Trainee Clinical Specialist Learning Disability and Autism

Job overview

We are looking for a Trainee Specialist Clinical Practitioner in autism and learning disabilities to join our National Deaf CAMHS Central England team in the East Midlands.

This is funded at Band 6 as a ‘Recruit to Train’ post, with the course at Manchester University, however the job description and person specification are still subject to banding confirmation, which we expect to be completed by the interview date.

Applicants who are deaf and/ or fluent in BSL are encouraged to apply.

You will join our NDCAMHS Central England team, which is hosted by Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, but covers a third of England. We cover the West Midlands, East Midlands and South Central Regions.

This training role is within the Child and Young Persons Improving Access To Psychological Therapies Programme (CYP-IAPT). The post-holder will work within National Deaf CAMHS, under a one year fixed-term contract, providing interventions whilst undertaking a programme of training for this role at the University of Manchester. You will work mainly in our East Midlands region, but may work across the wider region if client or training needs require, so please ensure you take this into consideration before you apply.

We would hope to be able to secure funding to extend this post following training. Successful candidates will need to be able to commence employment from the course start date of January 11th 2027.

Main duties of the job

This intensive one year training post aims to equip practitioners with the skills necessary to improve access and outcomes for Autistic children and young people and those with Learning Disabilities. Please see the link for more details:Learning Disability & Autism Pathway - Postgraduate Diploma | Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS FT

The post- holder is expected to attend and fulfil all the requirements of the training element of the post. This involves:

• attending university for a two week block in January, then two study days a week Jan to May, one day a week until July with 3 full days in July, two days in September. These study days will be a mixture of in person and online training. (80% attendance is mandatory)
• online reflective practice and group supervision with the course
• the rest of the week in practice with NDCAMHS – travel time to see clients is included in work time, with weekly supervision in the team• Academic assignments including essays and reflective logs.

You will be based from home but will need to travel across the region to meet the needs of the service and your training.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We are a fully integrated multi-disciplinary team comprising Psychologists; Psychiatrists; Systemic Family Therapists; Nurses; Occupational Therapists and Family Support Workers. A key aspect of the role is working closely with clinicians/practitioners as part of a bi-lingual, multicultural multi-disciplinary team with deaf and hearing practitioners and BSL/English Interpreters. We encourage deaf applicants, and applicants who already have a high level of British Sign Language, however specialist training and development will be provided to develop knowledge and skills for working with deaf children and young people. Our clients use a wide range of communication modalities including British Sign Language, Sign Supported English, English and other spoken languages, and minimal language. You would hold a varied caseload to meet your training needs, which will include carrying out specialist assessment and therapeutic interventions under supervision of a Clinical Psychologist, working flexibly across pathways of care in a variety of community settings, and to work closely with clinicians/practitioners in multi-disciplinary teams. You may also work with other clinics in the Trust to achieve your case requirements for your training. We work both directly with families, as well as offering joint care with local CAMHS services, multi-agency working and consultation. Excellent problem-solving, communication and interpersonal skills and a positive attitude towards working with deaf children, and their families, with complex mental health needs are essential. The main administration office base for the outreach team is in Dudley, and we have various small bases across our regions, however clinicians are based from their homes across the whole of the Central England (West Midlands, East Midlands, South Central) region and you will be required to travel to a range of settings throughout the Central England region. Some work can be done remotely. You may be required to attend occasional national meetings with our colleagues in other areas of our NDCAMHS services across England but much of this is now via video call. Travel for the clinical part of the role is counted as part of your working hours. We have access to paid for accommodation if needing to be further from home. Clinical and office spaces can be booked across the region as needed. We have an integrated approach for clinical work using video conferencing as well as face-to-face work to manage our travel where appropriate. We also hold most of our team meetings by video conferencing, but aim for an integrated model balancing the need for team connection with reducing travel. Post holders would be provided with facilities to enable remote working.

If you are enthusiastic about developing your skills for working with deaf autistic children, we would encourage you to apply.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.