CAMHS Liaison Practitioner in Plymouth

30 hours per week. This is an exciting opportunity for band 6 professional registered clinicians to join an expanding team working within CAMHS Early Help Pathway working with Children, Young people & families as a CAMHS Liaison Practitioner. This role will be joining an already established team within the CAMHS service. CAMHS Early Help pathway provides consultation, assessments and targeted, short term interventions up to 8 sessions within the I-THRIVE model with a focus on early intervention within children’s mental health.

The post holder will work as the named Early Help liaison practitioner for schools within the locality, offering consultation, advice & signposting to services. The post holder is responsible for supporting the emotional, psychological & social wellbeing of children & young people with a drive for early intervention. The post holder will actively promote resilience, prevention & early intervention to children & young people. The post holder will contribute to the CAMHS advice & support line. This will be based on a hybrid model of working with access to office / clinical space. This role will require relevant post qualification experience of working with children & young people within mental health or equivalent with a professional registration.

Main duties of the job:

• Work as the Liaison practitioner within the Early Help pathway to deliver consultation, advice & signposting to community services and schools working with children & young people with mental health difficulties.
• Implementation of evidence-based targeted interventions & groups evaluated using outcome measures.
• Ensure that they access timely assessments & interventions.
• Represent CAMHS in multi‑agency meetings having oversight of the mental health element.
• Participate in the delivery of training for schools & community services.
• Maintain standards of care to the highest level within available resources.
• Actively participate in line management with junior members of staff.
• Liaise effectively with the other CAMHS pathways.
• Develop and maintain relationships with all providers.
• Maintain confidentiality in respect of the young people at all times.
• Communicate clearly with children & young people, their families and all other health professionals.
• Actively participate in clinical governance & quality improvement initiatives.
• Ensure that children & young people are encouraged to play a part in decision making about the help they need, promoting person‑centred care.

All staff are expected to be able and willing to work across a 7 day service. This role may not be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route. Please note we may close the job advertisement earlier than the specified deadline.

About us:

Livewell Southwest is an independent, award‑winning social enterprise delivering integrated health and social care services across Plymouth, South Hams, and West Devon, with specialist services in parts of Devon and Cornwall. Our teams work in community hospitals, GP practices, sports centres, and health hubs. As an organisation with a strong social conscience, we are guided by our values: kindness, respect, inclusivity, ambition, responsibility, and collaboration. We focus on transforming services to ensure sustainability while empowering staff and those we serve. We involve the people we care for, along with their families and carers, in shaping the care they receive, striving to deliver the right care at the right time and place.

Centering our work on individual needs helps people lead healthy, independent lives. We prioritise employees' development, offering protected CPD time, training pathways, leadership programs, and funding for qualifications like the Care Certificate and Nurse Training Scholarships. Our induction and preceptorship programmes ensure a smooth transition into our organisation. Livewell Southwest values diversity and encourages applications from all sections of the community, including those with armed forces experience, lived experience of mental health, neuro‑diverse conditions and learning disabilities. If you need assistance or reasonable adjustments during the application process, contact the Recruiting Manager listed in the job advert.

Job responsibilities:

The postholder is responsible for supporting the emotional, psychological and social wellbeing of children and young people with a drive for early intervention, enabling cultural change in the way first contact services can support children and young people with mental health problems. In line with the 2015 “Future in Mind” strategic vision for CAMHS, the post holder will actively promote resilience, prevention and early intervention to children and young people in the community.

The post holder will work as the named Early Help liaison practitioner within the locality. The post holder will directly link with the Children’s Gateway to screen potential referrals and be a direct link to GPs, primary schools and all other children’s services. The post holder will offer consultation about identified young people to the referrer, network or directly to the child, young person and their family.

The postholder will be responsible for the co‑ordination of further assessment, targeted intervention or group that would meet the needs of the child or young person. The post holder will co‑coordinate training to community professionals and schools to meet the specific needs of each setting or school and co‑facilitate training when appropriate.

To work as the identified Early Help Liaison practitioner to deliver early help consultation, advice and information sharing to community services and schools working with children and young people who may present with emerging mental health difficulties. Co‑ordination and implementation of evidence-based targeted interventions in a timely manner, in collaboration with the other clinicians.

To co‑coordinate and contribute to the early help assessment clinics to ensure that children and young people access timely assessments and the appropriate targeted interventions. Organisation and delivery of group-based needs led groups within the school and community setting. To support the delivery of evidence-based parenting programmes for children and young people with mental health issues.

Take a lead in representing CAMHS in multi‑agency meetings such as EHAT, SEND, CIN meetings or child protection meetings to coordinate and have oversight of the mental health element of a multi‑agency plan around a child. To function as a member of the locality facing CAMHS early help pathway taking appropriate responsibility for the implementation of decisions made by the team.

Ensure planned interventions are implemented effectively and evaluated using Routine Outcome Monitoring (ROMS) and minimum data set. Participate in the delivery of training programmes for schools and community services from a portfolio of available CAMHS training. Maintain standards of care to the highest level within available resources.

