Clinical Psychology Assistant Practitioner
Employer South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust Location Barnsley, United Kingdom Salary Competitive Closing date 6 Jul 2025
Job summary
An opportunity has arisen towork as an Assistant Psychologist within the Neurological Rehabilitation Unit(NRU), at Kendray Hospital in a fixed term 0.6wte post (22.5hrs per week) for12 months. The service provides multidisciplinary consultation, assessment,treatment & interventions to people with traumatic & acquired braininjuries & other neurological conditions.
The role would provideexcellent opportunities to develop the skills required to apply for theDoctorate in Clinical Psychology. If you wish to discuss this post further,please contact Dr Sean Walsh, Clinical Psychologist via email to sean.walsh@swyt.nhs.uk.
This vacancy mayclose early if sufficient applications are received.
Atthe time of advertising, this role does not meet the minimum requirements setby UK Visas and Immigration to sponsor candidates to work in the UK. For thisreason, we are unable to sponsor anyone for a skilled worker visa for this role.
Weare happy to accept applications from candidates who can prove their right towork in the UK or via alternative visa routes. Such applications will beconsidered alongside all other applications.
All employees of the Trust are strongly encouraged to befully vaccinated against COVID-19 to protect patients.
Main duties of the job
The successful applicant willassist the qualified psychologist to complete psychosocial, behavioural &neuropsychological assessments, provide psychological interventions bothdirectly with patients & indirectly through multidisciplinary working aswell as opportunities around service evaluation and development.
The candidate will have animportant role in supporting psychological formulation and understanding withinthe team.
The successful candidate willreceive regular supervision from the Clinical Psychologist within the team andhave the opportunity to develop assessment, intervention & team workingskills.
We are aware that an increasing number of applicants are using AI technology to generate responses on NHS Job application forms. We strongly discourage this and will conduct a thorough screening process before selecting candidates to progress to the next stage. If you are using AI to enhance your application, please disclose this in your NHS Jobs application form.
About us
Weare a specialist NHS Foundation Trust that provides community, mental healthand learning disability services for the people of Barnsley, Calderdale,Kirklees and Wakefield. We also provide low and medium secure services and arethe lead for the west Yorkshire secure provider collaborative.
Our mission isto help people reach their potential and live well in their communities, we do thisby providing high-quality care in the right place at the right time. We employstaff in both clinical and non-clinical services who work hard to make adifference to the lives of service users, families and carers.
We encourageand welcome applications from all protected characteristic groups, we valuediversity and want our workforce to be reflective of our communities.
Beinga foundation Trust means were accountable to ourmembers, who can have a say in how were run. Around 14,300 local people(including staff) are members of our Trust.
Joinus and you will be one of over 4,500 staff committed to supporting and improvingthe mental, physical and social needs of the thousands of people we meet andhelp each year.
Weare committedto safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people andvulnerable adults and expects all colleagues and volunteers to share thiscommitment.
We do reserve to right to close vacancy before the advertised closing date if necessary, so please apply as soon as possible.
Job description
Job responsibilities
JOB SUMMARY
Thisjob description is an outline of the main duties of the post. The postholder will be required to undertakeother duties commensurate with the grade as directed.
The content of this post will be reviewed in consultation with thepostholder when necessary and in line with the service developments.
To support and enhance the professional psychological care of clientswithin the service, across all sectors of care; providing psychologicalassessment and psychological interventions under the supervision of a qualifiedprofessional psychologist, working independently according to a plan agreedwith a qualified psychologist and within the overall framework of the teamspolicies and procedures. To assist inclinically related administration, conduct of audits, collection of statistics,and development of audit and / or research projects, teaching and project work.
KEY RESULT AREAS:
Clinical:
1.To undertake protocol based psychologicalassessments of clients applying psychological theory, includingneuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct andindirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients,family members and others involved in the clients care. To include psychological monitoring ofbehaviour, for example extensive file review of past frequency/severity ofchallenging behaviours, introduction of additional behavioural recording,and/or direct, time-sampled observation on an individual basis.
