Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.
The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for five consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.
Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an art therapist passionate about cancer care to join Cancer Psychological Therapies within NELFT together with Homerton Cancer Psychological Service at Homerton Hospital. This newly established post is being funded for one year by Corinne Burton Memorial Trust.
Both teams are small, friendly services made up of psychological therapists enthusiastic about and committed to providing high-quality and compassionate psychological care to patients diagnosed with cancer within Homerton Hospital, and Queens Hospital and King George Hospital.
Main duties of the job
The post-holder will be expected to design, deliver, and evaluate an art therapy service for patients diagnosed with cancer across both Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Trust (BHRUT) and Homerton Hospital. The post holder will manage a small caseload of patients providing individual and group interventions. They will work collaboratively with colleagues in their team, as well as within the wider oncology services and Trusts as part of providing excellent holistic care for patients. They will be supported to develop working relationships with art therapists across North-East London Cancer Alliance. They will need to be able to routinely travel to both King George Hospital and Homerton Healthcare sites in Hackney. They will attend regular supervision and line management as part of their role.
Working for our organisation
Our Values 2025 - 2030
Working with our colleagues, patients and carers we have co-produced three new values that we aim to embed within our culture here at NELFT.
They are:
We are kind.
We are respectful.
We work together with our communities.
These three values help us to strive to provide the best care by the best people.
Starting with NELFT
NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers, and attend a number of drop-in sessions focusing on engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.
Probationary Period
This post will be subject to a probationary period.
High Cost Area Supplement - Outer London
This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15%of the basic salary (minimum payment of £4,714 and a maximum payment of £5,941 - per annum, pro rata).
Use of AI
Please see attached document regarding acceptable use of AI
during the recruitment process.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The post holder will provide a qualified Art Therapy service to patients living with cancer referred to NELFT Cancer Psychological Therapies and Homerton Cancer Psychology Service This will include providing specialist Art Therapy assessments and support to cancer patients known to Barking Havering & Redbridge University Trust (BHRUT) and Homerton Hospital Oncology, Haematology and Palliative Care Teams, as well as the design and delivery of individual and group Art therapy interventions for patients.
A key component of the post will be to manage a small caseload of patients accessing Art therapy and to design, deliver and evaluate an Art Therapy group intervention. The post holder will attend regular supervision and participate in team meetings as required. The post holder will be supported to develop working relationships with Art Therapists in the wider North East London Cancer Alliance Network.
The service is also expected to engage with and improve healthcare inequalities, the postholders will therefore be required to engage with colleagues in oncology and haematology MDTs as well as NELFT, Homerton and BHRUT colleagues to work towards this objective.
The post holder should demonstrate the ability to work flexibly and autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the team’s policies and procedures; To work effectively with colleagues within Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals, Homerton Hospital and the broader Clinical Health Psychological Service at NELFT; To utilise evidence-based outcome measures and treatment approaches to ensure a consistent and high level of quality is provided to the Psychological Therapies Service. They will have a commitment to collaborative working and actively supporting and liaising with other health and social professionals and agencies. The post holder will be prepared to travel to Homerton Healthcare Trust sites, Queen’s Hospital and King George Hospital, as well as having the capacity to work remotely.
Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. We encourage you to refer to this when completing your application.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
1. HCPC Registration as an Art Therapist (current or achievable within the probation period)
2. MA/MSc or equivalent in Art Therapy
3. Membership of British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT)
Experience
Essential criteria
4. Experience of delivering Art therapy to a wide variety of client groups, ages, contexts and presenting problems, reflecting the full range of clinical severity
5. Experience working with mental health issues and risk
6. Experience working managing a caseload and clinical throughput
7. Experience of evaluating Art Therapy interventions and communicating service outcomes to stakeholders
Desirable criteria
8. Experience of delivering Art Therapy in physical health services
9. Experience of working within Psycho-oncology teams
10. Experience of teaching, training, and/or supervision
Knowledge
Essential criteria
11. An awareness of NHS priorities
12. Knowledge of Art Therapy, drawing on a variety of approaches and/or models, as appropriate to the needs of patients, carers and families presenting with multi-complex difficulties
13. Advanced knowledge of a range of appropriate assessment and Art Therapy interventions relevant to cancer and palliative care
Skills
Essential criteria
14. Basic awareness of IT and IT skills
15. Good knowledge of electronic patient record systems and clinical functions related to this such as risk planning, clinical harm reviews and care planning
16. Ability to maintain a high degree of professionalism and competence when presented with complex, emotive and distressing problems
17. Ability to work with autonomy and flexibility within the bounds of the job description and professional competence
Benefits
We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:
18. A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
19. A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
20. Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
21. Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.