Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Key Duties

The post holder will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team to provide urgent assessment and brief intervention to young people in North Somerset who present to A&E in crisis. UCAT provides hospital-based assessments within Weston General Hospital (WGH), and urgent follow-ups to NS young people presenting to hospitals out of area.  

The post holder will work collaboratively with young people, parent/carers and external agencies to complete comprehensive risk assessments, psychosocial formulation and safety planning.

The post holder will advocate for young people as part of a multi-agency network to promote their timely access to appropriate forms of support.

The post holder will be part of the UCAT duty rota (approximately once per week), including taking hospital referrals from WGH and receiving duty calls.

Intensive Outreach: The post holder will form part of an outreach team providing intensive support to young people at-risk of requiring in-patient admission and/or support step-down from in-patient settings.

The post holder will attend weekly MDT meetings and rolling CPD, Wellbeing, Business and Formulation meetings.

The post holder will offer mental health assessment and intervention to young people in a setting suitable to their needs, including home visits, schools/colleges, community and clinic room settings. 

The post holder will form therapeutic relationships with both young people and parent/carers in order to promote engagement whilst managing their expectations in line with the scope of our service   

Responsibilities

The post holder will be responsible for independently managing their caseload under supervision of the Team and Clinical Leads and with support from the MDT

UCAT are required to respond to urgent referrals, the post holder is therefore required to manage the timely transfer and/or discharge of young people from our service, once identified work has been completed, in order to maintain throughput

The post holder will be expected to maintain accurate and professional documentation on the IAPTUS clinical system, IAPTUS training will be provided

The post holder will be supervised by the Team Lead and/or Clinical Lead, and may be required to provide supervision to B4 equivalent colleagues

The post holder will be responsible for attending multi-agency meetings relating to young people on their caseload and may be responsible for representing the team or other clinicians in the event of annual leave, sickness etc.

Working Relationships

The team is co-located with the wider North Somerset CAMHS team and works closely with them to provide Intensive Outreach to young people identified of being at-risk of requiring in-patient admission. The post holder will work with NS CAMHS colleagues, contributing to care planning which clearly identifies roles and responsibilities in a child-friendly manner

UCAT forms part of the wider CAMHS Intensive Outreach Team (CIOT), the post holder will work closely with these colleagues to promote continuity of care for young people and families across services.

The post holder will work collaboratively with young people, families and external agencies to promote the safety of young people, including appropriate escalation of safeguarding concerns via Trust and external safeguarding processes.

The post holder will maintain positive working relations with external agencies in order to promote the transitions of young people between services, including transition to AMHS and signposting to appropriate non-NHS services. 

The post holder will keep young people at the centre of all decision making, empowering them to make informed, collaborative decisions about their care and treatment whilst advocating for their best interests.

Please see attached Job Description for further details.

This post is open to newly qualified social workers. In line with AWP trust policy all newly qualified social workers (NQSW) will be recruited initially at Band 5 level, regardless of advertised role banding.  All NQSW’s are expected to successfully complete their ASYE within 2 years of employment, unless there are exceptional circumstances in which case it may be extended for a further 2 years.

If you have been appointed to an advertised Band 6 role this will be an automatic progression, following confirmation of your successful ASYE completion. If you have been appointed to a Band 5 post you will then be eligible to apply for a subsequent Band 6 vacancy upon successful ASYE completion.