2.To assist in the formulation and delivery ofcare plans involving the psychological treatment and / or management of aclients problems, under the supervision of a qualified professionalpsychologist, in both community and in-patient / residential settings. This will include collaboration betweenpsychology and nursing staff in the development of behavioural care plans.
3.To assist in the coordination and running oftherapeutic groups or clinical projects.To work with other staff to assess in-patients and review their care inpreparation for multi-disciplinary reviews.
4.To work with other staff to assess or supportservice users in residential and day service settings and contribute tomultidisciplinary discussions or care guidelines as agreed with the clinicalpsychologist providing supervision. To contributeto the training and support of other staff, working at the YCFP inpsychological care.
Cont/
5.To assist in the development of a psychologicalbased framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of theservice, across all settings where care takes place.
6. To attend and contribute to appropriatemulti-disciplinary meetings.
IT responsibilities (clinical)
To use highly developed IT skills.
To access knowledge through Internet searches(e.g. Psych.Lit, Medline) to keep up to date with clinical and professionaldevelopment
For the preparation and presentation ofmaterials of effective teaching and training (e.g. power point, graphicrepresentations) to record and analyse data for research and audit (e.g.databases, spreadsheets, statistical analysis packages e.g. SPPS).
1.To create graphs or charts to collate orsummarise data on individual interventions or treatment programmes.
2.To assist in producing visual or material oruser friendly information for interventions with clients.
Teaching, training and supervision
1.In common with all clinical psychologists, toreceive regular clinical supervision in accordance with professional practiceguidelines.
2.To gain wider experience of professionalpsychology within the NHS over and above that provided within the principalservice area where the post holder is employed.
3.To develop skills and competencies that assistin the delivery of current duties.
4.To contribute to the training and support ofother staff, working within the Forensic BDU in psychological care.
Management, recruitment and service development
1.To assist in the design and implementation ofservice development projects with the service as required.
2.To attend meetings in which servicedevelopments are planned and discussed.
Research and service evaluation
1.To assist in the design and implementation ofaudit and research projects.
2.To undertake data collection, analysis, theproduction of reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes.
3.To undertake searches of evidence-basedliterature and research to assist qualified clinical psychologists and forensicpsychologists in evidence based practice in individual work and work with otherteam members.
Trust Values:
The Trust is committed to ensuring the highest standards of care andtreatment and expects that all staff treat people e.g, service users, theircarers, relatives, friends, colleagues, visitors etc, with dignity andrespectat all time. The post holder must all time actin accordance with the Trusts Values:
Honest, open,transparent
Respectful
Person firstand in the centre
Improve and beoutstanding
Relevanttoday, ready for tomorrow
Families andcarers matter
Safeguarding:
Report any concerns regarding the safety orwellbeing of children, adults service users,members of their families etc, in accordance with Trust Policy.
Prevent and respond appropriately to abuse andunderstand own role in this by undertaking Safeguarding training.
