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.
Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video
Job overview
The post-holder will be a post-graduate qualified psychological practitioner ( clinical psychologist, family therapist, child and adolescent psychotherapist) fully registered with the appropriate professional or regulatory body ( HCPC, ACP, AFT).
The post-holder will provide clinical leadership and specialist treatment and assessment within their professional sphere of expertise in CAMHS. They will be responsible for assessment, treatment and systematic outcome measurement and the extensive clinical supervision of junior clinicians throughout the CAMHS team. They will clinically supervise, and line manage the (8a) postgraduate qualified psychological practitioner in the local CAMHS team. The post holder will offer extensive expert consultations across the CAMHS team. The post holder will be accountable for their own professional actions and will work within professional ethics & Trust Policies as a specialist.
The post-holder will establish and maintain excellent working relationships with wider mental health and wellbeing services and ensure adherence to evidence-based treatments by all clinical staff across the B&D CAMHS team.
Our Values 2025 - 2030
Working with our colleagues, patients and carers we have co-produced three new values that we aim to embed within our culture here at NELFT.
They are:
1. We are kind.
2. We are respectful.
3. We work together with our communities.
These three values help us to strive to provide the best care by the best people.
Main duties of the job
1. To provide an efficient, effective, comprehensive and specialist psychological service for children and adolescents with emotional and mental health problems, their carers/parents and families
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.To undertake a range of highly specialist clinical work, urgent assessment work, parenting support and specialist cases.
4.To provide extensive expert supervision and consultation on CAMHS cases to other multidisciplinary staff within CAMHS, including junior medical staff.
5.To contribute to audit and research
6.To actively engage in treatment and outcome monitoring, including the use of normed measures associated with CYP-IAPT
7.To work in clinical practice, making use of supervision, within the overall framework CAMHS and the Trust’s policies and procedures
8.To clinically supervise, and line manage the (8a) post-graduate qualified psychological practitioner in the local CAMHS team.
9.The post holder will offer extensive expert consultations across the CAMHS team.
10.The post holder will support other pathways in the absence of other pathway leads.
Working for our organisation
Starting with NELFT
NELFT place 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 in 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).
High Cost Area Supplement - London
This post attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (minimum payment of £4,551 and a maximum payment of £5,735 per annum).
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
1.The post-holder will provide clinical leadership within the sphere of their professional expertise.
2.To actively promote integrated health/care professional working internally and externally
3.To facilitate the development of a positive and ‘supportive’ team culture by taking responsibility for dealing effectively with potential conflict
4.To take an active interest in working parties and groups within the Trust to develop and improve on service delivery, protocols and guidelines.
5.To participate in QI projects and audit process within the team, linking in with the clinical governance agenda.
6.To advise, encourage and share knowledge utilising the latest research and practice development, through literature and peer reviews.
7.They will ensure that a high quality, timely, accessible and evidence-based service is available to all service users who need it and who use it across B&D CAMHS.
Please see the attached job description and person specification for further details on this vacancy.
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.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
4. Post-graduate qualified psychological practitioner ( psychologist, family therapist, child and adolescent psychotherapist
Knowledge
Essential criteria
5. High level knowledge of the theory and practice of short term and long term clinical interventions in CAMHS
6. Knowledge of legislation in relation to children and adolescents and safeguarding procedures and policies
7. Knowledge of NHS, Social Care and Education structures, national policies and frameworks, evidence based practice including NICE guidelines
8. Knowledge of risk management and ability to monitor and assess risk and act accordingly to ensure safety.
9. Knowledge of research methodology and outcome research methodology and outcome research design
Skills
Essential criteria
10. Ability to communicate clearly and effectively highly complex and sensitive matters to patients
11. Ability to integrate complex clinical information into a coherent formulation
12. Specialist skill in the ability to communicate effectively, verbally and in writing complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional
13. Ability to tolerate anxiety
14. Ability to use outcome monitoring across all clinical work.
15. Ability to conduct audit and take part in Quality improvement projects
Experience
Essential criteria
16. Extensive experience of working with difficult, challenging children/young people requiring skilled and complex interventions
17. Extensive experience of working with children and adolescents with co -morbid difficulties and special needs
18. Extensive experience of working therapeutically with parents/carers/families of children and young people with complex mental health problems
19. Extensive experience of multidisciplinary working in eating disorders services for children and adolescents
20. Experience of carrying out generic and specific assessments in CAMHS
21. Extensive experience of providing specialist individual interventions with a wide variety of children and young people, from 3 to 19 years old - presenting problems at the most severe end of the spectrum.
22. Experience of initiating, organising and planning inter -agency meetings
23. Experience of providing professional teaching and training for other professionals
24. Extensive experience of clinical supervision of post -graduate qualified psychological practitioners
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:
25. 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.
26. A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto 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.
27. 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.
28. Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.