families/carers, progress service developments and achieve outcomes as set out in action plans or team goals.
- To organise, plan and chair multi-agency meetings.
- To plan and organise your own time in order to complete tasks in a timely way and prioritise clinical care appropriately.
Responsibility for People Management
- To clinically supervise the work of others, specifically assistants and trainees, including contributing to the completion of appraisals and staff development.
- To follow and implement relevant HR Policies and guidance.
- To attend and deliver training, consultation and teaching as required.
- To participate in the Organisations appraisal process.
- Ensure prompt action is taken in raising issues with regard to staff performance, sickness, attendance levels and any disciplinary, capability or grievance matters.
- Provide supervision and support to other clinicians with the ability to demonstrate compassionate leadership, to understand and follow HR policies and procedures, ensure staff wellbeing and development and adopt a collaborative approach to engage staff with a range of skills and communication needs.
Responsibility for financial and/or physical resources
- To work to the financial policies and procedures as laid down by the employer
- The post holder will take appropriate care of equipment entrusted to them for use.
- The post holder is responsible for maintaining a clear desk policy and protecting all confidential information in accordance with the organisations policies and procedures.
- The post holder will be required to act responsibly in terms of providing best value practice and protecting service resources.
- To take responsibility for any specific materials you are required to use, maintaining their general standard and ensuring that adequate supplies are maintained.
Responsibility for administration
- To ensure the inputting of accurate and contemporaneous case notes on the relevant clinical systems in line with professional and organisational standards.
- To be responsible for accurate and timely inputting of data into the relevant data collection systems.
- To have a sound knowledge of IT and the ability to use a clinical records system.
- To ensure all Employers policies, procedures and guidelines are followed.
- To complete all statutory and mandatory training as required by the employer.
- To identify and manage risks through incident reporting when appropriate.
- To take part in and develop activities designed to improve service delivery or quality of care such as staff surveys, participation and service development.
Responsibility for people who use our services
- To undertake specialist assessments, provide highly skilled advice and make decisions about assessment, treatment and discharge, including the management of risk. To formulate plans for psychological treatment and/or specialist therapeutic interventions for children and young people, carers, families and groups and to demonstrate awareness of diversity issues.
- To carry a complex caseload, working effectively and according to NICE guidelines/ evidence-based practice to improve outcomes for children and young people, ensuring the collaborative use of Routine Outcome Measures, goal-based care, risk management and care planning to inform practice.
- To work in a way that evidences compassionate leadership, promoting respect for others, care for staff well-being and championing anti-discriminatory practice.
- To work closely with professionals, children/young people and their parents/carers to ensure collaborative care and decision making and promote participation across all aspects of service delivery and development.
- To provide consultation, advice or training to a range of other professionals and organisations across Health, Education and social care.
- To contribute at an enhanced practitioner level to the multi-professional team to provide specific, evidence-based interventions to children/young people and their families/carers who have been referred with mental health needs.
- To always consider safeguarding and child protection issues, following relevant policies and procedures and receiving safeguarding supervision as required.
- To produce reports on children/young people, in a timely manner, that convey the key findings of assessment and formulation and treatment outcome in a way that is understandable to the recipients of the reports, including children/young people and their families and referrers.
- To provide clinical supervision to junior team members, ensuring regular caseload review and oversight of the use of routine outcome measures, evidence-based interventions, risk management and care planning.
Responsibility for implementation of policy and/or service developments
- To provide children/young people and their parents/carers with the opportunity to express their views in appropriate ways, to have their opinions considered and to be able to influence the shaping of services.
- To follow their Employers policies, procedures and guidance as well as professional standards and guidelines.
Other Responsibilities
- To participate in and take a lead on clinical audit and research as required.
- Ability to travel across Devon.
COMMUNICATIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS
- To provide and receive highly complex and sensitive information with children, young people, carers and families and adjust the communication style to meet specific needs and overcome barriers to understanding.
- To form and maintain good working relationships with others, effectively communicating with supervisees, clinicians, colleagues, managers and professionals in a multi-disciplinary team and across a range of agencies.
- To form and maintain good supervisory relationships with others, supporting reflective practice and evidence-based care.
- To receive complex sensitive information
- To manage and respond to high levels of distress, trauma and emotion with empathy, compassion, reassurance, persuasion, resilience and sensitivity.
- To co-ordinate and liaise with other professionals offering services to children and young people and organise, chair or attend a range of professional meetings as required.
- To be able to lead clinical meetings, empowering all staff to have a voice and ensuring accurate record keeping of meeting minutes.
- To be able to present complex information in a range of formats in a professional, clear and organised manner to a range of audiences.