Trust policies and commitments to beread in line with the relevant Trust Policy:
All staff employed by the Trust mustcomply with the Trusts policies and procedures, undertake appropriate trainingrequired for their role and commit to:
ensure they are aware of the Whistleblowing Policy and how they raiseconcerns;
maintainconfidentiality, in line with the Trusts Confidentiality Policy and Code ofConduct;
understandtheir personal responsibilities with regards to data quality for anyinformation which they create, use or process in accordance with the DataProtection Act 1998 and Trust Data Protection Policy;
complywith the provisions of The Trusts Health and Safety Policy and Protocol.Ensuring their own safety and that of colleagues, service users and visitors.Know the action to be taken in the event of a fire and must undertake firetraining annually;
receivesupervision in line with the Trusts Supervision Policy and an annual Appraisalin line with the Trusts Appraisal Policy, during which mandatory, rolespecific and personal development needs should be identified and agreed;
understandtheir responsibilities under the Trusts Equal Opportunities in EmploymentPolicy and ensure that they adhere to the provisions of the policy;
recognise,respect and support the equality diversity of staff, colleagues, service users,carers and the public. Contribute to aworking environment which promotes and responds positively to difference anddiversity;
ensurethey carry out their duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children andyoung people under the age of 18 years, as issued under Section 11 of TheChildren Act 2004, by being familiar with and adhering to Trust safeguardingpolicies and participatingin relevanttraining;
complywith their professional responsibilities to develop their practice and delivercare through a Clinical Governance framework (i.e. CPD, Audit, Supervision);
demonstrate,through practice and practical understanding, the importance of the continualdevelopment of individual, team and service wide quality improvement;
abideby relevant codes of professional practice, with the organisation taking actionwhen codes of conduct are breached;
workflexibly to meet the needs of the service/organisation, whilst working within aculture of progressive employment practices and commitment to the Investors inPeople (IiP) Standards.
adhereto the Trusts smoke free policies, which prohibits smoking anywhere on Trustgrounds;
being socially responsible by complying with measuresthat support the Trust in reducing or offsetting our environmental impact;
Identify and report risks, hazards, incidents, accidentsand near misses promptly;
In addition to the Trusts ownresponsibilities under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, Code of Practice onthe prevention and control of infections and related guidance, for your safety,ALL staff (and contractors) are responsible for ensuring their work adheres tothis Code in the delivery of safe patient care.
Thisjob description is an outline of the main duties of the post. The postholder will be required to undertakeother duties commensurate with the band as directed. The content of this postwill be reviewed in consultation with the postholder when necessary and in linewith the service developments.
For full details of the role please see the supporting documents attached.
Job description
Job responsibilities
JOB SUMMARY
Thisjob description is an outline of the main duties of the post. The postholder will be required to undertakeother duties commensurate with the grade as directed.
The content of this post will be reviewed in consultation with thepostholder when necessary and in line with the service developments.
To support and enhance the professional psychological care of clientswithin the service, across all sectors of care; providing psychologicalassessment and psychological interventions under the supervision of a qualifiedprofessional psychologist, working independently according to a plan agreedwith a qualified psychologist and within the overall framework of the teamspolicies and procedures. To assist inclinically related administration, conduct of audits, collection of statistics,and development of audit and / or research projects, teaching and project work.
KEY RESULT AREAS:
Clinical:
1.To undertake protocol based psychologicalassessments of clients applying psychological theory, includingneuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct andindirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients,family members and others involved in the clients care. To include psychological monitoring ofbehaviour, for example extensive file review of past frequency/severity ofchallenging behaviours, introduction of additional behavioural recording,and/or direct, time-sampled observation on an individual basis.
2.To assist in the formulation and delivery ofcare plans involving the psychological treatment and / or management of aclients problems, under the supervision of a qualified professionalpsychologist, in both community and in-patient / residential settings. This will include collaboration betweenpsychology and nursing staff in the development of behavioural care plans.
3.To assist in the coordination and running oftherapeutic groups or clinical projects.To work with other staff to assess in-patients and review their care inpreparation for multi-disciplinary reviews.
4.To work with other staff to assess or supportservice users in residential and day service settings and contribute tomultidisciplinary discussions or care guidelines as agreed with the clinicalpsychologist providing supervision. To contributeto the training and support of other staff, working at the YCFP inpsychological care.
Cont/
5.To assist in the development of a psychologicalbased framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of theservice, across all settings where care takes place.
6. To attend and contribute to appropriatemulti-disciplinary meetings.
IT responsibilities (clinical)
To use highly developed IT skills.
To access knowledge through Internet searches(e.g. Psych.Lit, Medline) to keep up to date with clinical and professionaldevelopment
For the preparation and presentation ofmaterials of effective teaching and training (e.g. power point, graphicrepresentations) to record and analyse data for research and audit (e.g.databases, spreadsheets, statistical analysis packages e.g. SPPS).
