Senior CAMHS Link Worke

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West London NHS Trust provides a full range of mental health, community and physical healthcare services for children, adults and older people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow.

We also provide some specialist services that are commissioned regionally, such as our medium secure services; and nationally, such as the Cassel Hospital for people with complex and severe personality disorder and our high secure services at Broadmoor Hospital.

Job overview

This is a key role in promoting and improving health, wellbeing, and care outcomes for children, young people and their families, who have been identified as needing additional support, including transitional from Children's Mental Health or other support services.

The role involves engaging local based community services, to aid their mental health recovery and encourage meaningful engagement within their local community, with an emphasis on identified resources to support young individuals into adulthood such as further education, volunteering, and other life skills. This includes providing Early Intervention strategies and signposting to ensure needs are met.

The role also involves carrying out brief assessments with prospective clients who have been identified as requiring support from our service, signposting to agreed and appropriate community resources, making additional referrals, escalating any identified safety or safeguarding concerns appropriately, and feeding back as necessary to the wider team.

A key part of the role is to develop a live register of assets in the community that could be useful to people on the caseload who would benefit and to work with other post- holders on a system-wide asset-based register, as well as fostering strong relationships and keeping the lines of communication open with our community partners paying specific interest to those that are relevant and of benefit to the age of 18 and meeting cultural needs where applicable.

Main duties of the job

• Create an assessment tool for brief intervention to identify needs
• Identify existing community / voluntary organisations working to improve mental health and well-being for children and young people to signpost and advise
• Supervise and line manage Link Workers (0.2WTE) to develop a system for assessment and tracking
• Support clients to understand the range of options available to them in the community and how to escalate to Specialist CAMHS where needed
• Ensure clients are supported to make choices and access the services identified
• Oversee a case load of specific clients, and act as a contact for these clients and any related professionals and members of the client's network of support, in accordance with clients' consent and data protection policies
• Document client work and ensure that it is recorded in appropriate electronic records
• Respond to crisis, safeguarding, and domestic violence incidents effectively, seeking advice and escalating concerns where appropriate to your clinical line manager

Working for our organisation

West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse healthcare providers in the UK, delivering a range of mental health and physical healthcare and community services. The Trust runs Broadmoor Hospital, one of three high secure hospitals in the country, with an international reputation.

Our high secure services care for patients from South of England and we provide low and medium secure services across eight London boroughs. The Trust also provides mental and physical healthcare in three London boroughs (Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham). We employ 4,500 staff, of whom 56% are BME. Our turnover for 2023-24 is £426m.

The Trust is rated as 'Good' overall by the Care Quality Commission. Forensic services are rated as 'Outstanding'.

The Trust is an established partner and contributor in the development of the evolving North West London Integrated Care System and the Integrated Care Board. The Trust leads the NW London Children and Adolescent Mental Health provider collaborative.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

CAMHS is a fast growing, friendly and proactive service. We offer staff benefits which are outlined in the candidate pack and a great level of job satisfaction.

The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required and the link below will also provide useful information.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services staff share their stories of working for the NHS. (youtube.com)

Person specification

Qualifications and Training

Essential criteria

• Demonstrable commitment to professional and personal development appropriate to the role in order to ensure competency and the Experience of partnership/collaborative working and of building relationships across organisations execution of best clinical practice.

Desirable criteria

• NVQ level 3 or working towards an equivalent qualification in a relevant subject area or demonstrable equivalent experience.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of 1:1 client work One year or more experience of working or volunteering in mental health services
• Experience of managing staff and providing clinical supervision
• Experience of partnership/collaborative working and of building relationships across organisations

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Knowledge of the local community
• A good broad understanding of mental health challenges in CAMHS
• A good awareness of different models of understanding of mental health
• A good awareness of current issues in policy and practice in mental health
• A good understanding of primary, secondary care and third sector mental health services
• Thorough understanding of co-production and recovery principles
• Thorough understanding of the principles of good customer service
• Thorough understanding of good practice in person-centred client work
• Thorough understanding of equal opportunities with particular emphasis on how it applies to users of mental health services
• An understanding of the principles of good partnership working
• Good level of computer skills with knowledge of Word and Excel and ability to input information, use an email system and produce simple plans/reports

Skills

Essential criteria

• Ability to work at evenings and weekends, sometimes at short notice, when required to meet work demands
• Ability to implement equal opportunities through anti-discriminatory practice
• Strengths-based recovery approach to client work and person centred practice
• Ability to maintain confidentiality
• Ability to demonstrate personal accountability for your work to your manager

As an employee of West London NHS Trust, you have a responsibility to maintain a sound understanding of, and a commitment to uphold the National Health Service values and principles set out in the NHS Constitution.

We reserve the right to close adverts prior to the closing date stated should we receive a high volume of applications.

By applying for this post you are agreeing to West London NHS Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, you will be required to undergo a pre-employment checks which can take between 4-8 weeks . After which your information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system (ESR ).

Please ensure you include email addresses for your referees which MUST be at supervisory or managerial capacity covering the last 3 years of employment to date to avoid delay in the recruitment process.

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).

West London NHS Trust is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

• JD & PS (PDF, 1.2MB)