- Work effectively with operational, professional and clinical leadership colleagues to support clinicians in devising and implementing evidence-based care to suit the individual needs of children and young people and their parents/carers.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please refer to the attached Job Description and Person Specification for additional information relevant to the role.
MAIN DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES
- To undertake and oversee comprehensive or specialist mental health assessments and interventions for children/young people and their families/carers, presenting with complex needs.
- To provide a range of specialist therapeutic interventions and expertise and advice.
- To review, analyse and report on key data relating to the clinical care, interventions and outcomes.
- To work as an autonomous practitioner with the ability to use your own judgement to make decisions under pressure and seek support, supervision and professional leadership when needed.
- To act as an autonomous professional with responsibility for a defined caseload as well as the responsibility for the supervision of the practice of others, making decisions to prioritise care as appropriate.
- To make decisions, even in times of pressure or distress, in a thoughtful and informed way to meet the needs of service users and staff and seeking guidance by peers where appropriate.
- To work in accordance with codes of practice as defined by the regulatory and professional body.
- To work in accordance with organisational policies and procedures.
- To work with others to provide a co-ordinated response to meet the needs of children and young people and their families/carers, progress service developments and achieve outcomes as set out in action plans or team goals.
- To organise, plan and chair multi-agency meetings.
- To plan and organise your own time in order to complete tasks in a timely way and prioritise clinical care appropriately.
Responsibility for People Management
- To clinically supervise the work of others, specifically assistants and trainees, including contributing to the completion of appraisals and staff development.
- To follow and implement relevant HR Policies and guidance.
- To attend and deliver training, consultation and teaching as required.
- To participate in the Organisations appraisal process.
- Ensure prompt action is taken in raising issues with regard to staff performance, sickness, attendance levels and any disciplinary, capability or grievance matters.
- Provide supervision and support to other clinicians with the ability to demonstrate compassionate leadership, to understand and follow HR policies and procedures, ensure staff wellbeing and development and adopt a collaborative approach to engage staff with a range of skills and communication needs.
Responsibility for financial and/or physical resources
- To work to the financial policies and procedures as laid down by the employer
- The post holder will take appropriate care of equipment entrusted to them for use.
- The post holder is responsible for maintaining a clear desk policy and protecting all confidential information in accordance with the organisations policies and procedures.
- The post holder will be required to act responsibly in terms of providing best value practice and protecting service resources.
- To take responsibility for any specific materials you are required to use, maintaining their general standard and ensuring that adequate supplies are maintained.
Responsibility for administration
- To ensure the inputting of accurate and contemporaneous case notes on the relevant clinical systems in line with professional and organisational standards.
- To be responsible for accurate and timely inputting of data into the relevant data collection systems.
- To have a sound knowledge of IT and the ability to use a clinical records system.
- To ensure all Employers policies, procedures and guidelines are followed.
- To complete all statutory and mandatory training as required by the employer.
- To identify and manage risks through incident reporting when appropriate.
- To take part in and develop activities designed to improve service delivery or quality of care such as staff surveys, participation and service development.
Responsibility for people who use our services
- To undertake specialist assessments, provide highly skilled advice and make decisions about assessment, treatment and discharge, including the management of risk. To formulate plans for psychological treatment and/or specialist therapeutic interventions for children and young people, carers, families and groups and to demonstrate awareness of diversity issues.
- To carry a complex caseload, working effectively and according to NICE guidelines/ evidence-based practice to improve outcomes for children and young people, ensuring the collaborative use of Routine Outcome Measures, goal-based care, risk management and care planning to inform practice.
- To work in a way that evidences compassionate leadership, promoting respect for others, care for staff well-being and championing anti-discriminatory practice.
- To work closely with professionals, children/young people and their parents/carers to ensure collaborative care and decision making and promote participation across all aspects of service delivery and development.
- To provide consultation, advice or training to a range of other professionals and organisations across Health, Education and social care.
- To contribute at an enhanced practitioner level to the multi-professional team to provide specific, evidence-based interventions to children/young people and their families/carers who have been referred with mental health needs.
- To always consider safeguarding and child protection issues, following relevant policies and procedures and receiving safeguarding supervision as required.
- To produce reports on children/young people, in a timely manner, that convey the key findings of assessment and formulation and treatment outcome in a way that is understandable to the recipients of the reports, including children/young people and their families and referrers.
- To provide clinical supervision to junior team members, ensuring regular caseload review and oversight of the use of routine outcome measures, evidence-based interventions, risk management and care planning.
Responsibility for implementation of policy and/or service developments
- To provide children/young people and their parents/carers with the opportunity to express their views in appropriate ways, to have their opinions considered and to be able to influence the shaping of services.
