Job overview
Sickle cell is one of the most common of the ‘rare’ blood disorders and disproportionately affects people from Black African and Caribbean populations.
This much needed post has a dual purpose in the psychology support that it offers to adults with sickle cell disorder.We are looking for a practitioner psychologist who is enthusiastic about tackling health inequalities and improving access to care for those who are least well served by health services, and who has experience in working with patients with chronic health conditions.
The post holder will be joining a growing psychology team within the Haematology Service at the Royal London Hospital, which has benefitted from the establishment of several new psychology posts over the past 24 months; including an equivalent role in the paediatric sickle cell service, an assistant psychologist to support both posts, a lead psychologist with a focus on the inpatient sickle cell service, and a psychologist leading a newly established infected blood psychology service.
Base:
0.8 WTE Royal London Hospital (with travel to a range of community settings across North East London).
0.2 WTE St Bartholomew’s Hospital
Barts Health has an established and expanding infrastructure for clinical health psychology, so the post holder will join a professional network committed to mutual support and development.
Main duties of the job
The main element of the post is 0.8 WTE, to continue a project funded by NHS England until March 2027, with the aim of developing ‘end-to-end’ pathway support for people living with sickle cell disorder, to ensure the needs of sickle cell disorder patients are being met. For this element of the role, the focus will be on continuing the work of a previous post holder, in improving service provision to this underserved population, with a concentration on community settings. Key to improving service delivery will be service user involvement, as well as working in collaboration with existing service providers to ensure effective pathways. The role also includes direct clinical work, for example, supporting MDT management of acute and persistent pain and support to manage the emotional and psychological impact of living with a chronic health condition.
Haematopoietic stem cell transplants for adult patients with sickle cell disease has recently been commissioned at Barts Health NHS Trust for eligible patients. The post also offers 0.2 WTE to support MDT decision making about potential recipients of this recent treatment option and to provide psychological input to those undergoing treatment.
Working for our organisation
Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers.
The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.
Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.
We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.
We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are underrepresented within Barts Health at this band.
Person specification
Experience
Essential criteria
1. Experience of having worked with people with medical conditions as a clinical specialist.
2. Experience of multi-disciplinary team working joint work and inter-agency collaboration.
3. Experience of working within multi-cultural populations.
4. Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
5. Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of complex psychological and physical health needs.
6. Experience of supervising assistant and trainee psychologists
7. Experience in implementing service improvements.
Desirable criteria
8. Experience in the psychological management of haematological disorders and / or chronic pain.
9. Experience of undertaking and interpreting neuropsychological assessments and writing reports based on the results.
Skills
Essential criteria
10. Leadership skills; e.g. evidence of the strategic development of services
11. Evidence of the ability to plan and deliver psychological services in an effective, efficient, and resourceful manner.
12. Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate to support and maintain clinical practice
Knowledge
Essential criteria
13. Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological assessments and interventions, including for those living with complex medical conditions
14. Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies for people experiencing trauma
15. Understand of models of health psychology in addition to models of psychopathology.
16. Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group
17. Doctoral level knowledge of psychological research methodology and complex statistical analysis.
Qualifications
Essential criteria
18. Entry-level qualification in Applied Psychology (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level additional training)
19. Additional training in a specialised area of psychological practice through formal post-qualification training (PG Diploma or equivalent) OR a combination of specialist short courses, or an evidence portfolio of supervised practice-based learning in a specialist area of clinical practice, assessment by an experienced clinical supervisor to be of equal level to a Postgraduate diploma.
20. Completed training course in clinical supervision.
21. Registered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist
**Visa Sponsorship Information**
Recent changes to UK immigration policy on the Health and Care Visa and Skilled Worker Visa could mean that this role is not eligible for sponsorship or that you may not meet the eligibility criteria.
Sponsorship can only be offered if this post and any individual offered employment meet all the Home Office’s requirements under the UK Skilled Worker visa scheme.
If you are applying from outside the UK or will require sponsorship, please mention this clearly in your application.
To be eligible for sponsorship, the following conditions must be met:
22. Eligible role: The position must be on the UK Skilled Worker visa list. You can check your eligibility here: -.
23. Salary threshold: The role must meet the minimum salary set by the Home Office. Please note that for roles employed under Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions, the High-Cost Area Supplement (HCAS) is not included when calculating the basic salary for the purposes of sponsorship.
24. Skill level: The role must meet the minimum skill requirement of RQF Level 6 or above (graduate level).
25. English language: Applicants must demonstrate English proficiency at CEFR level B2 or higher.
26. Other criteria: Applicants must meet all other criteria as set out by the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI)