Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust

Clinical Nurse Specialist - CAIST

The closing date is 09 February 2026

Job summary

Are you committed to improving the lives of children and young people by providing a mental health service we can be truly proud of? If the answer is yes, we'd love to hear from you!

We are seeking to recruit a Clinical Nurse Specialist within our Child and Adolescent Crisis Service (CAIST) in Norfolk and Waveney. An ideal role for someone that wants to combine elements of management and leadership while also maintaining specialist direct clinical work.

We have bases in East, Central & West Norfolk; we allocate a base closest to where you live. The role is peripatetic so you will be required to travel to different sites, therefore being able to travel independently is essential.

The CAIST (Crisis, Assessment & Intensive Support Team) service is a vibrant and dynamic service that has 3 teams based across Norfolk & Waveney service, 7 days a week. The service is commissioned for 08:00-20:00 7 days per week.

The team offers community based intensive support to children, young people & their families. CAIST aim to establish trusting therapeutic relationships, to reduce risks when children & young people may be experiencing high levels of distress.

When you join CAIST, you can expect your role to be varied and diverse - no two days are ever the same!

Main duties of the job

Whilst experience in working with children and young people would make you perfectly suited to this role, we are really open to welcoming people from clinical backgrounds who have experience in other areas of mental health. We understand that you will be able to bring with you a wealth of skills and experience to the team and would welcome new ways of thinking.

You will offer direct clinical work (crisis assessment and individual interventions via intensive support) with children under 18 years that have presented in crisis, alongside their families and carers where appropriate.

Working as part of a multidisciplinary team, you will model high standards of clinical practice, undertake complex mental state and risk assessments, and regularly lead on clinical decision-making. You will provide specialist clinical advice, consultation, and formulation to colleagues across the CYP pathway, (including CAMHS and Youth teams), to promote safe and effective crisis management.

With oversight from the Senior Nurse, you will take a key role in service development and quality improvement, supporting governance, supervision, training, and implementation of key clinical frameworks. You will act as a role model for compassionate and recovery-focused care, promoting least-restrictive practice and instilling a culture of continuous learning, safety, and responsiveness.

About us

The CAIST team has recently been recognised through our Quality and Safety Review Process as being a responsive and collaborative service that has a positive, inclusive culture, with shared vision and objectives. Feedback from young people and families, identified CAIST as an accessible and flexible service that prioritises service user collaboration and shared decision making.

It is important to us that all staff share our values and core beliefs, and those of the NHS Constitution. We promote an environment of mutual respect, compassion, integrity and collaborative working. We are committed to diversity and inclusion and aim to attract and retain a candidate who is compassionate and committed to our trust values.

Here at NSFT we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, talented, friendly and supportive team who like nothing better than sharing experiences and learning from each other. In addition to ongoing training and development opportunities, we are committed to providing an environment in which you can thrive.

Why work for us? We have challenges as a Trust, but we have ambitious aspirations, are pushing ahead with exciting transformation work and we need dedicated individuals to support us on our journey. We have strong, established nursing networks coupled with an exceptional leadership team who will ensure you are truly cared for and cared about.

Details

Date posted

26 January 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£47,810 to £54,710 a year gross per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working, Compressed hours

Reference number

246-GYW7744297

Job locations

80 St Stephens

Norwich

NR13RE


Job description

Job responsibilities

Please find attached our Job Description and Person Specification for more detail on your Key Accountabilities, then if you feel you have what it takes to make a difference in your local communities, click APPLY!

Some of the benefits you can expect:

  • NHS pension
  • a comprehensive in house & external training programmes
  • career progression
  • starting annual leave of 27 days per annum increasing to 33 days pa based on length of service (plus paid bank holidays)
  • staff physio service
  • NHS discounts and many more.

Interview dates are yet to be set; you will be contacted via email and invited to book a time. These emails may go to your SPAM, so please keep checking all your emails if applying.

Please visit our Facebook and Twitter page @NSFTjobs

* Previous applicants need not apply *

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please find attached our Job Description and Person Specification for more detail on your Key Accountabilities, then if you feel you have what it takes to make a difference in your local communities, click APPLY!

Some of the benefits you can expect:

  • NHS pension
  • a comprehensive in house & external training programmes
  • career progression
  • starting annual leave of 27 days per annum increasing to 33 days pa based on length of service (plus paid bank holidays)
  • staff physio service
  • NHS discounts and many more.

Interview dates are yet to be set; you will be contacted via email and invited to book a time. These emails may go to your SPAM, so please keep checking all your emails if applying.

Please visit our Facebook and Twitter page @NSFTjobs

* Previous applicants need not apply *

Person Specification

other

Essential

  • Ability to travel independently

Qualification

Essential

  • Mental Health Nursing Degree
  • Experience of working in CAMHS
  • Non-Medical Independent Prescriber. Degree Level Qualification or studied at equivalent level

Experience

Essential

  • Extensive experience at which has required supervision and mentorship of others
  • Extensive experience of practice within clinical area with proven track record in delivering high quality care.

Desirable

  • Teaching or training experience or qualification.
  • Experience of facilitation in groups.
  • Experience of implementing evidence based practice and or service improvement initiative.

Skills

Essential

  • Ability to communicate widely in a clear manner
  • Ability to problem solve. Confident manner. Approachable, tactful and diplomatic.
  • Ability to self-manage time and meet agreed deadlines

Knowledge

Essential

  • Able to demonstrate sound clinical expertise and knowledge of mental health disorders and their treatments
Person Specification

other

Essential

  • Ability to travel independently

Qualification

Essential

  • Mental Health Nursing Degree
  • Experience of working in CAMHS
  • Non-Medical Independent Prescriber. Degree Level Qualification or studied at equivalent level

Experience

Essential

  • Extensive experience at which has required supervision and mentorship of others
  • Extensive experience of practice within clinical area with proven track record in delivering high quality care.

Desirable

  • Teaching or training experience or qualification.
  • Experience of facilitation in groups.
  • Experience of implementing evidence based practice and or service improvement initiative.

Skills

Essential

  • Ability to communicate widely in a clear manner
  • Ability to problem solve. Confident manner. Approachable, tactful and diplomatic.
  • Ability to self-manage time and meet agreed deadlines

Knowledge

Essential

  • Able to demonstrate sound clinical expertise and knowledge of mental health disorders and their treatments

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust

Address

80 St Stephens

Norwich

NR13RE


Employer's website

https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/Pages/Home.aspx (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust

Address

80 St Stephens

Norwich

NR13RE


Employer's website

https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/Pages/Home.aspx (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Senior Nurse

Clare O'Connor

clare.o'connor@nsft.nhs.uk

01603674670

Details

Date posted

26 January 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£47,810 to £54,710 a year gross per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working, Compressed hours

Reference number

246-GYW7744297

Job locations

80 St Stephens

Norwich

NR13RE


Supporting documents

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