B6-B7 Development Specialist Systemic Eating Disorders Practitioner

Job overview
Do you want to make a difference to the lives of children and young people?
We're looking for individuals who share our same passion for mental health care to join the NHS family.
Due to an exciting service expansion we are now recruiting to a number of new positions, including a Specialist Systemic Eating Disorders Practitioner development band 6 to band 7 post .
The role sits under our specialist Sussex-wide Family Eating Disorder Service (SFEDS), which is a part of our Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) at Sussex Partnership. We work with young people aged 10-18 with Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa and their families and support their recovery.
We are a service of friendly and highly skilled Family and Systemic Psychotherapists, Psychiatrists, Paediatricians, Clinical Psychologists, Nurses, Dietitians and Social Workers with support from an excellent administration team.
Together with the highly supportive team here, you'll provide vital help young people in Sussex. We truly are a great place to work, offering a working environment with an inclusive culture that looks after and values our people and creates a sense of belonging.
Main duties of the job
As a Specialist Systemic Eating Disorders Practitioner, you'll be a hugely valuable support to the SFEDS team helping to provide mental health care to our service users. This is a development post from band 6 to band 7 and you will need to consistently demonstrate and provide evidence for having met the competencies relevant to a band 7 post to progress.
You will be responsible for delivering the Maudsley manualised Eating Disorders model for families where a young person has a diagnosis of anorexia or bulimia and for the care co-ordination of these families on your caseload. You will be skilled at building therapeutic relationships with families and working collaboratively in our multi-disciplinary team supporting other professionals in the team and in wider professional networks such as tier 4, social care and CAMHS teams. Furthermore, you will carry out initial assessments and support our duty team where necessary. You will support and lead the team in developing reflective practice and thinking around diversity, difference and power. You will progress to providing supervision for trainee systemic practitioners and contribute to service development through innovative projects. You will also offer training and run presentations for the team and for our partner organisations where relevant.
Working for our organisation
We encourage flexible working. We know that a positive work/life balance brings about huge health-related benefits, which has a positive impact on the care we provide. Please speak to us about flexible working, for example, home-working, part time hours, flexible start/finish times or anything else. If it works for you and works for the role, we'll do our best to make it happen.
What we offer

• 27 days' leave plus bank holidays (rising to 29 after five and 33 after 10 years' service)
• Enhanced pay when you work unsocial hours
• Support towards the Continuous Professional Development certificate
• Generous NHS pension
• Great maternity, paternity and adoption support
• Childcare vouchers
• Wide range of LGBT+ initiatives
• Health service discounts and many online benefits
• Health and wellbeing opportunities
• Cycle to Work Scheme and discounts on public transport

Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Clinical - the following competencies will be in development and evaluated upon transition to B7

• To carry out specialist psychological and systemic assessments of clients referred to the service, based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client's care, in order to reach a psychological and systemic formulation of the client's difficulties.
• To formulate and implement plans for the formal systemic treatment and/or management of clients' mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client's problems, and to practice within the context of evidence-based approaches and the overall therapeutic approach/ philosophy of the service.
• To be responsible for implementing a manualised model for Eating Disorders utilising systemic interventions for individuals, families and groups, adjusting and refining systemic formulations, drawing upon recognised explanatory models and the evidence base.
• To deliver high quality systemic practice using Specialist Systemic models or working with Eating Disorders, and working with psychological difficulties that are likely to be amenable to good outcomes using the therapy being delivered.
• To deliver treatment in the context of collaborative therapeutic relationships, and to resolve difficulties in the therapeutic relationship with humility and compassion
• To offer systemic treatment to clients using the service who have more complex or multiple difficulties or where therapy is complicated by interpersonal factors.
• To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options for clients considering both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
• To provide specialist advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients' formulations, diagnoses and treatment plan within a systemic framework.
• To provide advice and consultation and the dissemination of systemic principles to other members of the team
• To undertake risk assessment, formulation and management for individual clients and to provide advice to other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment, formulation and management, in order to contribute to effective and therapeutic management of risk.
• To practice using a time sensitive model of systemic practice in accordance with relevant evidence base and Trust guidelines
• To work within agreed multi-disciplinary structures and processes
• To liaise with clients, their relatives / carers and other health care providers, other departments and community providers to ensure continuity of care for people using services.
• To communicate information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients in a skilled and sensitive manner in order to promote effective multi-disciplinary working and therapeutic outcomes for clients.
• To promote and participate in multi-disciplinary team working, development and liaison.
• To promote actively, user and carer involvement in care planning and service development.
• To be up to date with both de-escalation, physical breakaway and PMVA techniques appropriate to the service environment. To receive regular clinical professional supervision in accordance with professional and service guidelines and policies
• To engage in Continued Professional Development in line with a professional development plan and in keeping with service needs (as agreed with the professional lead).

