Southwark CAMHS Clinical Specialist

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Southwark CAMHS Clinical Specialist

Closing date: 27 May 2026

The post holder will be a care coordinator, assessing and treating children and young people, working in collaboration with multidisciplinary teams (MDT). The post holder will also support and advise parents and carers of children & young people referred to the service, and provide consultation and advice to professional networks. The post holder may be expected to offer supervision to junior colleagues.

Main duties of the job

• Participate as a multi-disciplinary team member in the assessment and treatment of children and young people referred to CAMHS.
• Ensure that all recording and reporting of client contact are accurate, up-to-date, and of good quality, within CAMHS and professional record‑keeping standards. Collect and collate information about individual clinical activity on ePJS.
• Work with the team and clients to maintain a safe therapeutic environment, and achieve high operational standards in clinical systems.
• Maintain professional standards and attitudes towards the care and treatment of children, young people, and their families.
• Link with other statutory and voluntary agencies and professionals, and other CAMHS teams for referrals and joint work. Maintain good relationships and clear communication lines, providing specialist advice and support where appropriate.
• Contribute to the effective functioning of the team and service through attendance at relevant meetings and taking responsibilities within the service as negotiated with the line manager.

About us

Southwark CAMHS employs a large number of child and adolescent mental‑health staff, drawn from disciplines including child psychology, psychiatry, psychotherapy, family therapy, nursing, occupational therapy, art and drama psychotherapy. The service is organised as follows:

• CAMHS Early Help integrated with Children’s Social Care
• Specialist services for children, adolescents & their families (2 teams)
• Specialist services for young people with neuro‑developmental disorders
• Carelink – CAMHS Looked‑after Children team

Job responsibilities

• Carry out mental health and risk assessments on children & young people in your care, working under supervision of the team manager and senior clinicians.
• Work with other CAMHS clinicians from all disciplines and participate in internal and external professional networks to coordinate care plans across agencies. Spend the majority of time in actual clinical practice.
• Assume responsibility for your own case list and case‑management of children, adolescents and families at low, medium and high risk.
• Develop clinical formulations from a standard CAMHS assessment, including risk assessment, to recommend treatment interventions. Design, write and share care plans with children, young people and their carers.
• Assess safeguarding issues and refer concerns to Child Protection teams.
• Deliver interventions for children and young people who have self‑harred, are in crisis or present with other mental health concerns, based on NICE guidelines and evidence‑based practice.
• Use individual, group, family work, advice and supervision as appropriate, taking a flexible, innovative approach to care packages.
• Participate and lead joint complex assessments with other disciplines and agencies, and provide reports for referrers, families and other agencies as required.
• Maintain good relationships and clear communication lines with other professional agencies and departments, offering specialist advice and support when appropriate.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• First‑level nursing qualification/registration (RMN, RSCN or HV) or Doctorate‑level qualification in Clinical or Counselling Psychology or first‑level qualification in OT, social work, or equivalent, or first‑level qualification in art, play, drama or music therapy, with experience in psychological aspects of caring for children and adolescents with mental‑health problems/needs, developmental/learning disability problems.
• Professional training and relevant CAMHS experience, and registration with one of the following statutory bodies: Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), Health Professional Council (HPC/HCPC), Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP) or The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).
• Qualification and experience in providing supervision.

Experience

• Experience working in a multidisciplinary team.
• Working knowledge of the MHA, MCA and safeguarding children legislation.
• Prompt and accurate recording onto electronic notes system and an understanding of its importance.
• Experience working therapeutically with children and young people with neuro‑developmental conditions.
• Experience in providing therapeutic interventions commonly used within CAMHS (e.g. CBT, IPT‑A, systemic family therapy, art psychotherapy).
• Experience facilitating therapeutic groups.
• Experience undertaking neuro‑developmental assessments, e.g. for ADHD.

Knowledge / Skills

• Knowledge and understanding of information sharing and confidentiality issues.
• Understanding of and ability to maintain a safe therapeutic environment.
• Ability to work in partnership with service users and carers in the planning and delivery of care.
• Ability to provide care sensitive to the needs of minority ethnic groups.
• Ability to maintain effective professional relationships with all team members.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and requires a submission to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly CRB) to check for any previous convictions.

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Salary: £58,133 to £65,261 a year inclusive of HCAs

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