South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust

Mental Health Practitioner

The closing date is 19 March 2026

Job summary

Are you passionate about Children/Young Peoples mental health and want to make a real difference? A career in Kirklees core (CAMHS) team as a band 6 Mental Health Practitioner may be what you are seeking.

We are recruiting a MHP with experience working in mental health to help us strive to make a difference to the health and wellbeing of the young people and their families in our communities.

Our vision is to deliver high quality care that is safe, simple and easy to access.

This opportunity will include, working with a complex CAMHS caseload, delivering therapeutic group and individual interventions, offering assessments, supervision and participating in the facilitation of CAMHS entry pathway and undertaking CAMHS duty role.

We place staff health and wellbeing at the top of our agenda and it is important for us to recruit a person whose values and beliefs align with our Trust values.

All employees of the Trust are strongly encouraged to have their up-to-date flu vaccination to protect staff and patients.

Main duties of the job

You will have the right attitude, skills and knowledge to share our passion in delivering the best quality care experience for children and their families.

Your duties will be related to the delivery of clinical care in the form of evidence based psychological therapies to children, young people and their families accessing CAMHS, and supporting the entry pathway, being the lead clinician at the point of Triage into Children's mental health services. This will include duty assessments, signposting and gatekeeping.

The role would suit a person who has experience of working with children, young people and their families experiencing mental health and trauma difficulties.

The job entails working with the families together partnership to aid service delivery. Kirklees core is a strong, supportive team, who have excellent structures to offer regular supervision.

At the time of advertising, this role does meet the minimum requirements set by UK Visas and Immigration to sponsor candidates to work in the UK. We look forward to receiving your application.

About us

We are a specialist NHS Foundation Trust that provides community, mental health and learning disability services for the people of Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield. We also provide low and medium secure services and are the lead for the west Yorkshire secure provider collaborative.

Our mission is to help people reach their potential and live well in their communities, we do this by providing high-quality care in the right place at the right time. We employ staff in both clinical and non-clinical services who work hard to make a difference to the lives of service users, families and carers.

We encourage and welcome applications from all protected characteristic groups, we value diversity and want our workforce to be reflective of our communities.

Being a foundation Trust means were accountable to our members, who can have a say in how were run. Around 14,300 local people (including staff) are members of our Trust.

Join us and you will be one of over 4,500 staff committed to supporting and improving the mental, physical and social needs of the thousands of people we meet and help each year.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all colleagues and volunteers to share this commitment.

We do reserve to right to close vacancy before the advertised closing date if necessary, so please apply as soon as possible.

Details

Date posted

05 March 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

£38,682 to £46,580 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working

Reference number

C9378-CK2428

Job locations

Folly Hall Mills

St Thomas Road

Huddersfield

HD1 3LT


Job description

Job responsibilities

JOB SUMMARY

The post-holder will:

Provide assessment and treatment to children and young people with mental health needs;

Work autonomously and collaboratively within the MDT, providing consultation for other agencies/professionals;

Promote the safeguarding and welfare of children and young people.

To provide routine and urgent assessment and interventions to young people with a wide range of emotional and psychological problems who are referred to specialist CAMHS, in keeping with evidence based practice with supervision from a senior clinician within professional guidelines and within the overall framework of the teams policies and procedures.

KEY RESULT AREAS:

1To support the ongoing process of delivering a comprehensive CAMHS system.

2To provide assessment, interventions, therapy to children, young people with the most severe, complex and persistent mental health problems, including those who are severely mentally ill or at suicidal risk and where appropriate, families as both an autonomous practitioner and as part of a multidisciplinary team in a variety of settings to address need. This will include working with the CAPA model.

3To apply a sound knowledge of safeguarding children and guidelines in clinical work.

4To be committed to a quality approach for patient care.

5The post-holder will demonstrate high levels of concentration and provide sustained effort in assessment of complex family issues.

6To manage own caseload, accessing support and guidance appropriate to individual need.

7To operate within the clinical and case management supervision framework.

8To provide training, consultation and supervision to other service providers, partner agencies and junior members of staff as required regarding intensive interventions with children, young people and families.

9To participate in the development, audit and review of this extension to existing service provision.

10To undertake extended hours of work alongside fellow specialist CAMHS practitioners.

11To work collaboratively with all services to provide coherent and co-ordinated mental health services for children and young people as well as other significant partners, ensuring timely transition and relevant consultation, training and support to universal services and targeted groups.

12To use a range of Information Technology systems (including Rio) ensuring high quality data is collected appropriately, kept securely and confidentially

13To participate in an agreed clinical audit programme for the service, and ensure lessons learnt from both audit and clinical incidents are reported.

14To comply with both clinical and corporate governance frameworks.

15To support the engagement of service stakeholders and users in the development and monitoring of service delivery and identify opportunities for service improvement and redesign.