Teaching, Training and Supervision

• To develop skills in the area of professional post-graduate teaching and training
• To move towards the provision of professional and clinical supervision of systemic professionals.
• To work towards providing supervision for trainee systemic practitioners, ensuring that trainees acquire the necessary skills, competencies and experience to contribute effectively to good mental health care and to contribute to the assessment and evaluation of such.
• To provide expert advice, consultation, training and clinical supervision within the professional's expertise, to professionals working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings and to other members of the team, for their provision of psychologically based interventions to help improve clients' functioning and well-being.

Management, Leadership, Recruitment and Service Development

• To participate as a clinician in identifying and implementing the development of a high quality, responsible and accessible service, in consultation with the team manager and supervisor.
• To contribute systemic knowledge and expertise to policy and service development through participation, where practical, in regional multidisciplinary meetings and special interest groups, working parties etc that may impact on the functioning of the service.
• To participate in the management of systemic resources available to the team, in the form of materials employed in the assessment and treatment of service users.
• To participate as appropriate in staff recruitment for systemic practitioners.

To work on developing effective leadership and management skills which promotes high performance standards in the team.
Requirements
In order to be a successful systemic practitioner in our team, you must:

• Hold a post-graduate specialist qualification in providing systemic and manualised approaches to working with families with an eating disorder.
• Have some experience of working in a specialist Eating Disorders service

It would be advantageous is you have:

• Experience of working with a range of mental health presentations and having a range of skills to support
• You have worked with a range of complex presentations that present with levels of risk and management challenges.
• Have an understanding of the systems and processes within Sussex and the pathways of care and support.
• Other relevant therapeutic approaches that can support young people and families.
  

See attached Job Description and Person Specification for full details.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria

• Recognised/accredited postgraduate level training in a psychological therapy
• Professionally registered

Desirable criteria

• Additional pre and/or post qualification training appropriate to role

Knowledge/Experience
Essential criteria

• Experience of specialist psychological therapy
• Competence in applying a psychological therapy to complex difficulties
• Experience of working with young people with an eating disorder
• Specialist knowledge of the theory and practice of specialist psychological therapy

Desirable criteria

• Experience of delivering group interventions

Skills
Essential criteria

• To be able to communicate effectively orally and in writing
• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessments and formulations
• Ability to plan and manage a workload
• IT skills

Sussex Partnership NHS FT is committed to supporting a diverse workforce that reflects our communities. Our workforce is currently under-represented from Black and Minority, Ethnic and disabled communities and we would welcome applications from these communities.
We regret that we are unable to advise candidates if they have not been shortlisted. If you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date please assume that you have been unsuccessful on this occasion.
In the event of an excessive number of applicants the Trust reserves the right to close this vacancy earlier than indicated.
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust takes its responsibilities for the safeguarding and protection of children and young people and vulnerable adults very seriously and expects this of all its employees and bank workers. The Trust works with adult and children's social care to ensure that the integrated service has systems in place to equip staff and bank workers with the knowledge and skills to recognize abuse, and take action to safeguard and protect vulnerable adults and children and young people. It is expected that all staff and bank workers familiarise themselves with the appropriate structures and policies and with the Sussex child protection and safeguarding procedures and the Sussex multi-agency policy and procedures for safeguarding vulnerable adults and undertake the relevant essential training and further training appropriate to their role.
Successful candidates are normally offered salaries at the bottom of the relevant salary range. However, where previous or equivalent NHS experience in a similar role can be demonstrated and evidenced, this may be taken into consideration when setting the starting salary.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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.