CAMHS Practitioner

This exciting and innovative role sits at the heart of CAMHS, helping to ensure children, young people and families receive the right support, at the right time, in the right place.

As a CAMHS Specialist Practitioner, you will play a pivotal role in enhancing patient flow, reducing delays in care, and supporting smooth transitions across services. Combining specialist clinical expertise with strong coordination and system-navigation skills, you will work collaboratively with children, young people, families, multidisciplinary colleagues and partner agencies to ensure timely access to care, effective discharge planning and positive clinical outcomes.

The role offers a unique opportunity to influence pathways across CAMHS, driving efficient, high-quality and person-centred care while maintaining a strong clinical focus.

Main duties of the job

• Lead on the coordination of patient flow across the CAMHS community pathways, ensuring timely access and discharge planning.
• Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams to identify barriers to discharge and implement solutions.
• Support and advise teams on recording care pathways effectively on epjs and monitor recording reports.
• Monitor caseloads, length of stay, last contacts and service capacity to support effective resource allocation and reduce waiting times.
• Liaise with external agencies and services to facilitate smooth transitions and continuity of care.
• Provide clinical oversight and support to practitioners managing complex discharge cases.
• With senior colleagues, evaluate and review the therapeutic strategic outcomes for the team and set aims and objectives and the monitor practice to assure quality standards of care.
• Establish and maintain evidence-based practice in the assessment and treatment of young people in crisis or needing intensive and/or crisis intervention.

Job responsibilities

• Assume responsibility for own case list and case management of children, adolescents and families who are determined to be at high risk.
• Provide primary CAMHS assessments, other specialist assessments and risk assessments to identify and diagnose the cause of emotional and behavioural problems in children and young people.
• Formulate care plans, based on the primary CAMHS assessment. Design, write and share a copy of the care plan with children, young people and their carers.
• Carry out the care plan using evidence-based models of psychological and psychotherapeutic interventions.
• Participate and lead in joint complex assessments with other disciplines and other agencies and provide reports for referrers, families and other agencies as required, including 'witness of fact' court reports where appropriate.
• Assess safeguarding issues for each case and refer concerns to Child Protection teams.
• Maintain good relationships and clear lines of communication with other professional agencies and departments, providing specialist advice and support where appropriate.

Person Specification

• First level nursing qualification/registration RMN or RSCN or HV
• First level qualification in art, play, or drama therapy with related experience in the psychological aspects of caring for children and adolescent with mental health problems/needs, developmental/ learning disability problems
• Experience of working in a multidisciplinary team as a specialist practitioner in a mental health setting.
• Experience of undertaking crisis mental health assessments.
• Evidence of experience of clinical governance and audit and the process of clinical supervision