Job summary
- Main area
- Paediatrics
- Grade
- Band 8a
- Contract
- Fixed term: 6 months (Limited Term Project)
- Hours
- Part time - 15 hours per week
- Job ref
- 391-NMUH-7320234
- Employer
- Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- North Middlesex University Hospital
- Town
- London
- Salary
- £61,631 - £68,623 Inclusive of Outer HCAS pro-rata, per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 22/08/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Mental Health Champion (Acute Paediatric Setting)
Band 8a
Our trust has over 17,000 staff serving 2 million patients every year. It comprises Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital, North Middlesex University Hospital and more than 30 services in the community. This larger scale organisation provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to continue our pioneering work, particularly in finding ways to deliver even better care to our patients.
Our mission is to deliver world class care and expertise in our clinical services, underpinned by world class teaching and research and we will continue to measure our progress against our five governing objectives: excellent outcomes, excellent patient and staff experience, excellent value for taxpayers’ money, being safe and meeting our external duties, and building a strong organisation.
Everyone is welcome at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. We're proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME, gender equality, staff carers and people with disabilities and lived experiences to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.
Click here to view our video Welcome to the Royal Free
Job overview
We are seeking to appoint a dynamic and enthusiastic candidate to the position of Mental Health Champion - Paediatric Acute Setting, to join our Paediatric Senior Medical Team.
The post holder would work 15x hours per week and this role would be perfect for a Nursing or AHP professional seeking to expand or commence a specialist role within the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) provision.
Please see the job description and the person specification for further details
Main duties of the job
The national CYP Mental Health and CYP Transformation Programme teams jointly released funding in 2023/24 to enable systems to come together to collectively support CYP with mental health needs who present in acute paediatric settings, as well as supporting the clinical teams that manage these patients. One of the initiatives NHSE is funding is the establishment of Mental Health Champion in each provider that admits children and young people by Autumn 2023/24 to ensure that all children are appropriately supported in paediatric settings, with parity of esteem for mental health.
The Trust is expected to use the funding to establish at least one Mental Health Champion at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust. The Trust will recruit to the role a senior clinician who can admit children and young people to a paediatric ward, and/or who holds clinical responsibility for children and young people in acute settings in the provider that admits paediatric patients. This is likely to be a Paediatrician, senior paediatric nurse, or senior paediatric allied health professional.
These Mental Health Champion roles have long been advocated for by NCEPOD, RCPCH and others, and have existing equivalents in other paediatric priority areas, such as the named Safeguarding Lead and Diabetes Clinical Lead. They are not intended to provide a greater share of clinical care but to carve dedicated space for a lead professional to drive vital work forward around.
Working for our organisation
NMUH North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Hospital Trust (NMUH) is one of London’s busiest healthcare providers, providing hospital care and community services for the 350,000 people living in Enfield, Haringey and beyond. Our specialist services include HIV, cardiology, blood disorders, diabetes, fertility, sickle cell and thalassemia. In addition to a full range of cancer diagnosis and treatment services, the Helen Rollason Cancer Support Centre is based on-site and provides services to support cancer patients’ wellbeing. We also provide community services and have a dedicated 0-19 service for children and young people in Enfield so that they can get the best possible start in life. This includes health visitors and school nurses who are delivering the national Healthy Child Programme, which provides a structured framework for the delivery of key interventions to support the health and wellbeing of children and families from 0 to 5 and school aged children from 5-19. The 0-19 service aims to improve pathways and partnerships with services in the hospital and deliver excellent care for the children and families. For more information, please access the following link: https://www.northmid.nhs.uk/
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
A full list of duties and responsibilities will be found within the job description and requirements for the role can be found within the person specification.
Person specification
Education & Qualifications
Essential criteria
- First level health-related part 8, or 15).
- Evidence of master’s level study.
- Post registration qualification appropriate to speciality.
- Degree or Diploma in appropriate AHP role.
- Registration with the HCPC or RCN as applicable.
- Teaching and assessing qualification.
- Degree in health-related subject.
- Evidence of continuous professional development /management training.
Desirable criteria
- Recent attendance on leadership programme.
- Child Protection Training.
- PNA or BCS Facilitator.
Skills & Abilities
Essential criteria
- Ability to lead and motivate.
- Highly developed communications skills (interpersonal, negotiation, liaison, written and presentation skills).
- Developing and implementing policies, guidelines, and projects from initiation to completion.
- Extensive experience of organising, writing, and delivering in-service training programmes.
- Computer literacy.
- Advising and influencing senior managers in relation to risk management and quality improvement.
- Ability to prioritise, meet tight deadlines and work independently.
- Positive and effective team member and leader.
Experience
Essential criteria
- Significant experience in a senior Paediatric leadership post.
- Significant CAMHS experience in an acute/non-acute Paediatric Setting.
- Experience managing complex BCYP cases with significant safeguarding challenges.
- Evidence of collaborative professional networking beyond organisational level; i.e., CYP Mental Health teams, local authorities, and social services.
- Demonstrable success in managing change.
- Experience with the introduction of evidence-based practice.
- Prior experience managing risk and governance issues within a Paediatric setting.
Desirable criteria
- Experience obtained in more than one clinical setting.
- Research experience.
- Audit experience.
- Prior experience in writing reports as needed by the service.
- Networking across local systems both regionally and nationally.
- Leading case-based discussions and debriefs surrounding challenging cases.
Personal Qualities
Essential criteria
- Enthusiastic and motivated.
- Good interpersonal skills.
- Professional approach to work.
- Accountability – Takes responsibility for own actions and promotes good team working.
- Openness – Shares information and good practice appropriately.
- Mutual respect – Treats others with courtesy and respect.
- Willing to work a varied rota pattern including day/night shifts, weekends, and bank holidays.
Other Requirements
Essential criteria
- Ability to work in a hospital setting.
- Ability to form good working relationships with others in a multidisciplinary setting.
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
- Ability to teach and train others and present the work of child and adolescent psychotherapists within public, professional and academic settings.
- Basic IT skills including word processing, use of email and internet.
- Interest and ability to contribute to service development.
- Ability to work in a hospital setting and the capacity to tolerate the emotional impact of working with children with distressing and life-threatening illnesses.
Trust Values
Essential criteria
- • Demonstrable ability to meet Trust values
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.
Application numbers
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Joanna West
- Job title
- Associate Director of Nursing
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0208 887 4672
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