1.To create graphs or charts to collate orsummarise data on individual interventions or treatment programmes.
2.To assist in producing visual or material oruser friendly information for interventions with clients.
Teaching, training and supervision
1.In common with all clinical psychologists, toreceive regular clinical supervision in accordance with professional practiceguidelines.
2.To gain wider experience of professionalpsychology within the NHS over and above that provided within the principalservice area where the post holder is employed.
3.To develop skills and competencies that assistin the delivery of current duties.
4.To contribute to the training and support ofother staff, working within the Forensic BDU in psychological care.
Management, recruitment and service development
1.To assist in the design and implementation ofservice development projects with the service as required.
2.To attend meetings in which servicedevelopments are planned and discussed.
Research and service evaluation
1.To assist in the design and implementation ofaudit and research projects.
2.To undertake data collection, analysis, theproduction of reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes.
3.To undertake searches of evidence-basedliterature and research to assist qualified clinical psychologists and forensicpsychologists in evidence based practice in individual work and work with otherteam members.
Trust Values:
The Trust is committed to ensuring the highest standards of care andtreatment and expects that all staff treat people e.g, service users, theircarers, relatives, friends, colleagues, visitors etc, with dignity andrespectat all time. The post holder must all time actin accordance with the Trusts Values:
Honest, open,transparent
Respectful
Person firstand in the centre
Improve and beoutstanding
Relevanttoday, ready for tomorrow
Families andcarers matter
Safeguarding:
Report any concerns regarding the safety orwellbeing of children, adults service users,members of their families etc, in accordance with Trust Policy.
Prevent and respond appropriately to abuse andunderstand own role in this by undertaking Safeguarding training.
Trust policies and commitments to beread in line with the relevant Trust Policy:
All staff employed by the Trust mustcomply with the Trusts policies and procedures, undertake appropriate trainingrequired for their role and commit to:
ensure they are aware of the Whistleblowing Policy and how they raiseconcerns;
maintainconfidentiality, in line with the Trusts Confidentiality Policy and Code ofConduct;
understandtheir personal responsibilities with regards to data quality for anyinformation which they create, use or process in accordance with the DataProtection Act 1998 and Trust Data Protection Policy;
complywith the provisions of The Trusts Health and Safety Policy and Protocol.Ensuring their own safety and that of colleagues, service users and visitors.Know the action to be taken in the event of a fire and must undertake firetraining annually;
receivesupervision in line with the Trusts Supervision Policy and an annual Appraisalin line with the Trusts Appraisal Policy, during which mandatory, rolespecific and personal development needs should be identified and agreed;
understandtheir responsibilities under the Trusts Equal Opportunities in EmploymentPolicy and ensure that they adhere to the provisions of the policy;
recognise,respect and support the equality diversity of staff, colleagues, service users,carers and the public. Contribute to aworking environment which promotes and responds positively to difference anddiversity;
ensurethey carry out their duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children andyoung people under the age of 18 years, as issued under Section 11 of TheChildren Act 2004, by being familiar with and adhering to Trust safeguardingpolicies and participatingin relevanttraining;
complywith their professional responsibilities to develop their practice and delivercare through a Clinical Governance framework (i.e. CPD, Audit, Supervision);
demonstrate,through practice and practical understanding, the importance of the continualdevelopment of individual, team and service wide quality improvement;
abideby relevant codes of professional practice, with the organisation taking actionwhen codes of conduct are breached;
workflexibly to meet the needs of the service/organisation, whilst working within aculture of progressive employment practices and commitment to the Investors inPeople (IiP) Standards.
adhereto the Trusts smoke free policies, which prohibits smoking anywhere on Trustgrounds;
being socially responsible by complying with measuresthat support the Trust in reducing or offsetting our environmental impact;
Identify and report risks, hazards, incidents, accidentsand near misses promptly;
In addition to the Trusts ownresponsibilities under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, Code of Practice onthe prevention and control of infections and related guidance, for your safety,ALL staff (and contractors) are responsible for ensuring their work adheres tothis Code in the delivery of safe patient care.