16To actively promote user/carer involvement in all aspects of care planning/delivery whilst respecting the rights, capabilities and wishes of the individuals concerned.

17To work in an innovative and child, young person and family centred way, in a culture of continuous improvement and learning.

18Apply Trust policies and procedures in instances of aggression, acute distress and disturbed mental health presentations.

19To maintain relevant professional registration

20To identify and communicate any concerns through the relevant management processes.

21To demonstrate continued practice development and engage in annual appraisal.

For full job description, please see attached supporting documents.

We are aware that an increasing number of applicants are using AI technology to generate responses on NHS Job application forms.Over reliance on AI-generated content in application forms is strongly discouraged and we will conduct a thorough screening process before selecting candidates to progress to the next stage. If you are using AI to enhance your application, please disclose this in your NHS Jobs application form.

Job description

Job responsibilities

JOB SUMMARY

The post-holder will:

Provide assessment and treatment to children and young people with mental health needs;

Work autonomously and collaboratively within the MDT, providing consultation for other agencies/professionals;

Promote the safeguarding and welfare of children and young people.

To provide routine and urgent assessment and interventions to young people with a wide range of emotional and psychological problems who are referred to specialist CAMHS, in keeping with evidence based practice with supervision from a senior clinician within professional guidelines and within the overall framework of the teams policies and procedures.

KEY RESULT AREAS:

1To support the ongoing process of delivering a comprehensive CAMHS system.

2To provide assessment, interventions, therapy to children, young people with the most severe, complex and persistent mental health problems, including those who are severely mentally ill or at suicidal risk and where appropriate, families as both an autonomous practitioner and as part of a multidisciplinary team in a variety of settings to address need. This will include working with the CAPA model.

3To apply a sound knowledge of safeguarding children and guidelines in clinical work.

4To be committed to a quality approach for patient care.

5The post-holder will demonstrate high levels of concentration and provide sustained effort in assessment of complex family issues.

6To manage own caseload, accessing support and guidance appropriate to individual need.

7To operate within the clinical and case management supervision framework.

8To provide training, consultation and supervision to other service providers, partner agencies and junior members of staff as required regarding intensive interventions with children, young people and families.

9To participate in the development, audit and review of this extension to existing service provision.

10To undertake extended hours of work alongside fellow specialist CAMHS practitioners.

11To work collaboratively with all services to provide coherent and co-ordinated mental health services for children and young people as well as other significant partners, ensuring timely transition and relevant consultation, training and support to universal services and targeted groups.

12To use a range of Information Technology systems (including Rio) ensuring high quality data is collected appropriately, kept securely and confidentially

13To participate in an agreed clinical audit programme for the service, and ensure lessons learnt from both audit and clinical incidents are reported.

14To comply with both clinical and corporate governance frameworks.

15To support the engagement of service stakeholders and users in the development and monitoring of service delivery and identify opportunities for service improvement and redesign.

16To actively promote user/carer involvement in all aspects of care planning/delivery whilst respecting the rights, capabilities and wishes of the individuals concerned.

17To work in an innovative and child, young person and family centred way, in a culture of continuous improvement and learning.

18Apply Trust policies and procedures in instances of aggression, acute distress and disturbed mental health presentations.

19To maintain relevant professional registration

20To identify and communicate any concerns through the relevant management processes.

21To demonstrate continued practice development and engage in annual appraisal.

For full job description, please see attached supporting documents.

We are aware that an increasing number of applicants are using AI technology to generate responses on NHS Job application forms.Over reliance on AI-generated content in application forms is strongly discouraged and we will conduct a thorough screening process before selecting candidates to progress to the next stage. If you are using AI to enhance your application, please disclose this in your NHS Jobs application form.

Person Specification

Personal Attributes

Essential

  • Able to work autonomously and as part of a team.
  • Commitment to multi-agency approach.
  • Ability to work and make decisions under pressure.
  • Calm, confident, innovative, creative and assertive.
  • Clarity of decision making.
  • Willingness to be flexible and adaptable in accordance with changing service priorities.
  • Commitment to challenging discrimination and improving accessibility of services.
  • Ability to cope calmly in a crisis.
  • To demonstrate good self care and encourage the same in team members.
  • A Current driving licence and access to a car during the working day is essential (reasonable adjustments will be considered for any applicants who are unable to drive due to a disability).

Training

Desirable

  • Training and experience relating to specialist CAMHS.
  • Experience of delivering training to others.

Qualifications

Essential

  • Relevant professional qualification, e.g. nursing, or other professional allied to medicine.
  • Dip SW or relevant mental health profession.
  • Membership of professional body.

Desirable

  • Post Registration qualification e.g. degree.
  • Post graduate qualification in mental health (e.g. CBT, Family Therapy, Counselling).
  • A teaching and assessing qualification.

