Job overview
This is an exciting new post offering opportunities for an experienced b7 psychologist or a newly qualified psychologist to work across the whole of Croydon CAMHS and obtain exceptionally varied experience of front line referral services, assessment and intervention work with children presenting with a range of complex mental health difficulties and supervision of Assistant psychologists. The post is split between the Croydon Single Point of Contact team (SPOC) which oversees all incoming referrals to CAMHS - and the specialist treatment team.
The post-holder will undertake initial psychosocial assessments, risk assessments and contingent planning for children and young people referred to the Croydon CAMHS and support a team of assistant psychologists undertaking initial assessments of children and adolescents referred for Autism diagnostic assessments, to reach decisions on assessment pathways.
The CAMHS specialist treatment team, offer assessments and interventions to children and young people with moderate to severe mental health problems and the post holder will hold a case load within that team, offering specialist interventions including CBT.
Main duties of the job
Supporting the work of SPOC:
1- processing new referrals on behalf of the teams in Croydon CAMHS.
2- Making and supporting others to make meaningful clinical contacts with children, young people, and their families. This contact may include initial psychosocial assessments, supporting decision making in relation to pathways for further assessments and interventions and offering brief psychoeducational interventions. In some cases it will involve redirecting the referrals to appropriate services outside of CAMHS.
3- liaising with referrers ( GPs, schools, social workers, A&Es, etc)
4- working with the MDT in the identification of the right care pathways for the children and young people referred.
5- participating in clinical decision meetings.
6- participating in their own supervision and supervising junior staff.
7- liaising with other agencies as appropriate.
Supporting the Treatment team:
1. Providing assessments and evidence based interventions for children and young people with moderate to severe mental health problems.
2. As required to provide specialist neuropsychological/cognitive assessments.
3. Offering a Psychology perspective within the multidisciplinary team
4. Supporting Assistant psychologists in the treatment team and where appropriate supervising a Clinical Psychologist in training.
5. Contributing to all aspects of the MDT working, including participation in audits and service related projects.
Working for our organisation
We are committed to ensuring our staff get the most out of their benefits package and understand the importance of a healthy work life balance. There is an extensive range of excellent benefits for you and your family. We want you to feel like you are part of a close knit team at SLaM. It’s important to us that you valued and appreciated and that are why we have a comprehensive benefits package on offer
Some of our benefits are highlighted here:
6. Generous pay, pensions and leave, we offer a comprehensive pay, pensions and leave package which is dependent on the role and length of service.
7. Work life balance, flexible working and support a range of flexible options, such as: part-time working and job sharing.
8. Career development, There are plenty of opportunities to progress your career and we support your development through a number of programmes such as mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership and other talent programmes
9. Car lease, our staff benefits from competitive deals to lease cars
10. Accommodation, our staff benefits from keyworker housing available which is available on selected sites
11. NHS discounts, with discounts up to 10% from a variety of well-known retail brands though Health Service Discounts website. Other benefits include:
12. Counselling services
13. Wellbeing events
14. Long service awards
15. Cycle to work scheme
16. Season ticket loan
17. Childcare vouchers
18. Staff restaurants
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Conducting initial psychosocial assessments, risk assessments and agreeing contingent plans with children and young people
Working in collaboration with supervisor, service user, carers and MDT in assessing needs, planning and implementing care
Taking responsibility for care delivery in a specific area and maintaining a safe therapeutic environment
A good understanding and some experience of the following: Group, individual and family work, multi-disciplinary work, clinical governance and audit and the process of clinical supervision in CAMHS
A good working knowledge of the following: Mental health disorders in children and adolescents
Difficulties common to Looked After Children e.g. attachment difficulties
Key legislation relevant to CAMHS setting: The Children Act 1989, 2004 .All applicants will require a professional training and relevant CAMHS experience in combination with professional registration with one of the following statutory bodies: the Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC), Health Professional's Council (HPC), Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP), The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)ental Health Act 1983, Human Rights Act 1998 and Mental Capacity Act 2005
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
19. •Entry-level qualification in Applied Psychology (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level additional training) that has been accepted by the HCPC for purposes of professional registration. Applications from those expecting to qualify in 2025 will be considered. (A/I)
Experience
Essential criteria
20. experience of working in a Community CAMHS service as a practitioner or trainee.
21. Working in collaboration with supervisor, service user, carers and MDT in assessing needs, planning and implementing care
22. Taking responsibility in collaboration with supervisor for care delivery in a specific area and maintaining a safe therapeutic environment
23. Experience of undertaking neuropscyhological/cognitive assessment
Desirable criteria
24. Experience of working as a case manager in child and adolescent mental health sector
25. Evidence of good practice in child and adolescent mental health assessments, assessments of behaviour and performance, family functioning
26. Working with families in a multi-racial urban environment
Skills
Essential criteria
27. Ability to work under pressure
28. Ability to be ‘reflective’ in therapeutic practice and adapt practice from this reflection
29. Demonstrate an ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team
30. Good written and verbal presentation skills
Desirable criteria
31. Skill in using a specific therapy in practice
Knowledge
Essential criteria
32. A good working knowledge of Mental health disorders in children and adolescents
33. A good working knowldege of key legislation relevant to CAMHS setting
34. Assessment of risk and management of risk factors
35. The principles underlying confidentiality and information sharing
36. The principles of clinical governance and practice
Desirable criteria
37. Relevant research and its application to assessment, treatment and case management of CAMH disorders
38. Research informed and evidence based methods of assessment, treatment and case management