Senior Mental Health Practitioner (Lead Clinician) in Wakefield

Job Summary

We are looking for an experienced, compassionate and dynamic clinician to join our CAMHS ReACH Team (Crisis Team) as a Lead Clinician.

This is a fixed term role of 12 months. This is a really exciting opportunity for a senior mental health professional, who is passionate about delivering high‑quality crisis care whilst supporting and developing a multi‑disciplinary team.

The role is a combination of clinical leadership and direct clinical work, you would hold a small clinical caseload ensuring to remain connected to the frontline practice whilst providing leadership, supervision and clinical oversight across the service.

As a Lead Clinician, you will play a key role in ensuring that children, young people and families are experiencing a timely and effective service. Youll be working closely with the Team Manager and wider leadership team to maintain high clinical standards, promote continuous improvement and support staff to deliver outstanding care.

Youll also provide expert clinical advice, support decision making around risk and crisis management, and help shape service development. Alongside your leadership responsibilities, you will manage a small caseload of young people with complex presentations, offering assessment, intervention and liaison where required.

Main duties of the job

• Provide clinical leadership within the team
• Hold a small complex clinical caseload
• Offer clinical supervision, mentoring and supporting members of the MDT
• Provide expert advice on assessment, formulation, risk management and crisis intervention
• Support the Team Manager with team delivery and development. Including quality improvements and decision making
• Promote evidence‑based practice and ensure high standards of clinical governance
• Contribute to service development, audit and quality improvement initiatives
• Develop strong partnerships with other senior leaders in the team
• Support staff well‑being, professional development and positive team culture

The service is based at Fieldhead Hospital, Wakefield and youd be expected to be in base during your shifts. The service works 7 days a week, 8am-8pm and you would work on a shift basis.

If you have any questions about the role, please get in touch with Jen Wilson.

All employees of the Trust are strongly encouraged to have their up‑to‑date flu vaccination to protect staff and patients.

While this role meets the eligibility requirements for Skilled Worker sponsorship, due to the short‑term nature of the contract, the Trust will not be offering sponsorship for this post.

We welcome applications from individuals who already have the right to work in the UK or are on a visa route that permits employment without sponsorship. Such applications will be considered alongside all others.

About Us

We are a specialist NHS Foundation Trust that provides community, mental health and learning disability services for the people of Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield. We also provide low and medium secure services and are the lead for the west Yorkshire secure provider collaborative.

Our mission is to help people reach their potential and live well in their communities, we do this by providing high‑quality care in the right place at the right time. We employ staff in both clinical and non‑clinical services who work hard to make a difference to the lives of service users, families and carers.

We encourage and welcome applications from all protected characteristic groups, we value diversity and want our workforce to be reflective of our communities.

Being a foundation Trust means were accountable to our members, who can have a say in how were run. Around 14,300 local people (including staff) are members of our Trust.

Join us and you will be one of over 4,500 staff committed to supporting and improving the mental, physical and social needs of the thousands of people we meet and help each year.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all colleagues and volunteers to share this commitment.

We do reserve to right to close vacancy before the advertised closing date if necessary, so please apply as soon as possible.

Details

Date posted

14 October 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£49,387 to £56,515 a year

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

12 months

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working

Reference number

C9378-W1562

Job locations

Fieldhead Hospital
Ouchthorpe Lane
Wakefield
WF1 3SP
United Kingdom

Job Description

Job responsibilities

This job description is an outline of the main duties of the post. The post‑holder will be required to undertake other duties commensurate with the grade as directed.

The content of this post will be reviewed in consultation with the post‑holder when necessary and in line with the service developments.

To provide highly specialist skills and expertise, facilitating interventions of the highest quality in the field of mental health, including emergency assessments and intensive interventions with children, young people and their families.

To work autonomously and collaboratively within the MDT, providing consultation and teaching for other agencies/professionals.

To provider supervision and teaching to all other disciplines within CAMHS and to deputise as agreed for the team leader.

To promote safeguarding and the welfare of children and young people

Key Result Areas

CLINICAL

1 To work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility in accordance with the Trust Policies and procedures

2 The post‑holder will have highly developed skills in assessing the needs of children and their carers based on the analysis of highly complex facts and situations. Interventions will be planned based on the assessment information and interpretation of this. The clinical assessment will include gathering appropriate historical information from the child and family, allied to clinical observation of family relationships and mental state of the child and other family members, and obtaining relevant information from other agencies. Offering highly specialist expertise in child and adolescent mental health, ensuring clear documentation in all appropriate case notes and sharing assessments and information with the family and all relevant professionals.

3 To undertake highly specialist initial assessments of young people following acts of serious self‑harm and attempted suicide in line with evidence based practice.

4 To undertake highly specialised risk assessments following referral for presentations requiring urgent mental health or psychiatric assessment and plan relevant interventions.