- To follow their Employers policies, procedures and guidance as well as professional standards and guidelines.
Other Responsibilities
- To participate in and take a lead on clinical audit and research as required.
- Ability to travel across Devon.
COMMUNICATIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS
- To provide and receive highly complex and sensitive information with children, young people, carers and families and adjust the communication style to meet specific needs and overcome barriers to understanding.
- To form and maintain good working relationships with others, effectively communicating with supervisees, clinicians, colleagues, managers and professionals in a multi-disciplinary team and across a range of agencies.
- To form and maintain good supervisory relationships with others, supporting reflective practice and evidence-based care.
- To receive complex sensitive information
- To manage and respond to high levels of distress, trauma and emotion with empathy, compassion, reassurance, persuasion, resilience and sensitivity.
- To co-ordinate and liaise with other professionals offering services to children and young people and organise, chair or attend a range of professional meetings as required.
- To be able to lead clinical meetings, empowering all staff to have a voice and ensuring accurate record keeping of meeting minutes.
- To be able to present complex information in a range of formats in a professional, clear and organised manner to a range of audiences.
- Work effectively with operational, professional and clinical leadership colleagues to support clinicians in devising and implementing evidence-based care to suit the individual needs of children and young people and their parents/carers.
Person Specification
Additional Requirements
Essential
- An Enhanced DBS Check/Schedule 2 Checks for secure estate will be required for this role.
- Evidence of personal resilience and aptitude for dealing with challenging, potentially distressing and highly emotional clinical work.
Specific Skills
Essential
- Specialist skill in communicating complex, highly technical and or clinically sensitive information effectively, both verbally and in writing, to clients, families, carers, and professional colleagues within and outside the service.
- Ability to form and maintain good working relationships in multi-disciplinary and inter-agency settings.
- Ability to form and maintain effective supervisory and management relationships.
- Capacity to write clear records and reports, and support others to do so, in line with organisational and professional policies, procedures, and guidelines.
- Ability to raise and engage in difficult conversations professionally, respectfully, and collaboratively.
- Demonstrated effective communication skills with children, young people, and families.
- Knowledge and experience of gathering meaningful feedback from children, young people, and families to inform service improvements.
- Experience of working in a person-centred way, demonstrating values important to children, young people, and families.
- Understanding of what children, young people, and families value in their lives.
- Highly developed ability to integrate complex clinical information into coherent formulations and share with service users and professionals.
- Ability to work autonomously as a senior staff member, take responsibility, make decisions under pressure, and seek support appropriately.
- Ability to review, analyse, and report on key data related to clinical performance, capacity, or activity.
- Ability to tolerate and reduce anxiety and distress in others, using sound judgement even in stressful situations.
- Ability to plan and organise workload, prioritise tasks, and follow lone working protocols.
- Ability to plan and complete senior clinical tasks within reasonable timescales.
- Ability to work collaboratively and coordinate responses to identified service needs.
- Ability to concentrate for sustained periods, even in busy, noisy environments with frequent interruptions.
- Ability to manage and support others in managing stressful situations with resilience and self-awareness.
- Ability to manage and support others in processing emotionally distressing information, seeking support when needed.
Knowledge
Essential
- Understanding of relevant legislation pertaining to child mental health.
- High level knowledge of mental health presentations in and children/young people and knowledge of the theory and practice of short term and long term, evidence-based, clinical interventions in the field of child mental health.
- Knowledge of child development.
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to children and adolescents and safeguarding procedures and policies.
- Knowledge of NHS, Social Care and Education structures, national policies and frameworks, evidence-based practice including NICE guidelines.
- Knowledge of risk management and ability to monitor and assess risk and act accordingly to ensure safety.
Desirable
- Knowledge of supervision and leadership practice.
- Knowledge of research methodology and outcome research methodology and outcome research design and ability to critically interpret research findings and data.
- Knowledge of electronic patient record systems and the requirements around data reporting.
Qualifications
Essential
- Professional knowledge acquired through degree supplemented by specialist training or equivalent experience to Masters level with a relevant core professional training e.g. Social Work, Clinical Psychology, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Psychological profession.
- Training in an evidence-based therapeutic approach.
- Professional registration/accreditation with a recognised body, e.g. NMC, HCPC, Social Work England, UKCP, BABCP.
- Training in supervision and/or leadership skills or willing to work towards Evidence of Continuous Professional Development.
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working collaboratively with service users and their families/carers, including using goal-based care and routine outcome measures in practice.
- Experience of working collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary team and across agencies.
