Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
CAMHS Practitioner - YOUnited Referral Hub
The closing date is 25 June 2026
An exciting opportunity has arisen to work as part of the YOUnited Referral Hub that supports access to help for children and young people with emotional wellbeing/mental health needs in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
The role is based in Huntingdon with a hybrid working approach including working in base and working from home. You will need to travel to Huntingdon regularly. In addition, you will be expected to undertake one day per working clinically in one of the three CAMHS locality bases - Cambridge, Huntingdon or Peterborough - dependent on your home address.
Main duties of the job
Join the YOUnited Referral Hub team, supporting children and young people in accessing the right help for their emotional wellbeing and mental health needs.
This role involves triaging non-crisis referrals and ensuring each case is directed to the most appropriate service.
Determine whether referrals meet the threshold for specialist, secondary or primary care interventions using the 'i-thrive' model framework.
Provide signposting and advice for referrals that do not require an intervention to ensure that families and young people receive appropriate support.
Work autonomously within your own professional guidelines and in line with the referral hub policies.
Maintain a clinical focus, dedicating approximately 20% of the role to complete assessments and/or potential therapeutic interventions.
If you are a self‑motivated, enthusiastic professional with excellent communication skills and a passion for improving outcomes for Children and Young People with emotional wellbeing issues, we look forward to hearing from you.
About us
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health and social care organisation dedicated to providing high‑quality care with compassion to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting and empowering them to lead a fulfilling life.
Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services, not only via inpatient and primary care settings, but also within the community. These services include children's, adult and older people's mental health, forensic and specialist mental health, learning disabilities, primary care and liaison psychiatry, substance misuse, social care, research and development.
To achieve our goal, we look to recruit high‑calibre candidates who share our vision and values. As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all sectors of the community, particularly from under‑represented groups including people with long term conditions and members of our ethnic minority and LGBTQ+ communities.
Please be advised we reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date should we receive sufficient applications.
Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all our job roles. If you apply for a role that we cannot offer sponsorship for, unfortunately, your application form will be rejected from the process.
For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at www.cpft.nhs.uk.
Job responsibilities
Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities.
1. To work as a member of the CPFT YOUnited Team and wider partnership YOUnited Referral Hub, providing screening of referrals, information gathering and consultation to referring agencies, young people and their families and/or carers.
2. To utilise specialist knowledge to make decisions about a child or young persons 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.
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 maintain awareness of the resources of the core, neuro‑developmental and eating disorders pathways in main Community CAMHS, and the administrative systems for booking appointments in those teams.
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 Childrens 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 adhered to at all times.
13. To attend training opportunities to promote professional practice and skills development in line with professional body requirements.
14. To participate in the CAMHS on‑call system as and when required.
Person Specification
Education / Qualifications
* A recorded/registered qualification in one of the following at graduate level: nursing, social work, occupational therapy, arts therapy or within a psychological therapy.
* Training in an evidence‑based therapeutic intervention recommended by NICE Guidelines relevant to CAMHS, i.e. CBT, IPT, Systemic Therapy.
* Other relevant certificated training.
* Evidence of on‑going CPD activity.
Experience
* Post‑qualification experience in assessment and treatment with children, young people and families using evidence‑based therapeutic intervention.
* Experience of working in a role and setting relevant to CAMHS.
* Experience working with systems around the young person, e.g. family, schools.
* Worked in a service where agreed targets are in place which demonstrate clinical outcomes.
* Experience of multi‑agency or multi‑disciplinary working.
* Experience of triaging CAMHS referrals.
Skills & Abilities
* Advanced interpersonal and verbal and written communication skills.
* Skills in conducting clinical risk assessments with young people in crisis.
* Skills in at least one recognised therapeutic approach used in CAMH services.
* Willingness and ability to participate as independent practitioner in assessments.
* Motivated towards personal and professional development.
* Knowledge of a range of clinical conditions typically presenting to CAMH services.
* Knowledge of a range of therapeutic modalities used in CAMH services.
* Sound knowledge of the Trust's and Local Safeguarding policy and procedures.
* Awareness of systems of service delivery and pathways in a community CAMHS.
Other
* Recognise people's right to privacy and dignity, treating every person with respect.
* Willingness to embrace integrated models and new ways of working.
* Willingness to be flexible in approach and attitude.
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.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
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