Thisjob description is an outline of the main duties of the post. The postholder will be required to undertakeother duties commensurate with the band as directed. The content of this postwill be reviewed in consultation with the postholder when necessary and in linewith the service developments.
For full details of the role please see the supporting documents attached.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
* An Honours degree in Psychology (2:1).
* Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society.
Training
Desirable
* Further post-graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis.
Personal Attributes
Essential
* An ability to interact effectively with staff from all disciplines.
* An ability to interact effectively with people with mental health problems or learning disabilities.
* Ability to work independently, reliably and consistently with work agreed and managed at regular intervals.
* Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively.
* Able to travel throughout the catchment area, without unnecessary delays.
Desirable
* An interest in working with people with learning difficulties.
* A desire to explore a career in Professional Psychology.
* Ability to travel across the Trust as appropriate to the role.
* An interest in working with people with offending histories.
Physical Attributes
Essential
* Ability to undertake the duties and demands of the post. A satisfactory sickness record over the previous 2 years (subject to the need to act with fairness and equality of opportunity, particularly where the sickness is related to a disability and/or pregnancy).
Experience
Essential
* Practical experience of working with people with mental health problems and/or learning disabilities and/or psychological/behavioural problems.
Desirable
* Experience of paid work in direct care provision, particularly in the care group of the specialty of this post. Experience of working with people with challenging behaviour.
Special Knowledge/Skills
Essential
* High level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive.
* Ability to communicate sensitive information to patients, carers and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance.
* Ability to communicate information which may be perceived as contentious to patients, carers and colleagues in a manner that promotes understanding and acceptance.
* An understanding of the needs and difficulties of people with mental health problems, learning disabilities and/or other disabilities.
* An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to health and social service contexts.
* An understanding of psychology applied to health care.
Desirable
* Experience using computers for databases or data-analysis.
* Experience using microcomputers for databases or data analysis especially SPSS for Windows.
* High standard of report writing.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
* An Honours degree in Psychology (2:1).
* Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society.
Training
Desirable
* Further post-graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis.
Personal Attributes
Essential
* An ability to interact effectively with staff from all disciplines.
* An ability to interact effectively with people with mental health problems or learning disabilities.
* Ability to work independently, reliably and consistently with work agreed and managed at regular intervals.
* Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively.
* Able to travel throughout the catchment area, without unnecessary delays.
Desirable
* An interest in working with people with learning difficulties.
* A desire to explore a career in Professional Psychology.
* Ability to travel across the Trust as appropriate to the role.
* An interest in working with people with offending histories.
Physical Attributes
Essential
* Ability to undertake the duties and demands of the post. A satisfactory sickness record over the previous 2 years (subject to the need to act with fairness and equality of opportunity, particularly where the sickness is related to a disability and/or pregnancy).
Experience
Essential
* Practical experience of working with people with mental health problems and/or learning disabilities and/or psychological/behavioural problems.
Desirable
* Experience of paid work in direct care provision, particularly in the care group of the specialty of this post. Experience of working with people with challenging behaviour.
Special Knowledge/Skills
Essential
* High level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive.
* Ability to communicate sensitive information to patients, carers and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance.
* Ability to communicate information which may be perceived as contentious to patients, carers and colleagues in a manner that promotes understanding and acceptance.
* An understanding of the needs and difficulties of people with mental health problems, learning disabilities and/or other disabilities.
* An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to health and social service contexts.
* An understanding of psychology applied to health care.
Desirable
* Experience using computers for databases or data-analysis.
* Experience using microcomputers for databases or data analysis especially SPSS for Windows.
* High standard of report writing.
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.
Employer details
Employer name
South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust
Address
Kendray Hospital
Doncaster Road
Barnsley
S Yorkshire
S70 3RD
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