NELFT North East London Foundation Trust
Mental Health Support Teams are a government initiative following the NHS long term plans for transformation of Children and Young People's Mental Health Services. NELFT is the largest provider of Mental Health Support Teams in England. Our Southend, Essex, and Thurrock services cover 144 schools. The service is developing and expanding with an aim to cover all secondary schools in locality by September 2025. The MHSTs deliver evidence-based individual and group interventions in educational settings for children experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties aged 5 to 18 years old. The teams also have a strong focus on whole school approaches to improve mental health outcomes for children and young people.
The North East Essex Mental Health Support Team (MHST) covers a large geographical area incorporating the districts of Colchester and Tendring. We are an early intervention and prevention evidence-based service and as a team, we are supportive and passionate in what we deliver. We are a friendly team of professionals who come from multidisciplinary backgrounds. We recognize the needs for a healthy work-life balance, and we will consider flexible working applications in line with the trust policies and process. We encourage Continual Professional Development and are keen to support our staff to grow and progress.
Our locality covers a large area so you will need access to a vehicle and have the ability to travel efficiently across the county.
Main duties of the job
The role requires a post-graduate qualified psychological practitioner (e.g. clinical psychologist, counselling psychologist) fully registered with HCPC.
The post holder will be an effective team member using their own initiative, supporting their peers and team lead. They will ensure that a high-quality, timely, accessible, and evidence-based service is available to all service users who need it throughout the MHST.
The post-holder will be directly involved in delivering and supervising a range of therapeutic interventions, which may include parent work, group work, school observations of children, and short-term psychological treatments.
Working under the direction of the Locality Clinical Lead, the post-holder will also be responsible for liaising directly with schools, conducting annual needs assessments with education setting management and planning the needs-led programme for working with the setting on their whole-school and -college approach (WSCA) to mental health and wellbeing.
The Clinical/Counselling Psychologist in MHST may also be required to complete a postgraduate certificate supervisor training. This training is funded as part of the MHST programme.
This role is suited to a candidate who is keen on service development as well as managing a clinical caseload.
We welcome applications from recently qualified candidates.
Job responsibilities
To provide an efficient, effective, and comprehensive psychological service for children and adolescents with emotional and mental health problems, their carers/parents, and families.
1. Where appropriate to supervise SMHPs and Assistant Psychologists as well as group supervision for a mixture of practitioners within their locality in MHSTs.
2. To contribute to multi-disciplinary assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with emotional and mental health problems, their carers/parents, and families.
3. Working in partnership with schools, to support children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties and their families in the self-management of presenting difficulties.
4. To contribute to audit and research.
5. To actively engage in treatment and outcome monitoring, including the use of normed measures associated with CYP-IAPT.
6. To work in clinical practice, making use of supervision, within the overall framework MHSTs and the Trust's policies and procedures.
7. To oversee the formulation and treatment and management plans for schools, parents, children, and young people being supported by the MHSTs using a range of specialist psychological interventions appropriate to the service; individual and group.
8. To support and empower children, young people, and families to make informed choices about the intervention.
9. To always operate from an inclusive values base which recognizes and respects diversity.
10. Assess and integrate issues relating to transitions, education, and training/employment into the overall therapeutic process.
11. Work in collaboration with children, young people, and communities to enhance and widen access to support health promotion.
12. To be able to travel across the county for supervision, clinical work, and training all travel to be in line with trust policies and procedures relating to expenses and Vehicle registration and insurance.
13. Through close case management and supervision, escalate cases where the level of need becomes beyond scope, or more severe ensuring adherence to other relevant elements of service delivery.
Clinical Skills
1. To act as an autonomous, registered practitioner who is legally and professionally accountable for own unsupervised actions guided by their professional code of conduct and Trust guidelines.
2. To use appropriate clinical understanding in assessing, jointly with colleagues in the multi-disciplinary team, children, adolescents, and their families, working collaboratively to formulate their strengths and difficulties and to determine the most appropriate treatment plan.
3. To provide therapeutic interventions with due regard to issues of cultural, racial and religious difference and sexual orientation.
4. To undertake observations of children in school settings as part of wider assessments.
5. To undertake work with parents/carers/networks of referred children and young people.
6. To provide specialist mental health assessments and interventions for schools, parents, children, and young people if required. The interventions and supports offered will be based on the low intensity evidence-based interventions for the treatment of low mood, anxiety, and behavior problems.
7. To utilize theory, literature, and research to support evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other members of MHST.
Person Specification
Qualification
* Successful completion of a post-graduate Clinical Psychology training
* To be registered or eligible for registration as practitioner psychologist with HCPC
* Experience in CAMHS/CYPMHS
Experience
* Experience of specialist assessment carried out autonomously in order to determine the most appropriate treatment plan from a range of options for the child/young person
* Experience in managing safeguarding concerns and risk to self/others
* Experience in working with children and adolescents with co-morbid difficulties and special needs.
Knowledge
* An awareness of NHS priorities, NSF, and clinical governance priorities
* Knowledge of CYP-IAPT principles and their application in practice
* Knowledge of NHS, Social Care, and Education structures, national policies and frameworks, evidence-based practice including NICE guidelines
Skills
* High-level skills in working with professional networks and the ability to advocate for and advance the mental health needs of parents and their children
* Ability to communicate clearly and effectively highly complex and sensitive matters to patients, which give rise to psychological distress
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.
Job Details
£46,148 to £52,809 a year (pro rata for part time)
Contract
Permanent
Working pattern
Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working, Compressed hours, Term time hours
Reference number
395-EC797-24
Job locations
North East Essex MHST (Covering Colchester and Tendring)
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