Go back Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
CEN Clinical Lead
The closing date is 09 June 2026
As part of Community Transformation, a Complex Emotional Needs Pathway has been developed across the four areas of the Black Country. It focuses on improving experiences and outcomes for our service users who primarily attract a diagnosis of Personality Disorder, who may frequently present with histories of severe trauma and secondary diagnoses add to their complexity. Generic services struggle to engage them, and they present with high risk, leading to repeated and sometimes long-term use of urgent care and in-patient services. We have designed an innovative and psychologically lead virtual multi-disciplinary team, who will both work closely together with the local CMHTs. We offer 'WRAP' around care boosting the provision to these service users. We will also have close links with our four DBT Teams, the Community Enablement and Recovery Team, Assertive Outreach Practitioners and the Recovery College.
We are looking to recruit an experienced and motivated practitioner into our Band 7 CEN Clinical Lead role, to link in, primarily, with Sandwell services but also to support service users across the trust. This is a fantastic opportunity for a registered mental health professional (CPN, OT or Social Worker) to work at a senior level, be involved in service development, leadership whilst sustaining a strong clinical focus.
Main duties of the job
You will be responsible for: targeting and identifying highly complex and risky service users and developing high quality, detailed and formulation driven risk management and care plans. your work will be a combination of engaging with service users themselves and leading and supporting the B6 CEN Practitioners and Recovery Workers. you will liaise tightly with CMHT colleagues to ensure that positive risk management strategies and care plans are carried out with support of our Key Workers. The intensity and frequency of contacts is likely to be high and therefore caseloads low. You will have the opportunity to focus creatively on individuals on your caseload, both receiving and offering supervision and reflective practice and training. You will be expected to engage in regular supervision and be able to tolerate and work with feedback. You will be expected to take up training opportunities in relevant approaches, such as Structured Clinical Management, CBT or DBT. You will be an essential member of the CEN Pathway leadership team, focusing on developing operational, clinical and strategic direction of this new Pathway.
About us
Black Country Healthcare covers three towns and one city, and is home to a highly diverse population, with areas of socio-economic deprivation. we aim to recruit a workforce that is representative of our population and inclusive practice is at the heart of our Trust values, with the aim that everyone has a voice that needs to be heard. We believe in a culture of compassion and strongly promote staff Wellbeing initiatives.
Job responsibilities
Clinical Practice and Clinical Leadership- You will be responsible for targeting high frequency users who have CENs, re-assessing their needs from a Bio-Psycho-Social perspective, working alongside psychologists in formulating their difficulties and developing bespoke and complex risk and safety plans. You will engage service users in 'assertive stabilisation' initially which will often mean being appropriately responsive to crisis situations and tightly liaising with the wider CMHT to ensure a consistent agreed response. You will also be supporting CEN B6 Practitioners, CMHT staff and CEN Recovery Workers engage with service users according to the care plan thus ensuring progress and goals are achieved.
Team Working- you will be part of a Trust wide 'virtual' CEN Team but also be integrated into the two CMHTs in your local area. You will attend MDTs, professionals meetings and case conferences as required, including in-reach to hospital. You will need good communication and people skills and be able to work creatively on improving interface issues whilst managing the pressures this can bring.
Training and Supervision -as part of your job plan you will be required to offer supervision to staff, reflective practice and Trust wide training to support the upskilling of staff in CEN specific ways or working, particularly in addressing stigma.
Leadership & Service Development- you will be integral to the continued development of this new Pathway. This will involve being attuned to the difficulties on the ground, dealing with any complaints, developing and reporting evaluation results, reporting back and being fully involved in growth of the Pathway, in terms of it's clinical and strategic focus.
See Job description and person spec for further info
Person Specification
Skills, Personal Attributes and Trust Values
* Attitudes to working with CENs, good understanding and ability to embody Trust values, suitable character traits appropriate for leadership role and working with Teams and supporting colleagues and carers (3)
* Extra qualifications in coaching, supervision, previous training role. Specific role with working with carers. Lived experience of mental health. (3)
Qualifications
* AHP, Social work or nursing training at degree level, plus appropriate registration, PIN with Nursing Midwifery Council, HCPC registration
* Training in CEN specific approaches or therapies, Master qualifications in nursing approaches, Non medical prescribing etc
Experience and Knowledge
* Minimum of 3 years of experience, experience of working with risk in the community, experience of working with personality disorder, (3)
* Experience of working using PD specific interventions, e.g. SCM or DBT, or working in PD specific services or having had a previous leadership role
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.
Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
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