Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist (CCATT)

Job overview

We are seeking a Consultant Children and Adolescent Psychiatrist.

CAMHS is part of the Specialist Services Strategic Business Unit in HPFT, managed by the Clinical Director (Dr Shaheen Shora – Fiona McMillian-Shields -non-medical). CAMHS is managed by a Senior Service Line Leader, Natalija Lytrides, supported by Professional Leads and CAMHS Community Managers.

The four geographical divisions provide Tier 2 and 3 services plus the CAMHS Targeted team, as well as parenting support services into the Family Centres.

CAMHS are provided by Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust across the entire county.

Child and Family Clinics

The clinics accept referrals from a number of sources including General Practitioners, Social Workers, Health Visitors and Consultant Paediatricians. Referrals are processed through SPA (the Single Point of Access). The teams are multi-disciplinary including Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Mental Health Nurses, Child Psychotherapists, Systemic Therapists and Social Workers.

Forensic Adolescent Practitioner Service

The aim of these posts is to support the youth offending teams who often come into contact with children with a mental health difficultly.  These children may not traditionally access child and family services or whose difficulties may be of low complexity and therefore can be worked within their community setting through a short intervention.

Main duties of the job

An exciting opportunity has become available for a substantive Consultant Psychiatrist to join our CAMHS Children's Crisis and Assessment and Treatment Team service offer in Hertfordshire- ( CCATT-). This post is to cover a vacancy and has also been expanded to become 10Pas,

CCAT team operates over three clinical sites – Watford General, Lister Hospital and has an operational site at 15 Forest Lane, Kingsley Green, Harper Lane, Radlett. The team works cohesively together and meets daily to discuss all referrals and progress of escalations.

The CCATT team compromises of one clinical Manager, one clinical lead, 9 social workers bands 6-7, 16 qualified Nurses bands 5-7, two Healthcare assistance one Psychologist, one Assistant psychologist, one psychotherapist, one counsellor, two admin and one receptionist.

The post holder will also support the CCATT- Community Intervention team (Radlett based) which aims to offer a brief intervention and support to young people who have presented in crisis and who are not yet under any established services,  This may  include chairing the weekly MDT and also offering approximately  1- 1.5 PA per week for follow ups or urgent reviews for those who require consultant input or a second opinion about escalation to tier 4  , for example acute psychosis,  this would be approximately 1-2 reviews /week at maximum.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To see new assessments including formulations and risk assessments as well as management plans for  patients in Watford Hospital or Kingsley Green Place of Safety (136 suite at Radlett).
• To provide follow ups and reviews as needed to complex patients under the brief CCATT intervention team.
• To work closely with/provide consultation to the multidisciplinary team and other agencies in health and social care as appropriate.
• To provide clinical leadership to the multidisciplinary team including the brief intervention team and manage occasional emergencies and unforeseen circumstances in consultation with senior and junior colleagues.
• To liaise with senior medical and MDT colleagues from Watford Hospital wards supporting admission and care of the young people in crisis and foster good relationships with them.
• To act as Responsible Clinician for the allocated young people admitted at Watford Hospital under the Mental Health Act whilst awaiting a tier 4 bed.
• To liaise with community CAMHS consultants and support the discussions with Tier 4 teams for young people on an admission pathway.
• To participate and offer psychiatric contribution to the  daily team clinical meetings.
• To provide consultation, advice and appropriate support to professionals in the wider network of the young person and/or family in hospital.
• Work in partnership with the peer colleagues in the Tier 4 pathway (Forest House, CAMHS DBT service, CAMHS Eating Disorder Service and CAMHS Home Treatment Team) in supporting YP’s effective discharge from the acute hospital.
• To provide cross cover to CCATT Lister Consultant colleague as needed
• To provide cross-cover for the other consultants as may be needed across tier 4 and specialist services such as Forest House, DBT, CCATT and Eating Disorders.
• To provide opportunities for case-based discussion and teaching to the MDT.
• To undertake the administrative duties associated with the care of patients and provide reliable written communications to General Medical practitioners/liaise with other professionals as required.
• To record clinical activity accurately and comprehensively
• To take an active role in the pathway and CAMHS clinical governance in liaison with the Senior Leadership Team (Meetings are held every Tuesday at midday) and contribute to the development of internal clinical pathways/processes and ensure smooth pathways for patients moving between the Tier 4 services.
• To participate in various medical staff meetings within the Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust as necessary.