Job overview
This role will support the small Psychology and Psychotherapy (P&P) team who work in Lewisham’s Acute Inpatient service. A key focus is to ensure there is equitable access to P&P interventions for all patient groups. Creativity and flexibility in finding ways to engage with patients who may not typically consider psychological interventions right for them will be key. The role will include the delivery of brief individual and group psychological interventions for acute inpatients across five wards (two male, two female and one male PICU); facilitating case formulation and reflective practise sessions for the ward staff; offering support to families and carers of inpatients; pro-actively liaising with others involved in the patients’ care pathway (including Community Teams, Crisis Teams, Home Treatment Teams and Liaison). The post-holder will jointly manage referrals into the team from across the wards and will supervise Trainee Clinical Psychologists and other more junior staff.
Main duties of the job
Be To provide a highly specialist psychological interventions for a wide range of acutely unwell inpatients, including specialist assessment, treatment, planning, implementation and monitoring of outcomes.
1. To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
2. To provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate, functioning as a lead specialist in acute adult mental health
3. To promote service evaluation, audit and research.
4. To work as an autonomous professional within registration body guidelines and codes of conduct, guided by principles and policies or procedures of the service, taking responsibility for interpreting policies within defined parameters.
5. To agree outcomes/results with clinical/professional lead and to decide how they are best achieved.
6. To be active in the provision of staff support within their area, including but not limited to Critical Incident Staff Support and Reflect-Support-Resolve (reflective practise). To participate, as a recipient, in staff support work when appropriate.
Working for our organisation
Our values and commitments:
Be caring, kind and polite
Do what I say I'm going to do
Take the time and listen to you
Be honest and direct with you
Be prompt and value your time
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Key Responsibilities:
KR 1 Clinical and Client Care
7. To provide specialist psychological assessments, formulations and brief interventions that support purposeful admissions for acutely unwell inpatients with varied presentations including but not limited to psychosis, mood disorders, personality difficulties, autism, mild intellectual disabilities and co-morbid substance misuse. Short-term Direct and Indirect work, one-to-one and group interventions. Neuropsychological assessment where appropriate.
8. To provide culturally appropriate and trauma-informed psychological or psychotherapeutic interventions with carers or families of referred clients when required.
9. To assess and monitor risk and draw up appropriate risk management plans; to support more junior members of staff and colleagues to formulate risk.
10. To provide reports, including relevant formulation, opinion and interventions, in order to inform referrers and, where appropriate, onward services, service users and their families.
11. To select and deliver evidence-based specialist therapeutic interventions, drawing from a spectrum of ideas and models, monitoring outcome and modifying and adapting interventions as necessary, based on the highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual.
12. To promote psychological support for carers (or families as appropriate) of referred clients.
KR 2 Contributing to team or service clinical functioning
13. To contribute to the effective working of the team and overall unit and to promote a psychologically/psychotherapeutically informed framework for the service.
14. To contribute to the team’s delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities. To model and promote trauma-informed and culturally sensitive ways of working with all service users.
15. To proactively manage the referrals database jointly with the other Band 8a team member; ensure patients are seen quickly once referred and communicate with the referring ward team regarding the outcome of referrals.
16. To be proactive in challenging discrimination and support the development of culturally competent services.
17. To advise other members of the service on specialist psychological/psychotherapeutic care of clients.
18. To liaise with referrers, GPs and other professionals involved in the patients’ pathway and care in order to support continuity of care.
19. To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
20. To facilitate monthly reflective practise sessions for ward teams within the unit after attending training in SLaM’s model of reflective practise (RSR).
21. To facilitate monthly case formulation sessions with ward teams to support the Trust’s aim to reduce restrictive practises; to help embed trauma-informed and anti-racist practise across the unit.
KR 3 Policy and service development
22. To implement policies and procedures in own area of work, and to propose improvements or beneficial changes.
23. To contribute to service development through undertaking and participating in appropriate projects, including Quality Improvement Projects.
24. To contribute to the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.
KR 4 Care or management of resources
25. To take care of, and use carefully, the Trust’s equipment and physical resources.
26. To ensure that the post-holder has sufficient resources by estimating future needs and requesting or ordering supplies as needed.
