Army - Child Adolescent Mental Health Nurse, Harrogate HG3 2SE

Job summary

The Ministry of Defence, Civil Service workforce isdiverse, with many different functions and professions ranging from police officers, security guards, trainers, human resources, teachers, and psychologists to storekeepers, financiers, project and programme managers, and policy secretariat staff to support the British Army.

Providing flexible and individualised care packages to meet the mental health needs of Junior Soldiers with mental health problems. You will provide robust clinical risk assessment skills and an understanding of the occupational role and the needs of individuals presenting to the service. As a Mental Health Practitioner will be proactive in the development of service and organisational initiatives and will meet the expectation of offering clinical leadership to other agencies. The Community Mental Health Practitioner will work autonomously within a multidisciplinary team to provide a specialised/occupational mental health service for Junior soldiers (JS) within the Army Foundation College Harrogate.

Job description

This role provides a rapid, high‑quality mental health service for patients referred by Medical Officers, delivering autonomous assessment, evidence‑based treatment, and ongoing management of diverse and often complex mental health needs. It supports clinical governance, contributes to multidisciplinary collaboration, and actsas an expert resource to Medical Officers, General Practitioners, and Unit Commanders on mental health presentation, risk management, treatment planning, and service coordination.

Main Role Responsibilities:

• To manage a clinical caseload delivering optimum personal and professional standards to assist the care process in accordance with military protocols and clinical governance.
  
• To act as a clinical and educational resource to Medical Officers&General Practitioners (MO&GP) and offer advice to Unit Commanders on mental health matters, the administrative management of personnel with mental health difficulties and mental health promotion.
  
• Receiving, appraising, and advising on the direct referrals for mental health problems from relevant General Practitioners/Medical Officers GP&MO. Providing initial assessment and formulation of the mental health and treatment needs for referred patients, planning, implementing, and evaluating care with a high level of autonomy.
  
• Deliver up to date, evidence-based interventions for mental health problems based on guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the National Treatment Agency (NTA).
  
• Facilitate emergency patient assessment during daily working hours, to prevent where possible unnecessary admissions to the Inpatient Service Provider (ISP). Perform clinical risk assessments on all patients seen, evaluating the safety of the patient and others in the community and be able to manage/ advise on therapeutic risk taking.
  
• Routinely provide advice, recommendations, and clinical reports to GP&MO on all matters regarding mental health support, management, care, and treatment, including ISP admission advice.
  
• Maintain accurate and contemporaneous records and clinical notes of all patient contact. Facilitate liaison visits and or clinics to medical centres in the DPHC Region, with ISP&Service Level Objective where clinical need and facilities allow balancing workload against patient need, ensuring effective management of clinical time.
  
• Initiate and participate in clinical supervision, case conferences, care meetings where mental health clinical input is required.
  
• Present patients seen to the Multi Disciplinary Team for guidance, support, supervision, training. Management of junior staff undertaking mental health work and roles.
  

If you need to contact Defence Business Services (DBS) regarding this vacancy, please indicate that your vacancy is being handled by Resourcing Team 1. If you experience any technical difficulties with the CS Jobs system, please contact the Support Team at

Person specification

Essential Skills&Experience Required:

• Ability to work in a complex environment of military personnel and other civil servants at all levels.
• Communicate and influence others given the size and complexity of the role and responsibility to ensure JS are appropriately aligned to wider medical support if required.
• Competent at making effective decisions to determine if JS can complete Basic Training and or moving onto Initial Trade Training as there may well be a point where a decision is required early on in the Junior Soldiers career that may have a negative output.
• Awareness of Safeguarding for under 18s and able to provide assurance to OFSTED and other Defence lines of assurance which shapes how we operate to maintain consistency and abide by all legislation&policy.
• Able to deliver at pace to align with the Colleges 2 intakes per year and circa 1350 Junior soldiers.
• Experience working within Young People's mental health services
• Experience of working in a Community Mental Health setting.
• Enthusiastic and committed to service delivery and improvement.
• Cope well under pressure, be flexible and assertive, whilst working at a highly autonomous level.
• Obligated under law to safeguard the confidentiality of Personal&Medical information that they may have access to during duties which must not be communicated to other persons except per current legislation, guidance. Any breach of confidentiality could be a matter of Disciplinary Action being invoked and provide grounds for a complaint against you and dismissal.

Desirable Skills&Experience:

• Have at least 18 months post qualification experience
• Post graduate qualifications in an evidence based psychological therapy
• Experience in delivering National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended psychological interventions

The role will require you to adhere to the following:

• Defence Primary Healthcare (DPHC) Mandatory Training must be completed within the first 3 months of employment and maintained to be in date thereafter.
• Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMH) Learning will include any relevant continuous professional development (CPD) and training events that are relevant to the CAMHS AFC(H) post.
• Maintain own professional training and development by the identification and attendance at relevant study days, conferences and appropriate courses agreed by line manager.
• Maintain professional knowledge and registration and/or accreditation in line with the code of conduct and standards of their UK professional regulatory body.
• A record of all training attended should be maintained for the purpose of evidencing Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Re-validation requirements.

Qualifications
Qualified in a mental health profession and with a registered professional body (eg. Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), Social Work England or HCPC).

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• National Health Service (NHS) Health and Wellbeing (HWB2) - Assessment and care planning (3)
• NHS HWB6 - Assessment and treatment planning (3)
• NHS HWB7 - Interventions and Treatments (3)
• NHS Information&Knowledge 1 (IK1) Information processing (1)

Benefits

The Army prides itself on being a supportive employer and where possible encourages flexible working, helping you to maintain a great work/life balance.

Other benefits for Army civil servants include:

• 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years service
• Highly competitive pension scheme
• Personal and professional development of skills
• Alternative working patterns for many roles
• Access to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), a free service that assists you with achieving a productive, healthy environment that is conducive to a healthy lifestyle.
• Enhanced parental and adoption leave
• 6 days special leave per year which can be used for volunteering activities
• Learning and Development

We believe that everyone has the potential to make a difference and you will be supported to help you learn and advance in your career. This includes working towards membership of a professional body and/or undertaking a modern apprenticeship as part of your role.

A modern apprenticeship is a combined package of work and training. Through the schemes available you will gain a professional qualification, practical experience, and the broader skills required to develop in your current role and pave the way for your future career.

Please follow the link to visit the Discover My Benefits site whichshowcasesthe benefits and discounts offered when working as a civilian for the MOD:

post does not offer anyassistancewith Relocation Allowances.

Please be advised that theDepartment is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which couldimpacton those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas …