Mental Health Practitioner- Triage Role / Assessment

Go back Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

Mental Health Practitioner - Triage Role / Assessment

The closing date is 10 February 2026

This is an exciting opportunity to work within an innovative, dynamic and growing multi-disciplinary Community CAMHS in LSCFT - Fylde and Wyre. The children and young people who access our services present with a wide range of emotional and mental health difficulties ranging from moderate to severe.

You would be joining an established, supportive and hardworking team who are passionate about improving the outcomes for the children, young people and their families/carers.

As a Community CAMHS Mental Health Practitioner you will be an integral member of the multidisciplinary team to screen incoming referrals to identify needs, risks, and urgency. Act as the primary point of contact for new cases entering the service. Manage and assess risk at the earliest stage to safeguard children and young people. Offer timely assessments to determine appropriate interventions and pathways. Signpost families and professionals to suitable services and resources. Maintain accurate records in line with organizational and national standards.

Work collaboratively with multi-disciplinary teams to ensure continuity of care.

Adhere to national data timescales and service performance targets. Waitlist management and weekly attendance at patient tracking list meeting.

Provide triage assessment and evidence-based interventions to children and young people we serve.

Main duties of the job

You must be a Registered Nurse, Dip SW or equivalent social work qualification (CSS, CQSW, degree in social work), Allied Health Professional registered with the HCPC and accredited by a HCPC recognised body e.g. UKCP/BACP.

• First point of contact when referred into service
• Screening and triage of referrals with Multi-disciplinary team
• Triage assessments
• Liaising with and offering signposting to other agencies
• Participating in the duty rota as a duty lead
• Completing assessment to determine care pathways and reviews
• Case management responsibilities
• Contributing to all aspects of positive team functioning
• Contributing to ongoing service innovations and development

You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. An annual fee of £16 per year applies.

About us

LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.

Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups. If you'd like to discuss your application, please ask.

We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.

LSCFT supports flexible working; we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours and flexi-time.

Job responsibilities

For more details on this vacancy please review the attached job description and person specification.

Person Specification Qualifications

• First level qualification: Registered Nurse (Mental Health or Child) or Qualified Social Worker or Occupational Therapy
• Information technology skills sufficient to undertake the post

Knowledge

• Demonstrable knowledge and skills in evidence-based needs-led assessments, of highly complex and co-morbid presentations of children, young people, their families and carers
• Demonstrable knowledge and skills in evidence-based therapeutic interventions relevant to the needs of this client group
• Demonstrable ability to communicate to clients, their families and professionals sensitive and often difficult to receive information, using various methods including verbal, non-verbal, written and presentation skills
• Good knowledge of legislation, acts and developments relevant to the field of child-related work

Experience

• A minimum of 12 months experience of working within a Mental Health setting since gaining first level qualification as Registered Nurse (Mental Health or Child) or Qualified Social Worker or Occupational Therapy
• Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of Child Mental Health
• Evidence of an ability to effectively manage own workload and able to work autonomously
• Experience of working with young people who deliberately self-harm

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.

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

£38,682 to £46,580 a year (subject to confirmation)