assistant practitioner

Children and Family Health Devon (CFHD) is the place to be! We have developed an innovative, integrated model of childrens community services and now looking to appoint enthusiastic individuals to join our friendly and dedicated locality and county-wide professional teams.

As a large community service, you will be joining a strong, enthusiastic, and supportive group of professionals who will be your peers, your phone a friend network, and your inspiring colleagues. This provides a real sense of professional collaboration at work, that will be an asset to your daily work, your career development, and your support network.

We are currently seeking dedicated and compassionate Band 4 Assistant Practitioners to join our LDAP keyworker pilot. The Learning Disability and Autism team has been created as part of a key worker pilot designed in partnership with NHS England. This pilot delivers a new way of supporting CYP with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and/or a Learning Disability (LD) and their family/carers.

You will work alongside a multidisciplinary team, collaborating with other professionals to deliver high-quality care and support., The teams are made up of Senior Practitioners (Band 7) and Assistant Practitioner (Band 4) with business administrative support. The teams work together to share expertise and skills, attend combined training events and share staff supervision.

As an assistant practitioner, you will play a vital role in providing care and support to children. Working alongside a multidisciplinary team, your focus will be on meeting the unique needs of these young people in a comprehensive and holistic manner. Your insights and contributions will inform care planning and decision-making processes.

Your primary responsibility is to be involved in assessments and observations of children in crisis. You will gather information to identify immediate needs and risks. This will enable the team to implement timely interventions that support the well-being of young people. You will also provide interventions and support to young people.

Your active participation in the development of comprehensive care plans, in collaboration with the multidisciplinary team, is essential. By engaging in care planning and implementation, you will ensure that the plans are tailored to each child's unique circumstances, evidence-based, and person-cantered.

Accurate and up-to-date documentation of assessments, interventions, and evaluations is vital for providing quality care. By maintaining records and adhering to relevant policies and procedures, you will contribute to the overall coordination and continuity of care., Full Vacancy details can be found on the attached Job Description/Person Specification. Please refer to your suitability to the post in your supporting information from the role requirements or person specification.

The principal purpose of the job is to improve the health and wellbeing of children, young people and their families with a range of mental health difficulties. This will be achieved by:

Active involvement in the delivery of high quality, safe and compassionate mental health services as an effective member of the multi-disciplinary team.

Implementing specific assessment, review and care packages to individuals and groups within standard protocols, integrated care pathways.

Providing evidence based advice and consultancy to young people, family members/carers within standard protocols.

Organising and managing a defined caseload under distant guidance and work as lone workers where appropriate. The post holder will be accountable for their own actions within the delivery of this care.

Seeking advice and expertise of a registered practitioner when required through the use of regular managerial and clinical supervision in accordance with Trust policy.

Our service operates flexibly to meet the needs of the children, young people and their family/carers, we therefore offer a 7 day a week service, which includes evenings and weekends

If you are passionate about making a difference in the lives of children and young people and are committed to personal development and growth, we invite you to apply for this rewarding position. We also offer Band 3 trainee opportunities for candidates who do not hold the relevant qualification but have relevant experience., We would like the people who work for Children and Family Health Devon to be understanding, patient and respectful. They should be trustworthy and make us feel safe and comfortable. It is important that they use their skills and experience to listen carefully in a non-patronising and non-judgemental way. When staff are positive and friendly, they help to create an environment that is informal and without pressure.,

• Previous experience working in a range of different mental health care settings


• Experience of working autonomously and using own initiative


• Working with young people with challenging behaviour and complex health needs


• Experience that evidences an ability to tend to diversity and work in a way that promotes antidiscriminatory practice.


• Experience of collaborative working in community settings, with professionals across a range of agencies in health, social care and education.


• Experience of safeguarding children and ensuring the safety of young people in partnership with other agencies as appropriate, Must already hold or obtain the Care Certificate within the first 3 months of employment.


• Level 3 QCF in Health and Social Care or equivalent qualification


• GCSE in Maths and English (Grade C or above) OR Level 2 Key Skills / Functional Skills in Maths and English


• Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care or qualification to diploma level or equivalent


• If a Foundation Degree or equivalent qualification is not already obtained, to complete within 2 years of commencing employment., Evidence of additional relevant health training eg. Eating disorders / Working with young people experience/ Eating disorder / Social Care., Able to travel and work across the area covered by the trust as requested by Line Manager


Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Our professional responsibility is to reduce the risk of infection to others as far as possible. Getting vaccinated against diseases that can be passed person-to-person in healthcare settings is part of this responsibility. The Trust will provide advice, guidance and support on vaccinations and access to vaccinations where requested., Successful applicants will be employed by Devon Partnership Trust (https://jobs.dpt.nhs.uk/locations/working-here )

Children and Family Health Devon (CFHD) comprises an Alliance of NHS organisations working together to improve health outcomes for children and young people in Devon.

CFHD provides integrated care and treatment for children and young people across physical and mental health. We are working closely with other organisations and providers to ensure we deliver locality and county-wide based integrated access to all of our services, based on the i-Thrive Framework, in response to consultation with our service users and communities.

CFHD works closely with our local universities of Plymouth, Exeter & the Peninsula Medical School where we support students in clinical training placements and in addition support our own staff to undertake post graduate training.

Our integrated care and treatment has been developed and refined in partnership with children, young people and their families/carers.