Senior Clinical Nurse Specialist

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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

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Band 8a Senior Clinical Nurse Specialist to join the West London CAMHS Tri-borough Alliance Service.

We are looking to appoint a Senior Clinical Nurse Specialist who will participate in delivering provision of specialist mental health services to children and young people and their families and carers across the West London NHS Trust 3 Boroughs CAMH Service and crisis pathway, who present in crisis to CAMH Services, hospitals and sites covered by the Alliance Crisis Care Team

The post holder will join a thriving team of supportive, committed and skilled clinicians who are dedicated to changing the future outcomes for children and young people who present to mental health services.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work as an autonomous clinician to provide accessible, high-quality mental health assessment and intervention (including risk assessment and the development of risk management plans) for children and young people that is sensitive to their cultural, ethnic, religious, contextual, family and developmental needs.

The post holder will also provide brief interventions and outreach work to children and young people presenting with acute psychological and mental health problems where intensive support is required to prevent admission to Tier 4 services and to facilitate safe and timely discharges.

The post holder will offer specialist advice and consultation to other professionals across a range of agencies. They will also provide support, clinical supervision and teaching of staff and students.

They will also contribute to the leadership and development of the team and they will have the opportunity to be involved in service development, audit, research and QI projects.

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

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. Please view as attached

The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.

Person specification

Qualifications and Training

Essential criteria

• Degree/diploma in Nursing
• Professional registration with the Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC) RMN.
• Evidence of accredited courses in child and adolescent mental health practice
• MSC level training in a relevant specialist field or appropriate experience
• Mentorship/ teaching and assessing qualification

Desirable criteria

• Relevant management training/ qualification
• Research training / CYP IAPT training
• Non-Medical Prescribing Qualification

Experience

Essential criteria

• Demonstrable qualifying experience of working within a multidisciplinary CAMHS at Band 7 or above.
• Experience of working in a number of ways i.e. assertive outreach, clinic based settings, home, school or other appropriate environments
• Experience of assessing risk and formulating safe and effective risk management plans
• Experience of managing and supervising others in a clinical and performance management context including appraisals
• Experience of developing operational protocols
• Experience of teaching other professionals
• Experience of delivering mental health awareness and bespoke CAMHS training to non CAMHS professionals
• Experience of delivering training to colleagues
• Experience of management of child protection emergencies

Desirable criteria

• Experience of audit and/or research
• Experience of contributing to and implementing new service developments

Core Competencies

Essential criteria

• Able to confidently and competently undertake generic and emergency CAMHS assessments
• Able to confidently and competently undertake specialist assessments relevant to area of practice and develop formulation/understanding of presenting difficulties and strengths by drawing on theoretical models
• Understands developmental issues for children and able to adapt interventions accordingly
• Understands the need for and able to competently assess risk
• Understands individual and service safeguarding responsibilities, policy and procedure
• Understands the elements of effective engagement and can apply these to working practice
• Demonstrates excellent written and verbal communication
• Able to foster strong therapeutic alliances
• Understanding of and commitment to the principles and practices of evidence based interventions
• Understanding of and commitment to service user involvement, patient led care and choice
• Understands the need for and has experience of undertaking family and parenting work as part of CAMHS support
• Understands the importance of assessment that explores and considers individual cultural identity and associated support needs
• Experience of providing consultation and liaison support to colleagues, referral agencies and services responsible for the care, support and wellbeing of service users and their families/carers
• Able to promote self-management and recovery by working with service users and their families to understand their condition and identify and reinforce strengths, resources and coping skills
• Able to work effectively as part of a multi-disciplinary team, actively engaging in and supporting duty and emergency rotas, peer support, training and skills development
• Able to build strong partnerships with external agencies and develop
• Able to confidently and safely plan for and manage change and transition
• Actively uses supervision and opportunities for development of skills

Specialist Competencies

Essential criteria

• Experience of undertaking specialist assessment at a level appropriate to the job
• Specialist assessment and treatment of specific groups (e.g. Neuro-development disorders)
• Understanding of need for and ability to form effective working partnerships with internal and external partners
• Ability to develop and implement clear and robust operational policy and protocol
• Ability to lead the development and implementation of new structures and process that impact on staff at all levels

Desirable criteria

• CBT
• DBT
• Family Therapy
• Group Therapy

Administration and Record Keeping

Essential criteria

• Competent in the use of clinical recording systems such as RIO, JADE and COMMIT
• Understands the process for keeping safe, secure and relevant clinical records
• Understands and is able to use online incident reporting systems.
• Able to use email to support effective communication in line with WLMHT policy
• Able to use Microsoft PowerPoint and other communication methods to support the delivery of high quality, engaging training and presentations

Attitude, Aptitude and Personal Characteristics

Essential criteria

• Able to build constructive relationships with warmth and empathy, using good communication skills
• Treats service users with respect and dignity at all times
• Enthusiastic, flexible and confident approach to working
• Able to prioritise own workload
• Willingness and ability to learn new skills and adapt to change
• Honesty, enthusiasm and a sense of loyalty
• Conducts self in a professional, courteous manner at all times and able to maintain professionalism in an often

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

• AD & JD (PDF, 1.2MB)