Job overview
We are looking for an enthusiastic clinical or counselling psychologist to work in our Community Mental Health Hub as part of an integrated multi-disciplinary service. The post-holder will work in the north Kensington & Chelsea Mental Health Hub and in the south Hub as required.
The post-holder will be the Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) lead for the Hub and will also supervise the Complex Emotional Needs (CEN) pathway clinicians. The role will include liaison with the specialist CEN team, known as the Waterview Service.
In addition, that post-holder will provide a range of specialist psychological assessment and therapy for clients with complex and enduring mental health problems. They will also be expected to lead on and coordinate aspects of the group programme under the Hubs, including the DBT programme for clients with complex emotional needs. The candidate will offer advice, training and consultation to other members of the team and non-professional carers.
The post-holder will support the team in assessing the psychological and social needs of patients referred to the service, ensuring that psychological needs and factors are given due consideration.
The post-holder will be supported in developing their role through CPD and supervision. They will also contribute to the professional development of junior colleagues, including trainee clinical psychologists.
The post-holder is expected to work autonomously within professional guidelines.
Main duties of the job
The post-holder will work primarily in north Kensington and Chelsea Mental Health Hub and in the south Hub as required.
The post-holder will dedicate the equivalent of one day per week to leading the Complex Emotional Needs pathway across the north and south hubs.
They will also provide specialist psychological assessment and therapy for clients with complex mental health problems. They will also provide aspects of the psychosocial group programme within the Hub. The candidate will be expected to offer advice, training, and consultation to other members of the team and non-professional carers.
The post-holder will attend weekly psychology and wider MDT team meetings and case discussion forums to facilitate gold standard service provision. They will have an active role in managing referrals and planning clinical care. They will contribute to the ongoing development of effective recovery-oriented treatment models. They will also play an active role in initiatives to ensure optimal use of psychological therapy resources so that these are widely accessible and offered in a timely manner. The post-holder will support the team in assessing the psychological and social needs of patients referred to the service, ensuring that psychological needs and factors are given due consideration in the care planning process.
Working for our organisation
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) is one of the largest trusts in the UK, caring for people with a wide range of physical and mental health needs. We have approximately 7,000 staff who provide healthcare to a third of London's population and across wider geographical areas, including Milton Keynes, Kent, Surrey and Hampshire and Central and North West London
1. If you would like to see what it's like to work for CNWL please have a look at https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/work
The post-holder will be based across the Mental Health Hub sites in North Kensington & Chelsea and will also include Travel to the South Hub.
The post-holder will be expected to adopt a flexible approach to their working pattern and may at times be required to undertake work in other settings including day centers, GP surgeries, other community service bases, inpatient wards and patients’ homes.
The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Clinical:
To provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client’s care.
To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client’s problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.
To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses. To lead and supervise the Hub DBT offer and clinical supervise the Hub CEN workers. The role will include oversight of the Hub CEN offer.
To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.
To provide specialist psychological advice guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients’ formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings and agencies serving the client group.
To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.
Teaching, training, and supervision
To receive regular clinical professional supervision from a senior clinical psychologist and, where appropriate, other senior professional colleagues. To receive supervision in DBT and to attend DBT consult.
To gain additional highly specialist experience and skills relevant to clinical/counseling psychology and/or the service as agreed with the professional psychology manager.
To develop skills in the area of professional post-graduate teaching, training and supervision and to provide supervision to other MDT staff’s psychological work as appropriate.
To provide professional and clinical supervision of trainee and assistant clinical psychologists.
To contribute to the pre- and post-qualification teaching of clinical and/or counselling psychology, as appropriate.
To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate.
Management, recruitment, policy and service development
To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the team’s operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service valuation and audit.
To advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
To manage the workloads of assistant and trainee clinical psychologists, within the framework of the team/service’s policies and procedures.
To be involved, as appropriate, in the shortlisting and interviewing of assistant / graduate psychologists.
Research and service evaluation
To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
To undertake appropriate research and provide research advice to other staff undertaking research.
To undertake project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service to help develop service provision.
IT responsibilities
To maintain professional and personal records on computer, as appropriate
To enter data onto local Trust IT systems and databases, as appropriate
To utilize IT methodologies, such as e-mail and the internet, to access clinical and professional information and to communicate with colleagues.
General
To contribute to the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the postholder’s professional and service manager(s).
To contribute to the development and articulation of best practice in psychology across the service, by continuing to develop the skills of a reflexive and reflective scientist practitioner, taking part in regular professional supervision and appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the field of clinical psychology and related disciplines.
To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with professional codes of practice of the British Psychological Society, The Health Professions Council and Trust policies and procedures.
To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the specific client group and mental health.
Vaccination
The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.
2. Due to the high response levels we receive for some vacancies, we may expire any of them prior to the advertised closing date and advise you to submit your application as soon as possible.
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4. Our Agenda for Change employment contracts are subject to a contractual 13 week probationary period.