Joining #TeamNELFT means you'll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We're CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.
The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for three consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.
Job overview
NELFT is the largest provider of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) in England. Our Southend, Essex and Thurrock services cover 144 schools currently. We currently cover 48% of secondary and primary schools within Southend, Essex and Thurrock.
The MHST delivers evidence-based individual and group interventions in educational settings for children experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties aged 4 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 Locality Clinical Lead will be responsible for the caseload management & supervision of MHST practitioners. The post holder will work with and support the MHST Operational Manager in developing teams across the locality to support the delivery of Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) skills and facilitate wider service transformation within the local children's mental health system. The training, supervision and service experience will equip the MHST staff with the necessary knowledge, attitude and capabilities to operate effectively in an inclusive, value-driven service.
This post requires the successful applicant to work agilely between NELFT sites and educational settings. The ability to work independently is an important factor. Some travel around the county is also expected. The nominated base for Mid Essex is Stapleford House in Chelmsford.
Main duties of the job
1. To oversee the assessment, formulation and intervention plans for children, young people (CYP) and families/carers being supported by the MHSTs drawing on a range of psychological theories and guided by evidence-based practice.
2. Working in partnership with schools to support CYP and families in the context of mild to moderate mental health difficulties, to work towards agreed goals.
3. To undertake accurate assessment of risk to self and others.
4. To be able to design, adapt and modify clinical materials (e.g. guided self-help interventions, group content) to meet the needs of different clinical populations for approval of the senior team (e.g. SEN, ASC).
5. 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.
6. Provide a range of information and support to schools for evidence-based psychological treatments in a variety of media.
7. To provide joint specialist mental health assessments and interventions for schools, parents, CYP with the EMHP supervisees.
8. Demonstrating excellent leadership, communication and collaboration throughout the service.
9. To support the strategic and practical development of the MHST initiative within the service and wider children's mental health system, under the direction of the Clinical Lead, Education Lead & Head of Service.
Working for our organisation
Starting with NELFT
NELFT places a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process, new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop-in sessions focusing on engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.
Probationary Period
This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).
Use of AI
Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.
Certificates of Sponsorship
Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points-based system.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The MHST covers a large geographical area incorporating the districts of Braintree, Chelmsford and Maldon. 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 recognise 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 (CPD) and are keen to support our staff to grow and progress.
Person specification
Experience
Essential criteria
* Experience of working in community mental health settings.
* Minimum two years post-qualification experience.
Desirable criteria
* Experience of working with/in schools.
* Experience of clinical leadership.
* Minimum of 2 years experience of supervising staff.
* Trained as a NELFT safeguarding supervisor.
Qualification
Essential criteria
* Qualified & Registered Mental Health Practitioner, Psychologist, Family Therapist, Psychotherapist, Nurse, CBT Therapist, Educational Psychologist.
* Registered with the relevant governing body (e.g., NMC, BABCP, UKCP, HCPC).
* Professional training in an evidence-based therapeutic approach applicable to working with children, young people and families.
Desirable criteria
* Successful completion of CYP-IAPT Supervision course.
* Postgraduate qualification in Mental Health.
Knowledge
Essential criteria
* Ability to form excellent working relationships with colleagues and work flexibly with others in multidisciplinary and multi-agency settings.
* Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice.
Desirable criteria
* Has an excellent understanding around MHSTs and Education settings.
Skills
Essential criteria
* Confident speaking with a range of audiences in different settings including education settings.
* Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of multi-media materials suitable for presentations with clients and/or professionals.
* Ability to adapt, prioritise and effectively manage allocated caseload and service needs.
Benefits
We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:
* A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long-term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
* A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work-life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our efforts to support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a 'Top 10 Family Friendly Employer' from the Working Families Charity.
* Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
* Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.
Supporting our Armed Forces
We recognise the valuable contribution that the Armed Forces community makes to our organisation. We have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and achieved Gold Award under the Armed Forces Employer Recognition Scheme. We have supportive policies, guaranteed interview schemes for veterans, reservists and military spouses, and give additional leave to our Reservists so that they can attend their annual camp.
Equal opportunities employer
We are committed to equal opportunities and diversity and positively encourage applications from all sections of the community regardless of any protected characteristic.
We are a Disability Confident employer and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with disabilities. If you require this application in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape please contact the recruitment team on 0300 300 1530 or email recruitment@nelft.nhs.uk.
Correspondence with us
You are advised to regularly check your emails (including any junk mail/spam folders) for correspondence related to this post.
As part of our recruitment process, we may be required to share information you provide on the application form with NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) and/or other organisations for the purpose of the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of fraud or any other unlawful activity affecting the NHS. We also use third party providers to check and verify your qualifications who may be contacting you on our behalf to verify the same.
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
* Locality Clinical Lead (PDF, 492.4KB)
* NELFT Application - Hints and Tips (PDF, 38.4KB)
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