Senior Mental Health Practitioner (Urgent Care) - CFHD in Barnstaple

Children and Family Health Devon (CFHD) is recruiting Senior Mental Health Practitioners to join our Urgent Care Pathway based in North Devon. The Urgent Care team supports children and young people experiencing mental health crisis, delivering timely assessment, intervention and safety planning. The service operates 9am to 10pm, seven days a week, and successful candidates will contribute to a rota that includes evenings and weekends. Working as part of a friendly, experienced multi-disciplinary team, you will provide crisis care that is trauma-informed, compassionate and youth-centred.

Main duties of the job:

• Deliver crisis assessments, safety plans, and brief interventions for young people in distress
• Respond flexibly to urgent presentations, often in partnership with families and schools
• Participate in a rota covering daytime and evening hours, including weekends
• Liaise with education, social care and acute services to ensure joined-up care
• Support service development, quality improvement and reflective team practice

We Offer:

• A welcoming and supportive Urgent Care team in either locality
• Clinical supervision, peer support, and opportunities for CPD
• The opportunity to make a meaningful impact at a critical time for young people and families

If you are a qualified and compassionate mental health professional looking to specialise in youth crisis care, we would love to hear from you.

About us:

At Children and Family Health Devon, we are dedicated to improving the physical and mental health of children and young people across Devon and Torbay. We aim to create an environment where children and young people can thrive and are committed to reducing health inequalities and providing specialised support, empowering them to lead healthy, fulfilling lives. We would like the people who work for Children and Family Health Devon to be understanding, patient and respectful. They should be trustworthy and make us feel safe and comfortable. It is important that they use their skills and experience to listen carefully in a non-patronising and non-judgemental way. When staff are positive and friendly, they help to create an environment that is informal and without pressure.

Who we are:

We are an alliance of NHS organisations led by Devon Partnership Trust. We are a group of professionals including psychologists, psychiatrists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists, nurses and many other professions.

Join us in beautiful Devon:

With access to moors, sea and cities, there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy Devon. Whether you enjoy spending time in the cultural hub of Exeter, exploring the Jurassic coastline or discovering the world surfing reserve in North Devon there really is something for everyone. Could North Devon be your new home?

Job responsibilities:

For the full job description and person specification please refer to the job description attached to this advert, which will provide further information on this role.

Person Specification:

Qualifications:

• A professional mental health qualification e.g. RMN, Social Work Degree, BSc/Diploma in OT, SROT, or equivalent
• Active registration as with the appropriate professional body e.g. NMC, HCPC
• Recognised qualification in evidenced-based therapeutic, mental health interventions for children/young people and their families/carers

Experience:

• Substantial experience of managing an extensive and complex caseload and working with children/young people presenting with a range of complex mental health presentations.
• Working within a community CAMHS mental health setting.
• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency environment.

Knowledge, skills and abilities:

• Excellent communication skills including the ability to engage with children/young people of all ages experiencing a wide range of mental health presentations.
• Ability to communicate with a wide range of professionals from various settings, sharing own professional knowledge, skills and expertise, whilst valuing the perspective of others.
• Able to produce well written reports.
• Ability to work flexibly.
• Ability to be mobile across a geographical area in a timely manner and in accordance with service need.
• There will be a requirement to work extended hours which may vary depending on agreed job plan.

The Crisis service operates between the hours of 9am and 10pm, 7 days per week, for unplanned crisis care and between the hours of 9am and 8pm (Monday-Friday) and 9am and 5pm Sat/Sun/BH for planned outreach admission avoidance.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check:

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.