To actively participate in line management with senior and junior members of staff. To liaise effectively with the other CAMHS pathways across the city. To develop and maintain relationships with providers statutory and non‑statutory. To maintain confidentiality in respect of the young people at all times.

Communicate clearly with children and young people, their families and all other health professional groups about their health problems. Actively participate in clinical governance and quality improvement initiatives, e.g. clinical audit, essence of care or clinical policy development. Ensure that children and young people are encouraged to play a part in decision making about the help they need and how they can access specific interventions to promote person‑centred planning.

All staff are expected to be able and willing to work across a 7 day service. This role may not be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route. Please note we may close the job advertisement earlier than the specified deadline.

Mental Effort:

Accurate manual and electronic record keeping whilst coping with constant interruptions and distractions in the workplace, for example: telephone calls and questions from colleagues. Constantly deal with sensitive, intricate and complex clinical and service decisions whilst frequently being required to change from one activity to another at a third party request, i.e. telephone or staff interruption and be able to respond in a positive and constructive manner to emergency situations. Managing to extract information from people with communication difficulties due to acute distressing mental health problems, often in noisy or busy environments.

Emotional Effort:

Ability to deal with children and young people with emerging mental health difficulties. People who self‑harm. People who are presenting in distress or with distressing thoughts and behaviours. People who are very difficult to engage within a therapeutic relationship. Ability to cope with stress generated from the constant changing priorities within the Team.

As this is a community post, it will involve working in a variety of different environments and will require the post holder to have the ability to adapt to these settings. All employees have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and adults and are required to act in such a way that at all times safeguards their health and well‑being. Familiarisation with and adherence to national and local safeguarding adults and children policies is an essential requirement upon all employees. Livewell South-West has specific safeguarding policies and in addition, employees also have a responsibility to practice and work within the multi‑agency policy developed by the Safeguarding Adults Board and the Safeguarding Children Board. Staff are also required to participate in related mandatory/statutory training.

Person Specification:

Knowledge:

• Knowledge of relevant legislation and documents pertaining to children, e.g. Children Act 2004, Child Protection, National Service Framework, Every Child Matters etc.
• Learning Disability specific legislation and documents, Aiming High for Disabled Children, Valuing People, Mansell report, Mental Capacity Act, Mental Health Act, safeguarding children, clinical governance.
• Knowledge of a range of mental health problems and disorders affecting children and young people.
• Knowledge of theories of child development and their application to practice.
• An understanding of resilience and vulnerability.
• Knowledge of common physical health issues that may affect people with severe and enduring mental health problems.

Circumstances:

• Ability to travel across the LW footprint. Reasonable adjustments will be considered as per the Equality Act.
• Ability to work flexibly (hours of work and duties) both as an individual and across Livewell if required.
• Suitable transport to enable you to undertake the job. It is unlikely that public transport will meet this requirement. Adjustments can be considered in accordance with the Disability Discrimination Act.

Qualifications:

• Core qualification in any Mental health modality such as Nursing / Social Worker/OT etc with relevant & significant post‑registration experience or experience as a band 6 working with children in mental health.
• Appropriate Registration relevant to professional qualification i.e. NMC, HCPC.
• Diploma level specialist training/experience or equivalent.
• Further relevant training/courses.
• Understanding and awareness of therapeutic principles to support with providing interventions within children’s mental health.
• Post graduate training qualification in methods of working with children with mental health problems, e.g. counselling, systemic practice or post grad diploma in child and adolescent mental health.
• Evidence of practice supervisor & assessor training completed to support nursing students.

Experience:

• Post‑registration experience of working with people with complex mental ill health within the community.
• Experience of working collaboratively with the client and their families/carers.
• Experience of post‑registration working with children and young people who have experienced mental health and psychological well‑being difficulties.
• Experience in assessment, including risk, care planning, intervention and evaluation.
• Maintaining own safety in Community settings by working within relevant policy and having completed or be willing to complete breakaway training or equivalent.
• Experience of effective working with families of different cultural backgrounds.
• Experience of working within multi‑agency safeguarding systems e.g. child protection conferences, child in need meetings.
• Experience of managing demanding and difficult professionals/young people/colleagues.
• Experience of managing your own caseload and of working with a team approach.
• Previous experience of working at a Band 6 level or post registration experience.
• Experience of working with children and young people within mental health.
• Staff appraisal skills.

Skills & Abilities:

• Mental Health and Risk assessment, care planning, evaluation and intervention skills.
• Well established case management skills and good organisational skills with the ability to prioritise.
• Well developed communication skills both oral and written.
• Commitment to anti‑oppressive practice.
• Ability to work in partnership and in collaboration with others, both in and out of own agency/professional background.
• Commitment to own learning and professional development.
• Ability to prioritise workload.
• Robust and positive approach towards risk assessment.
• Ability to work effectively under pressure.
• Ability to identify and refer on for unmet need.

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.