Child and Adolescent Mental Health Liaison Clinical Nurse Specialist in London

We are pleased to offer the opportunity for a Band 7 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Liaison Nurse to join the Child and Adolescent Psychological Medicine service. You will be joining a vibrant multidisciplinary team providing clinical care to children and young people in a paediatric liaison setting.

The Child and Adolescent Psychological Medicine service was developed to provide multidisciplinary consultation, assessment and treatment for paediatric and adolescent patients with psychological, emotional, behavioural and mental health clinical needs within the University College London Hospitals (UCLH) paediatric and adolescent division. This includes assessment and management of acute mental health crises presenting to the Emergency Department, occurring on wards / Day Care and in out-patient clinics. The number and complexity of these presentations has increased significantly over the last decade.

These posts will predominantly work with this clinical group as a priority, though there is scope to work outside acute crises with UCLH patients requiring mental health interventions. UCLH Paediatrics have inpatient beds based on the 11th and 12th floors of University College Hospital providing general paediatric and adolescent care. Children and young people (CYP) in mental health crisis may be admitted to these wards.

The department is also responsible for local and national referrals for specialist assessment and treatment of children and adolescents in both inpatient and outpatient settings. These services include adolescents with complex comorbid medical and mental health difficulties and the Children, Teenage & Young Adult Cancer Service; a national quaternary diabetes team; a rheumatology and gastroenterology team; and a national adolescent rehabilitation service working with Functional / Medically Unexplained Disorders, Chronic Fatigue and other BodyMind or complex conditions.

The department includes the UCLH paediatric emergency department (ED), providing care for children and young people with urgent physical and mental health difficulties. The central London location of UCLH and the hospital’s proximity to international transport hubs results in a diverse range of presentations.

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is one of the most complex NHS trusts in the UK, serving a large and diverse population. We provide academically led acute and specialist services, to people from the local area, from throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. Our vision is to deliver top-quality patient care, excellent education, and world-class research.

We provide first‑class acute and specialist services across eight sites:

• University College Hospital (incorporating the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Wing)
• National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
• Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals
• University College Hospital Grafton Way Building
• Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine
• University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre
• The Hospital for Tropical Diseases
• University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street

We are dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of many complex illnesses. UCLH specialises in women’s health and the treatment of cancer, infection, neurological, gastrointestinal and oral disease. It has world class support services including critical care, imaging, nuclear medicine and pathology. We are committed to sustainability and have pledged to become a carbon net zero health service, embedding sustainable practice throughout UCLH. We have set an ambitious target of net zero for our direct emissions by 2031 and indirect emissions by 2040.

For the full Person Specification and more information regarding the main responsibilities of this role, please refer to the attached Job Description. Clinical supervision will be provided by the Lead Nurse for Child and Adolescent Mental Health at UCLH trust and there is the opportunity to form a peer continuing professional development group with Band 7/Band 8A nursing colleagues at the Whittington, Royal Free Hospital and the North Central London sector‑wide crisis service for children and young people. You will be supported by our three highly experienced Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists and broad MDT including psychology, psychotherapy, social care, activity coordinators, education, and paediatric colleagues.

This post presents the following opportunities:

• Providing psychosocial assessment, case management and treatment to CYP presenting in mental health crisis to UCLH ED, admitted to the wards and/or referred urgently to the Child & Adolescent Psychological Medicine Team.
• Clinical work with young people and their families in a collaborative and supportive multidisciplinary environment providing a wide range of clinical interventions including risk assessment, individual therapy, family work and safety planning.
• Liaison and co‑working with community services to deliver effective and timely care for CYP including community Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Children’s Social Care, education, Bright Futures and UCLH specialist services such as the Lighthouse and Brandon Centre.
• Potential for development of an outpatient caseload of CYP with co‑morbid medical and mental health difficulties such as medically unexplained symptoms, diabetes, rheumatological conditions, cancer diagnoses or allergies.
• Co‑working cases, with the opportunity to clinically and/or professionally supervise, advise, and manage junior psychiatry trainees within the team.
• Development of the department’s existing close collaboration with the North Central London sector‑wide crisis service for children and young people (NCL CAMHS OOHs Crisis Service) who provide in‑reach to the paediatric departments across the sector.
• Development of a peer CPD group for Paediatric Liaison Mental Health nurses with the NCL CAMHS OOHs Crisis service and peers in similar posts at Whittington and Royal Free Hospital.
• Audit and data collection projects meeting department, trust and regional goals including submissions to the NCL and NHS-E Mental Health Service Dataset (MHSDS) and improvement of the clinical pathway and patient journey of young people through the emergency department.
• Joining trust and regional working groups dedicated to improving the care of young people and UCLH working practices including adolescent transition, UCLH Mental Health Operational Delivery & System Improvement Group, UCLH Mental Health Workforce Group and North Central London Children & Young People’s Mental Health Project board meetings.
• Providing teaching and training to paediatric colleagues and crisis services both within UCLH trust and regionally.
• Organisation and delivery of staff support groups for paediatric nursing colleagues in general paediatrics, and teenage/young adult cancer services.

Come and be a part of the best NHS trust in England to work for, according to our staff. UCLH recognises the benefits of flexible working for staff.