- Experience of working with children and young peoples mental health needs, families and parents/carers, maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems and verbal abuse.
- Experience of undertaking specialist mental health assessment and therapeutic interventions for in the area of children's mental health, with the ability to work with complex needs and undertake risk assessments.
- Experience of safeguarding children and young people and ensuring the safety of children in partnership with other agencies as appropriate.
- Experience that evidences an ability to tend to diversity and work in a way that promotes anti-discriminatory practice.
- Experience of initiating, attending and contributing to multi-professional and inter-agency meetings
Desirable
- Experience in providing effective clinical supervision, teaching, training and assessing in clinical practice.
- Experience of providing professional teaching and training for other professionals.
Person Specification
Additional Requirements
Essential
- An Enhanced DBS Check/Schedule 2 Checks for secure estate will be required for this role.
- Evidence of personal resilience and aptitude for dealing with challenging, potentially distressing and highly emotional clinical work.
Specific Skills
Essential
- Specialist skill in communicating complex, highly technical and or clinically sensitive information effectively, both verbally and in writing, to clients, families, carers, and professional colleagues within and outside the service.
- Ability to form and maintain good working relationships in multi-disciplinary and inter-agency settings.
- Ability to form and maintain effective supervisory and management relationships.
- Capacity to write clear records and reports, and support others to do so, in line with organisational and professional policies, procedures, and guidelines.
- Ability to raise and engage in difficult conversations professionally, respectfully, and collaboratively.
- Demonstrated effective communication skills with children, young people, and families.
- Knowledge and experience of gathering meaningful feedback from children, young people, and families to inform service improvements.
- Experience of working in a person-centred way, demonstrating values important to children, young people, and families.
- Understanding of what children, young people, and families value in their lives.
- Highly developed ability to integrate complex clinical information into coherent formulations and share with service users and professionals.
- Ability to work autonomously as a senior staff member, take responsibility, make decisions under pressure, and seek support appropriately.
- Ability to review, analyse, and report on key data related to clinical performance, capacity, or activity.
- Ability to tolerate and reduce anxiety and distress in others, using sound judgement even in stressful situations.
- Ability to plan and organise workload, prioritise tasks, and follow lone working protocols.
- Ability to plan and complete senior clinical tasks within reasonable timescales.
- Ability to work collaboratively and coordinate responses to identified service needs.
- Ability to concentrate for sustained periods, even in busy, noisy environments with frequent interruptions.
- Ability to manage and support others in managing stressful situations with resilience and self-awareness.
- Ability to manage and support others in processing emotionally distressing information, seeking support when needed.
Knowledge
Essential
- Understanding of relevant legislation pertaining to child mental health.
- High level knowledge of mental health presentations in and children/young people and knowledge of the theory and practice of short term and long term, evidence-based, clinical interventions in the field of child mental health.
- Knowledge of child development.
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to children and adolescents and safeguarding procedures and policies.
- Knowledge of NHS, Social Care and Education structures, national policies and frameworks, evidence-based practice including NICE guidelines.
- Knowledge of risk management and ability to monitor and assess risk and act accordingly to ensure safety.
Desirable
- Knowledge of supervision and leadership practice.
- Knowledge of research methodology and outcome research methodology and outcome research design and ability to critically interpret research findings and data.
- Knowledge of electronic patient record systems and the requirements around data reporting.
Qualifications
Essential
- Professional knowledge acquired through degree supplemented by specialist training or equivalent experience to Masters level with a relevant core professional training e.g. Social Work, Clinical Psychology, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Psychological profession.
- Training in an evidence-based therapeutic approach.
- Professional registration/accreditation with a recognised body, e.g. NMC, HCPC, Social Work England, UKCP, BABCP.
- Training in supervision and/or leadership skills or willing to work towards Evidence of Continuous Professional Development.
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working collaboratively with service users and their families/carers, including using goal-based care and routine outcome measures in practice.
- Experience of working collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary team and across agencies.
- Experience of working with children and young peoples mental health needs, families and parents/carers, maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems and verbal abuse.
- Experience of undertaking specialist mental health assessment and therapeutic interventions for in the area of children's mental health, with the ability to work with complex needs and undertake risk assessments.
- Experience of safeguarding children and young people and ensuring the safety of children in partnership with other agencies as appropriate.
- Experience that evidences an ability to tend to diversity and work in a way that promotes anti-discriminatory practice.
- Experience of initiating, attending and contributing to multi-professional and inter-agency meetings
Desirable
- Experience in providing effective clinical supervision, teaching, training and assessing in clinical practice.
- Experience of providing professional teaching and training for other professionals.
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