5 To implement intensive interventions with young people and their families, as relevant to the post‑holders main clinical role, i.e. group and individual work, systemic family interventions. This will include analysis, interpretation and evaluation to reformulate plans of care.

6 The post‑holder will provide therapeutic care to emotionally demanding clients in highly emotive situations.

7 The post‑holder will develop and maintain therapeutic relationships with children and carers. This will include cases of high complexity which require more specialised levels of assessment and therapeutic skills.

8 As part of multi‑disciplinary team, the Senior Mental Health Practitioner will deliver and devise complex packages of care. Provide individual and family review/follow‑up sessions to children, young people or their carers.

9 To take a lead role in setting guidelines and standards that will ensure all young persons identified with complex problems are discharged from Specialist CAMHS with an appropriate package of care from universal services.

10 The post‑holder will have skills to communicate highly complex information regarding personal psycho‑social problems in an empathic and supportive way using the highest level of interpersonal skills in situations which can be highly emotional and sometimes antagonistic. Service users and families may have difficulty or be reluctant to understand what is communicated to them.

11 Communicate complex, sensitive or contentious information utilising highly developed interpersonal skills. Take into account issues of confidentiality and the consent of Adults and Young People. Considering and assessing a child's maturity to consent.

12 To work with children, young people (0-18) and their families, liaising with external agencies, e.g. Education, Social Services and Paediatric Services. Presenting problems are frequently complex and require that sophisticated packages of care are negotiated and delivered. To actively promote user/carer involvement in all aspects of care planning/delivery whilst respecting the rights, capabilities and wishes of the individuals concerned.

13 To apply a sound knowledge of safeguarding children and guidelines in clinical work.

14 To deputise for the team leader in his/her absence.

15 Apply Trust policies and procedures in instances of aggression, acute distress and disturbed mental health presentations.

Specialization & Support

We are aware that an increasing number of applicants are using AI technology to generate responses on NHS Job application forms. Over reliance on AI‑generated content in application forms is strongly discouraged and we will conduct a thorough screening process before selecting candidates to progress to the next stage. If you are using AI to enhance your application, please disclose this in your NHS Jobs application form.

Person Specification

Physical Attributes

Ability to undertake the duties and demands of the post. A satisfactory sickness record over the previous 2 years (subject to the need to act with fairness and equality of opportunity, particularly where the sickness is related to a disability and/or pregnancy).

Experience

Essential

• Experience of delivering training to others
• Extensive experience in identified portfolio requirements
• Substantial post qualification experience, some of which must be working with Children, young people and their carers in a mental health or other complex care setting
• Experience of working in different cultural contexts
• Knowledge and experience of working with Equality and Diversity.
• Multidisciplinary team working
• Inter‑agency liaison and consultation
• Experience of providing highly specialist advice and supervision to other professionals
• Knowledge of relevant legislation and guidance for working with children, young people, mental health and safeguarding
• Evidence of advanced clinical/therapeutic knowledge and skills in mental health.
• Extensive experience in assessment and risk management and ability to implement evidence based practice
• Advanced experience of safeguarding children and young people.

Desirable

• Experience of community settings

Special Knowledge/Skills

• Excellent verbal and communication skills
• Ability to manage own caseload and to be a self‑reliant and autonomous practitioner
• Excellent negotiation skills, and problem solving skills
• Customer service orientation
• Excellent record keeping and report writing skills to include care planning and risk assessments.
• IT skills.

Personal Attributes

• Able to work autonomously and as part of a team
• Commitment to multi‑agency approach/working
• Ability to work and make decisions under pressure.
• Calm, confident, innovative, creative and assertive
• Ability to make and lead decisions under pressure/crisis situations
• Willingness to be flexible and adaptable in accordance with changing service priorities.
• Commitment to challenging discrimination and improving accessibility of services.
• Ability to cope calmly in a crisis
• To demonstrate good self‑care and encourage the same in team members
• A Current driving licence and access to a car during the working day is essential (reasonable adjustments will be considered for any applicants who are unable to drive due to a disability)
• To have integrity, be honest, open, transparent and respectful.

Qualifications

Essential

• Relevant professional qualification, e.g. nursing, or other professional allied to medicine
• Post qualification training in identified portfolio, e.g. LD. LAC, eating disorder
• Dip SW or relevant mental health profession
• A teaching and assessing qualification
• Membership of professional body

Desirable

• Post graduate qualification in mental health (e.g. CBT, Family Therapy, Counselling)
• Masters Level qualification
• Formal management/supervisory qualification

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name
South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust
Address
Fieldhead Hospital
Ouchthorpe Lane
Wakefield
WF1 3SP
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.southwestyorkshire.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)

#J-18808-Ljbffr