Clinical Lead Mental Health - Children and Young Persons

Reporting to: Medical Director / designated senior operational leadProfessional accountability: The postholder remains professionally accountable for their own clinical practice and works within the organisation’s governance framework.Time commitment: Approximately 14 hours per week (around 60 hours per month), distributed across five working days to provide continuity.

Location: Remote and/or service location, according to operational requirements.Contract basis: Part time / Employed / Contractual Role purposeThe Clinical Lead provides senior clinical leadership and professional oversight for the service.

The postholder supports safe, consistent and high-quality care by clinically triaging enquiries, supervising clinicians, monitoring standards, contributing to governance and complaints processes, and linking clinical practice with day-to-day operations and service development.The role combines planned responsibilities with responsive clinical input. It requires protected time spread across the working week, clear decision-making authority, reliable access to relevant systems and defined arrangements for absence cover and escalation.Key responsibilities1. Clinical triage and continuity

• Review and clinically triage incoming new-patient enquiries, providing an appropriate initial response.
• Review enquiries concerning existing patients when their allocated clinician is unavailable, providing proportionate interim guidance or escalation as appropriate.
• Identify urgent clinical, safeguarding or emergency concerns and follow the agreed escalation pathway.
• Ensure advice, decisions, actions and handovers are recorded promptly in the appropriate system.
• Maintain clear boundaries: interim input does not transfer ongoing clinical responsibility from the allocated treating clinician unless this is expressly agreed and documented.2. Clinical supervision and professional support
• Provide scheduled supervision to designated clinicians in accordance with professional and organisational requirements.
• Offer senior case consultation and support proportionate clinical decision-making, risk management and escalation.
• Maintain appropriate supervision records, agreed actions and follow-up arrangements.
• Identify concerns about competence, conduct, workload or patient safety and escalate these through the appropriate route.
• Contribute clinical input to recruitment and onboarding when requested.3. Caseload oversight and clinical meetings
• Participate in and contribute to caseload review meetings, including consideration of allocation, capacity, clinical risk and outstanding actions.
• Chair consultant meetings and support effective communication between clinicians, administration and operational leadership.
• Ensure clinically significant decisions have a named owner, a timescale and an appropriate record.4. Free-of-charge enquiry calls
• Undertake scheduled free-of-charge calls within the agreed purpose, eligibility criteria and time limits.
• Explain clearly that these calls are preliminary and do not constitute a full assessment, diagnosis, treatment plan or assumption of ongoing clinical care.
• Document the call and any recommended next steps in line with service requirements.5. Quality, governance and complaints
• Monitor agreed indicators of clinical quality, documentation and adherence to service standards.
• Identify themes, variation, risks and improvement priorities, and ensure that actions are assigned and reviewed.
• Provide clinical input to complaint reviews or meetings when required, including identifying learning and recommended improvements.
• Support oversight of safeguarding processes and escalate concerns to the designated safeguarding lead in accordance with policy.
• Contribute to audit, incident learning and governance reporting within the defined scope of the role.6. Operations, strategy and service development
• Attend administration team and Private Arm operations meetings to connect clinical standards with day-to-day service processes.
• Meet with the designated senior lead for strategy updates and provide a clinical perspective on operational decisions.
• Contribute to service and pathway development, ensuring that proposed models are clinically safe, workable and clearly communicated.
• Liaise with the Marketing Director on the accuracy and clarity of clinical service information and relevant service developments.
• Support implementation of agreed changes and review their effect on clinical quality and workflow.Indicative working patternThe pattern below reflects the current service requirement. Exact days and meeting times may change by agreement, but continuity across the working week is an essential feature of the role.Monday : Supervision; caseload review; clinical triage of new and existing-patient enquiries; quality monitoring; complaints meetings as required (Typical time 3–4 hours)Tuesday: Clinical triage of new and existing-patient enquiries; documentation and follow-up (Typical time About 1 hour)Wednesday: Supervision; free-of-charge calls; strategy update; consultant meetings when scheduled; clinical triage and follow-up. (Typical time 3–4 hours)Thursday Supervision; administration team meeting; Private Arm operations meeting; free-of-charge calls; resulting actions. (Typical time 3–4 hours)Friday Clinical triage of new and existing-patient enquiries; documentation and follow-up. (Typical time About 1 hour )As required Service/pathway development; liaison with Marketing Director; complaints and other ad hoc meetings. (Typical time - Within allocation)Indicative allocation of timeBusiness operations, meetings and administration - 4 hours/weekNew and existing-patient enquiries - 4 hours/weekFree-of-charge calls - 2 hours/weekClinician supervision -1 -2 hours/weekQuality monitoring - 1 hour/weekService development and other specified duties - 45 minutes/weekConsultant meetings - Approximately 1 hour/monthOverall commitment - Approximately 14 hours/weekAuthority and role boundariesThe postholder is authorised to provide senior clinical input and make decisions within the agreed remit, but the role should not absorb responsibilities assigned elsewhere. In particular, unless separately contracted and expressly agreed, the Clinical Lead is not:
• the CQC Registered Manager;
• the organisation’s formal complaints manager or investigating officer;
• the designated safeguarding lead, although the postholder supports safeguarding oversight and escalation;
• the ongoing treating clinician for patients allocated to colleagues simply because interim advice has been provided;
• responsible for writing all organisational policies or for operational implementation without management support; or
• expected to provide unlimited or continuous availability outside the agreed working pattern.Responsibility for urgent cover, annual leave and sickness must be allocated explicitly. Matters outside the postholder’s authority should be escalated to the appropriate clinical, safeguarding or operational lead.Key working relationships
• Medical Director and Senior Leadership team
• Administration team and Private Arm operations team
• Consultants and other clinicians
• Designated safeguarding lead and complaints lead
• Marketing Director
• Patients and families during defined enquiry and free-of-charge call processesPerson specificationEssential
• Appropriate professional qualification and current UK registration with the relevant regulator.
• Substantial post-qualification clinical experience relevant to the service population; for a consultant-led child and adolescent service, CCST in child and adolescent mental health is expected.
• Experience of providing clinical supervision and senior case consultation.
• Sound knowledge of clinical risk, safeguarding, confidentiality, consent, record keeping and professional accountability.
• Ability to clinically triage incomplete or evolving information and communicate clear, proportionate decisions.
• Experience of clinical governance, quality monitoring, audit or service improvement.
• Ability to work constructively across clinical, administrative and commercial functions while maintaining professional standards.
• Strong written communication, organisation and action-tracking skills.
• Availability across five working days within the agreed timetable.Desirable
• Experience in an independent healthcare setting.
• Experience of complaints review, incident learning or safeguarding oversight.
• Experience of pathway design, service mobilisation or development of new clinical services.
• Experience of recruitment, onboarding or performance support for clinicians.
• Understanding of CQC-regulated services and the distinction between clinical leadership and registered management responsibilities.Performance expectations
• Enquiries are reviewed within agreed response standards, with urgent matters identified and escalated promptly.
• Clinical decisions, advice, supervision and follow-up actions are documented to the required standard.
• Supervision and recurring meetings occur reliably, with actions assigned and monitored.
• Quality concerns and recurring themes are identified, reported and translated into proportionate improvement actions.
• Role boundaries and accountability remain clear, including during clinician absence and handover.
• Service-development advice is clinically robust, operationally realistic and consistent with professional standards.Review of the roleThe job description should be reviewed after the initial three months and at least annually thereafter, or sooner if the service model, regulatory arrangements or workload changes materially. The agreed hours and working pattern should be reconsidered if activity consistently exceeds the indicative 14-hour weekly allocation.