Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical 

• To communicate to the client and family, knowledge of therapeutic processes, confidentiality and available options involved in their assessment and care plan, to enable them to engage appropriately from a position of informed consent. This will sometimes include communication about highly sensitive material and outcomes.
• Utilising analytical skills, specialist knowledge and experience provide a comprehensive assessment and formulation of the presenting problem taking into account the child’s educational attainment, chronological/ developmental stage, inner world/ emotional wellbeing, the mental health of the child’s parents, the family dynamics and environment, and the broader social context including health and school.
• Develop a planned programme of intervention utilising behavioural, cognitive, psychodynamic and systemic perspectives as indicated by the formulation, the needs of the client and the evidence base.
• Provide individual, couple, family and group interventions as appropriate as part of a client's integrated, therapeutic programme.
• Undertake with supervision/consultation, case management of cases of some severity, risk and complexity, co-ordinating multi-disciplinary inputs and working in partnership with other agencies where appropriate.
• Identify potential signs of mental health disorder/other specialist need and refer to the appropriate professional for assessment.

 Responsibility for patient/client care

• To communicate to the client and family, knowledge of therapeutic processes, confidentiality and available options involved in their assessment and care plan, to enable them to engage appropriately from a position of informed consent. This will sometimes include communication about highly sensitive material and outcomes.
• Utilising analytical skills, specialist knowledge and experience provide a comprehensive assessment and formulation of the presenting problem taking into account the child’s educational attainment, chronological/ developmental stage, inner world/ emotional wellbeing, the mental health of the child’s parents, the family dynamics and environment, and the broader social context including school.
• Develop a planned programme of intervention utilising behavioural, cognitive, psychodynamic and systemic perspectives as indicated by the formulation, the needs of the client and the evidence base.
• Provide individual, couple, family and group interventions as appropriate as part of a client's integrated, therapeutic programme.
• Undertake with supervision/consultation, case management of cases of some severity, risk and complexity, co-ordinating multi-disciplinary inputs and working in partnership with other agencies where appropriate.
• Provide 9 - 5 emergency cover under supervision/consultation as agreed, for referrals of children at risk of self-harming.
• Identify potential signs of mental health disorder/other specialist need and refer to the appropriate professional for assessment.

Responsibility for policy/service development

• Maintain comprehensive clinical notes and consultation records in accordance with trust policies and procedure.
• Contribute to the development, implementation, evaluation and monitoring of the Service Group’s operational policies and procedures.
• Participate in MDT and multi-agency meetings
• Share responsibility with other team members, as appropriate, for implementing service developments.
• Contribute to the management of workloads of appropriate staff within the framework of the Service Group policies and procedures.
• Contribute to the delivery of national and local priorities as set out in the Trust’s corporate objectives. 

Responsibility for research and development (detail below)

• Utilise theory, literature and research to support evidence-based practice
• Participate in agreed research activities and carry out specific research projects within own specialist area.
• Undertake specific project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, as requested
• Utilise patient electronic record data for the implementation of audit and service delivery purposes to inform service developments.
• Provide appropriate statistical returns as required. 

Supervision and Consultation

• Provide consultation/training to professionals from other services, under supervision, and where appropriate.
• Undertake regular clinical supervision/consultation with a supervisor/consultant agreed with the professional lead.

Audit and Research 

• Ensure use of best practice in all work, utilising the evidence base where available.
• Participate in regular team meetings.
• Undertake regular audit and evaluation of work under supervision.
• Record audit and evaluation outcomes in portfolio.

Management 

• Manage own workload ensuring appropriate balance of clinical and non-clinical work and of case mix.
• Maintain comprehensive clinical notes and consultation records in accordance with trust policies and procedures.
• Participate in team business meeting.
• Participate in service development.
• Undertake responsibility for delegated aspects of service management with the agreement of the professional head and the team manager.

 Professional

•  Maintain professional registration and clinical accreditation.
• Maintain a high standard of all work undertaken.
• Make effective use of regular clinical supervision/consultation.
• Participate in regular professional group meetings.
• Undertake continued professional development with the support of an identified professional supervisor.
• Maintain a portfolio of workplace learning as well as other learning outlined in the MHP portfolio manual.

This is not an exhaustive list of duties; its contents will be subject to review at regular intervals in consultation with the post-holder.