Job overview

Dorset HealthCare is excited to announce new vacancies for Trainee Children's Wellbeing Practitioners to work in the new CAMHS Gateway service across the county. This is an excellent opportunity for passionate, flexible, enthusiastic people with the appropriate skills to join a highly motivated and committed team. This is an employment based training role within the forming part of a NHSE, HEE and DoH initiative to expand the metal health workforce offering support to children and young people at a stage of early intervention. 

Successful candidates will be undertaking the Postgraduate Diploma in Brief Evidence-Based Interventions for CYP with Common Mental Health Problems (CWP) by the University of Exeter, beginning in January 2026.

The successful candidates will undertake a 12 month training course at the University of Exeter. During this time, you will be trained under supervision to deliver brief evidence based therapeutic interventions within a stepped care model for children and young people with common mental health problems, including depression and a range of anxiety disorders. 

The post holder will attend all university based taught and self-study days required by the education provider, as specified within the agreed curriculum and work in the service for the remaining days of the week using their newly developed skills.

Candidates must be available to start for a mid January start date. 

Main duties of the job

We are proud to be part of the wider CAMH service in Dorset and all it has achieved in recent years, with its progress and developments being demonstrable. Currently our CAMHS community services are rated Good and our CAMHS inpatient unit is rated as Outstanding. We have been fast tracked by NHSE to deliver New Care Models providing a closer to home crisis home treatment service. We are also part of the national trailblazer to deliver Mental Health Support Teams in schools across an increasing number of pilot sites in Dorset. In addition, NHSE have commissioned Dorset Healthcare to build a new state of the art 8 bed PICU.

The role itself is both demanding and rewarding; a flexible, hardworking approach is essential to managing the demands of a year-long training programme as well as working within the service to provide psychological interventions to young people with mild to moderate common mental health problems . We are looking for people with enthusiasm and passion to join our service. Good administrative, time management and communication skills are also essential. Experience of working within the NHS service or similar organisation is highly desirable.

This is a fixed term role and for those with current NHS service, the role will be offered on a secondment basis only.  Please obtain permission to be released on a secondment before submitting an application.

Working for our organisation

At Dorset HealthCare we’re on a mission to empower people to make the most of their lives through our outstanding, joined-up healthcare services. We’re a dynamic, forward-looking Trust, running 12 community hospitals, specialist inpatient facilities and a wide range of integrated community and mental health services for a population of almost 800,000 people.

We do things differently here – it’s one of the reasons the CQC rated us ‘outstanding’ in 2019. It’s also why 95% of patients across our services say they have a good or very good experience of our services and 89% of staff feel they can really make a difference. Whether you’re looking to work with us in one of our bustling market towns, vibrant urban locations, thriving seaside spots, or among the rolling hills of Dorset, there are lots of ways you can make a difference in our communities.

Our 7,000-strong workforce is at the heart of what we do and our success is a testament to our brilliant people. We're all about building a workplace for the future, we believe in equal opportunities and we celebrate diversity. We’re an inclusive workplace, where everyone is welcome, everyone can be authentic, and we are all encouraged to be the best version of ourselves.

Working with us you’ll be part of a strong team, challenge yourself, build a career, and teach us what we don’t know. And you’ll be working towards our vision to be better every day through excellence, compassion and expertise in all we do.