Job summary
- Main area
- Mental Health Practitioner
- Grade
- NHS AFc: Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (M-F 09:00-17:00hrs)
- Job ref
- 334-CLI-7362658
- Employer
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Christopher Wren House
- Town
- Croydon
- Salary
- £53,751 - £60,651 per annum inclusive of Outer HCAs
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 07/09/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Specialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist
NHS AFc: Band 7
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.
We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’.
We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone’s potential as change makers.
The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.
Our Values
We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I’m going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you’ll be part of something special.
As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.
Job overview
This is an exciting new post offering opportunities for an experienced b7 psychologist or a newly qualified psychologist to work across the whole of Croydon CAMHS and obtain exceptionally varied experience of front line referral services, assessment and intervention work with children presenting with a range of complex mental health difficulties and supervision of Assistant psychologists. The post is split between the Croydon Single Point of Contact team (SPOC) which oversees all incoming referrals to CAMHS - and the specialist treatment team.
The post-holder will undertake initial psychosocial assessments, risk assessments and contingent planning for children and young people referred to the Croydon CAMHS and support a team of assistant psychologists undertaking initial assessments of children and adolescents referred for Autism diagnostic assessments, to reach decisions on assessment pathways.
The CAMHS specialist treatment team, offer assessments and interventions to children and young people with moderate to severe mental health problems and the post holder will hold a case load within that team, offering specialist interventions including CBT.
Main duties of the job
Supporting the work of SPOC:
1- processing new referrals on behalf of the teams in Croydon CAMHS.
2- Making and supporting others to make meaningful clinical contacts with children, young people, and their families. This contact may include initial psychosocial assessments, supporting decision making in relation to pathways for further assessments and interventions and offering brief psychoeducational interventions. In some cases it will involve redirecting the referrals to appropriate services outside of CAMHS.
3- liaising with referrers ( GPs , schools, social workers, A&Es, etc)
4- working with the MDT in the identification of the right care pathways for the children and young people referred.
5- participating in clinical decision meetings.
6- participating in their own supervision and supervising junior staff.
7- liaising with other agencies as appropriate.
Supporting the Treatment team:
- Providing assessments and evidence based interventions for children and young people with moderate to severe mental health problems.
- As required to provide specialist neuropsychological/cognitive assessments.
- Offering a Psychology perspective within the multidisciplinary team
- Supporting Assistant psychologists in the treatment team and where appropriate supervising a Clinical Psychologist in training.
- Contributing to all aspects of the MDT working, including participation in audits and service related projects.
Working for our organisation
We are committed to ensuring our staff get the most out of their benefits package and understand the importance of a healthy work life balance. There is an extensive range of excellent benefits for you and your family. We want you to feel like you are part of a close knit team at SLaM. It’s important to us that you valued and appreciated and that are why we have a comprehensive benefits package on offer
Some of our benefits are highlighted here:
- Generous pay, pensions and leave, we offer a comprehensive pay, pensions and leave package which is dependent on the role and length of service.
- Work life balance, flexible working and support a range of flexible options, such as: part-time working and job sharing.
- Career development, There are plenty of opportunities to progress your career and we support your development through a number of programmes such as mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership and other talent programmes
- Car lease, our staff benefits from competitive deals to lease cars
- Accommodation, our staff benefits from keyworker housing available which is available on selected sites
- NHS discounts, with discounts up to 10% from a variety of well-known retail brands though Health Service Discounts website. Other benefits include:
- Counselling services
- Wellbeing events
- Long service awards
- Cycle to work scheme
- Season ticket loan
- Childcare vouchers
- Staff restaurants
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Conducting initial psychosocial assessments , risk assessments and agreeing contingent plans with children and young people
Working in collaboration with supervisor, service user, carers and MDT in assessing needs, planning and implementing care
Taking responsibility for care delivery in a specific area and maintaining a safe therapeutic environment
A good understanding and some experience of the following: Group, individual and family work, multi-disciplinary work, clinical governance and audit and the process of clinical supervision in CAMHS
A good working knowledge of the following: Mental health disorders in children and adolescents
Difficulties common to Looked After Children e.g. attachment difficulties
Key legislation relevant to CAMHS setting: The Children Act 1989, 2004 .All applicants will require a professional training and relevant CAMHS experience in combination with professional registration with one of the following statutory bodies: the Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC) , Health Professional's Council (HPC), Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP), The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)ental Health Act 1983, Human Rights Act 1998 and Mental Capacity Act 2005
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- • Entry-level qualification in Applied Psychology (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level additional training) that has been accepted by the HCPC for purposes of professional registration. Applications from those expecting to qualify in 2025 will be considered. (A/I)
Experience
Essential criteria
- experience of working in a Community CAMHS service as a practitioner or trainee.
- Working in collaboration with supervisor, service user, carers and MDT in assessing needs, planning and implementing care
- Taking responsibility in collaboration with supervisor for care delivery in a specific area and maintaining a safe therapeutic environment
- Experience of undertaking neuropscyhological/cognitive assessment
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working as a case manager in child and adolescent mental health sector
- Evidence of good practice in child and adolescent mental health assessments, assessments of behaviour and performance, family functioning
- Working with families in a multi-racial urban environment
Skills
Essential criteria
- Ability to work under pressure
- Ability to be ‘reflective’ in therapeutic practice and adapt practice from this reflection
- Demonstrate an ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team
- Good written and verbal presentation skills
Desirable criteria
- Skill in using a specific therapy in practice
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- A good working knowledge of Mental health disorders in children and adolescents
- A good working knowldege of key legislation relevant to CAMHS setting
- Assessment of risk and management of risk factors
- The principles underlying confidentiality and information sharing
- The principles of clinical governance and practice
Desirable criteria
- Relevant research and its application to assessment, treatment and case management of CAMH disorders
- Research informed and evidence based methods of assessment, treatment and case management
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
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Sue Goode
- Job title
- Consultant Clinical Psychologist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 02032280000
- Additional information
[email protected] ( Clinical Service Lead for SPOC)
[email protected] ( Clinical Service Lead for Treatment team)
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