Job summary
- Main area
- Mental Health
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 3
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- 37.5 hours per week (Full time - Shift work - (8am to 4pm, 9am to 5pm, 12pm to 8pm, and 10am to 6pm at weekends))
- Job ref
- 354-CS-21850
- Employer
- Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- St Annes's Centre - Conquest Hospital
- Town
- Hastings
- Salary
- £24,937 - £26,598 pa
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 22/02/2026 08:00
Employer heading
Health Care Support Worker East Sussex CAMHS Duty and Liaison Service
NHS AfC: Band 3
Come and join us
We’re looking for people who share our values of compassion, accountability and optimism to help us provide high quality care for the patients, carers, families and communities we serve. We specialise in NHS mental health and learning disability services and we’re proud to make a difference every day.
At SPFT we put people first. We’ll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You’ll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development.
We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare. Whether it’s part time hours, hybrid working or flexible start and finish times, we’ll explore what works for you and the role.
We recognise that AI is becoming part of daily life and you may choose to use it to help prepare your application. We welcome innovation but ask that anything you submit reflects your own abilities, experience and voice. AI can support how you describe your skills and experience, but it should never replace your own words as we want to get to know you.
We’re shaping a workplace where ideas are encouraged, technology supports you and everyone has a voice in how we improve. If that sounds like the kind of organisation you want to be part of, we’d love to hear from you.
Job overview
Support Worker-East Sussex CAMHS Duty and Liaison Service
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Band 3 Support Worker based in East Sussex
The role is for 1 x full time support worker with the shift patterns of: 8am -4pm, 9.00am -5.00pm, 12pm - 8pm and 10.00am to 6.00pm weekends and public holidays.
The role will be variable and exciting, sometimes challenging and there is a need for flexibility but it is always very interesting and rewarding. You will need to be motivated, forward thinking and have a strong commitment to providing high quality care to provide the best outcomes for young people. Excellent risk assessment and safety planning skills are essential to this role.
Main duties of the job
As a support worker in the DLT Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) you will work with other members of the East Sussex Duty and Liaison Team to support children and young people experiencing a mental health crisis and their families/carers. You will provide this enhanced support in order to offer least restrictive options for young people, to enable young people to remain living in their communities and avoid hospital admissions where possible. Training relevant to your post will be offered.
You will work with the multi-disciplinary team within a hospital and community setting to establish and deliver recovery focused interventions and care for young people. You will be supporting young people who are waiting for interventions from Community CAMHS as part of this role.
You will put service users’ needs at the heart of the job, keeping people safe, contributes to effective interventions, and responds compassionately to distress.
Training relevant to your post will be offered.
Working for our organisation
We provide mental health and learning disability care for children, young people and adults across Sussex and for children and young people in Hampshire.
Working in Sussex:
- With a blend of picturesque villages and seaside towns there's always new experiences to be enjoyed
- Embrace the city life with great access to visit Brighton and London
- Easy access to Gatwick and Heathrow and excellent railway links across the UK
We’d love you to join our organisation that is rated good overall and outstanding for caring by the CQC. Our staff agree, with 82% of people in our recent staff survey telling us that they recognise that care for patients is our top priority.
Other key staff survey results include:
- 70% highlighting flexible working opportunities as a key point for satisfaction at work
- 79% reporting feeling able to make suggestions to improve the work within their team
See the attached Partnership Perks document for details about our benefits package.
Flexible Working: 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.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Comfortable in providing support for young people experiencing a mental health crisis.
Experienced in working with young people with mental health needs
Able to travel across East Sussex as needed
MAIN DUTIES
To work with other members of the East Sussex Duty and Liaison team to support children and young people experiencing a mental health crisis and their families/carers.
Supporting recovery focused interventions which may include support with care and safety plans both as in reach onto paediatric wards and at CAMHS bases across East Sussex.
To liaise with GPs, mental health services, voluntary service agencies, social services, police and other appropriate agencies or individuals with regard to young people’s issues.
To assist clinicians to support Community CAMHS with young people who are awaiting allocation of a Lead Practitioner, therapeutic work or are waiting for an initial assessment with therapeutic interventions.
See attached Job Description and Person Specification for full details.
Person specification
Criteria
Essential criteria
- Experience working with children and young people
- Experience of analysing and communicating complex information verbally and in writing
- Able to establish and maintain empathic, supportive relationships with young people/families/carers in significant distress or who are cognitively impaired, as well as their families and carers.
- Ability to deal sensitively with staff and young people/families/carers in person and on the telephone. Ability to communicate effectively.
- Able to receive, understand and communicate confidential client information of a sensitive and often complex nature, including discussing care with family members/carers within boundaries of confidentiality.
- Able to communicate in a sensitive and reassuring manner, with empathy, and where appropriate reassurance.
- Able to make good use of clinical supervision in a group and/or individual format
- Awareness of the importance of confidentiality – ability to work within appropriate boundaries.
- Ability to use good judgement skills when dealing with service users/carers enquiries and problems
- Able to prioritise workload according to young peoples’ changing needs and the priorities of the team
- Ability to work collaboratively within a team.
- Familiar with different IT systems
- Able to deal with a range of young people presenting with mental health difficulties, their supporters and the clinical team on a daily basis.
- Able to concentrate on specific activities for up to an hour at a time.
- Able to deal with conflicting demands in an unpredictable work pattern.
- Able to work flexibly and adapt to each person as appropriate to their needs in a variety of settings.
- You will be flexible with office-based working with a Team of skilled professionals or working remotely using technology to communicate with others
- Ability to travel long distances
- Ability to demonstrate respect, empathy and dignity towards Service Users
- Commitment to team working and ability to work successfully in a team
- Ability to travel across sites in good time
- Punctual and flexible across hours of work when required
Desirable criteria
- Emotional first aid or other emotional well-being basic training or understanding
- Experience of working with children and young people with mental health needs in a paid or voluntary capacity
- Experience working as part of a team
- Experience of being supervised
- Liaise with other teams and services including external agencies as required for the wellbeing of service users.
- Able to contribute to risk assessments, drawing on complex and multiple sources of information, once trained and under clinical supervision
- Able to analyse and formulate multiple sources of information to contribute to the team’s understanding of young peoples difficulties and development of a multi-disciplinary care plan
- Able to deal directly with distressing or emotional circumstances when they arise.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
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.
Application numbers
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Nicki Cassidy
- Job title
- Clinical Service Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
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