Special Knowledge & Skills

Essential

  • Good verbal and communication skills.
  • Ability to manage own caseload.
  • Good negotiation skills, and problem solving skills.
  • Customer service orientation.
  • Effective record keeping and report writing skills to include care planning and risk assessments.
  • IT skills.
  • Have good team working skills. Be able to work across disciplines with an ability to predict and manage inter-disciplinary tensions and foster good working practices.

Experience

Essential

  • Substantial post qualification experience, some of which must be working with Children, young people and their carers in a mental health or other complex care setting.
  • Multidisciplinary team working.
  • Inter-agency liaison and consultation.
  • Experience of supervising/mentoring junior staff.
  • Knowledge of relevant legislation and guidance e.g. NHS plan, Mental Health Legislation, Childrens act, Education Act, Working Together, Childrens NSF, Every Child Matters, etc.
  • Clinical/therapeutic knowledge and skills in mental health.
  • Experience in assessment and risk management and ability to implement evidence based practice.
  • Proven ability to work with other agencies and disciplines and in partnership with other organisations.
  • Experience of safeguarding children and young people.

Desirable

  • Experience of community settings.
  • Experience of working in different cultural contexts.
  • Knowledge and experience of working with Equality and Diversity.

Physical Attributes

Essential

  • Ability to undertake the duties and demands of the post. A satisfactory sickness record over the previous 2 years (subject to the need to act with fairness and equality of opportunity, particularly where the sickness is related to a disability and/or pregnancy).
Person Specification

Personal Attributes

Essential

  • Able to work autonomously and as part of a team.
  • Commitment to multi-agency approach.
  • Ability to work and make decisions under pressure.
  • Calm, confident, innovative, creative and assertive.
  • Clarity of decision making.
  • Willingness to be flexible and adaptable in accordance with changing service priorities.
  • Commitment to challenging discrimination and improving accessibility of services.
  • Ability to cope calmly in a crisis.
  • To demonstrate good self care and encourage the same in team members.
  • A Current driving licence and access to a car during the working day is essential (reasonable adjustments will be considered for any applicants who are unable to drive due to a disability).

Training

Desirable

  • Training and experience relating to specialist CAMHS.
  • Experience of delivering training to others.

Qualifications

Essential

  • Relevant professional qualification, e.g. nursing, or other professional allied to medicine.
  • Dip SW or relevant mental health profession.
  • Membership of professional body.

Desirable

  • Post Registration qualification e.g. degree.
  • Post graduate qualification in mental health (e.g. CBT, Family Therapy, Counselling).
  • A teaching and assessing qualification.

Special Knowledge & Skills

Essential

  • Good verbal and communication skills.
  • Ability to manage own caseload.
  • Good negotiation skills, and problem solving skills.
  • Customer service orientation.
  • Effective record keeping and report writing skills to include care planning and risk assessments.
  • IT skills.
  • Have good team working skills. Be able to work across disciplines with an ability to predict and manage inter-disciplinary tensions and foster good working practices.

Experience

Essential

  • Substantial post qualification experience, some of which must be working with Children, young people and their carers in a mental health or other complex care setting.
  • Multidisciplinary team working.
  • Inter-agency liaison and consultation.
  • Experience of supervising/mentoring junior staff.
  • Knowledge of relevant legislation and guidance e.g. NHS plan, Mental Health Legislation, Childrens act, Education Act, Working Together, Childrens NSF, Every Child Matters, etc.
  • Clinical/therapeutic knowledge and skills in mental health.
  • Experience in assessment and risk management and ability to implement evidence based practice.
  • Proven ability to work with other agencies and disciplines and in partnership with other organisations.
  • Experience of safeguarding children and young people.

Desirable

  • Experience of community settings.
  • Experience of working in different cultural contexts.
  • Knowledge and experience of working with Equality and Diversity.

Physical Attributes

Essential

  • Ability to undertake the duties and demands of the post. A satisfactory sickness record over the previous 2 years (subject to the need to act with fairness and equality of opportunity, particularly where the sickness is related to a disability and/or pregnancy).

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.

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.

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

South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust

Address

Folly Hall Mills

St Thomas Road

Huddersfield

HD1 3LT


Employer's website

https://www.southwestyorkshire.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust

Address

Folly Hall Mills

St Thomas Road

Huddersfield

HD1 3LT


Employer's website

https://www.southwestyorkshire.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Paige Wilkinson

paige.wilkinson@swyt.nhs.uk

07388707077

Details

Date posted

05 March 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

£38,682 to £46,580 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working

Reference number

C9378-CK2428

Job locations

Folly Hall Mills

St Thomas Road

Huddersfield

HD1 3LT


Supporting documents

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