Southwark CAMHS Referrals Team

Southwark CAMHS Referrals Team is seeking an enthusiastic, motivated, and experienced CAMHS practitioner to join our specialist multidisciplinary team. This is an exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in ensuring that children, young people, and their families have timely access to appropriate mental health support and intervention.

Role Overview

The successful candidate will be responsible for screening and processing referrals received by the service, undertaking initial psychosocial and risk assessments, and contributing to clinical decision-making regarding the most appropriate care pathways. This includes identifying children and young people who meet the threshold for specialist CAMHS assessment and treatment, as well as signposting and redirecting those whose needs can be better met by alternative services.

Responsibilities

• Process referrals received by Southwark CAMHS, undertaking initial screening and triage on behalf of the assessment and treatment teams to ensure timely and appropriate allocation of cases.
• Undertake meaningful clinical contacts with children, young people, and their families. This may include brief psychosocial and risk assessments, gathering relevant information to support clinical decision-making, providing brief psychoeducation and advice, listing referrals for specialist assessment and treatment, and signposting or redirecting referrals to alternative services where appropriate.
• Liaise effectively with referrers, including GPs, schools, social workers, paediatric services, Accident & Emergency departments, and other professionals, to obtain relevant information and support comprehensive assessment of need.
• Work collaboratively within the Referrals Team multidisciplinary team (MDT) to identify the most appropriate care pathways for children and young people referred to the service, ensuring decisions are evidence-based, child-centred, and aligned with service criteria.
• Participate actively in clinical decision-making forums, multidisciplinary meetings, business meetings, safeguarding discussions, and other relevant service meetings, contributing clinical expertise and professional judgement.