27. To ensure the cleanliness and safe functioning and use of equipment that will be used by clients or other persons.
28. To monitor and advise clients on the safe use of materials and processes.
29. To ensure adequate confidential and safe storage for artefacts produced during the therapy process in line with professional guidelines.
30. To be responsible for obtaining, storing and maintaining all materials and equipment for the provision of therapy in work setting within budgetary constraints.
KR 5 Management and supervision
31. To be responsible for the allocation and/or clinical supervision of the work of more junior psychological practitioners with support from a more senior practitioner.
32. To supervise trainee psychological practitioners within own area of specialism having completed the relevant Supervision Training.
33. To contribute to the appraisal of more junior psychological practitioners as appropriate.
34. To contribute to the recruitment of more junior psychological practitioners as appropriate.
35. To provide supervision for the psychological and/or psychotherapeutic work of other multi-disciplinary staff as appropriate.
KR 6 Teaching and Training
36. To undertake occasional teaching and training of pre- and post- qualification psychological practitioners, and specialised training to other professions as appropriate.
37. To contribute to the development of the knowledge and skills base within the service by maintaining an active awareness of current developments in psychological therapy and by implementing knowledge gained in practice.
38. To disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations and/or published articles.
KR 7 Record-keeping and Information Governance
39. To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by Trust policies and local procedures.
40. To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry.
KR 8 Research and development
41. To initiate/undertake, support and supervise regular complex service evaluation and audits.
42. To initiate and implement the development of outcome measurement and assessment and assist other staff in the implementation of same.
KR 9 Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development
43. To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior psychological therapist according to professional body and Trust guidelines.
44. To maintain own Continuing Professional Development in line with professional body and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements and professional Standards for Continuing Professional Development.
45. To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current developments in professional and clinical practice and of relevant legislation and policies.
46. To comply with professional body Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics/Standards of Proficiency.
KR10 General
47. To travel to meetings and training at other Trust Sites when required.
48. To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group, and follow trust policies relating to its management.
49. To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations (such as challenging behaviour, abuse etc) and to support others involved in such situations through Trust-wide approaches including Critical Incident Staff Support and Reflect-Support-Resolve.
Person specification
Qualifications, Experience, Knowledge & Skills
Essential criteria
50. Entry-level qualification in applied psychological therapy/mental health/social welfare profession or equivalent AND demonstrable practice in this field (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level/supervised practice/additional training) that has been accepted for the purposes of professional registration. (A/I)
51. Completed training course in clinical supervision and/or accredited to supervised qualified psychological practitioners in relevant discipline. (A/I/R)
52. Registered with professional body as appropriate to discipline HCPC/APC/BPC/UKCP/BACP/BABCP/ADMPUK. (A/I)
53. Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the professional body. (A/I)
54. Evidence of having worked as a clinical specialist under supervision in adult mental health. (A/I)
55. Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature in adult mental health (A/I)
56. Experience of supervising assistants and trainees having completed the relevant training. (A/I)
57. Post-qualification experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities. (A/I)
58. Theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the treatment of commonly presenting problems in acute adult mental health (psychosis, substance misuse, trauma, personality disorder, mood disorders). (A/I/R)
59. Advanced knowledge of the theory of psychological therapy and it’s therapeutic application. Associated awareness of assessment and clinical psychometrics. (A/I/R)
60. Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities. (A/I/R)
61. Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care. (A/I/R)
62. To deliver psychological/psychotherapeutic therapy across cultural and other differences. (A/I/R)
63. To select and administer specialist psychological assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several sources. (A/I/R)
64. Knowledge of a range of therapeutic ideas/approaches and systemic models in assessment and treatment relevant to discipline (A/I/R)
65. Knowledge of racial and other diversity issues and factors affecting access to mental health care. (A/I/R)
Desirable criteria
66. Substantial post-qualification experience/training and/or accreditation in a relevant therapy model (e.g. CBT/DBT/EMDR/ACT).
67. BABPC Accreditation
68. Experience of working in acute mental health wards
69. Experience of delivering short interventions
70. Ability to plan, carry out and analyse neuropsychological testing and to incorporate this into formulation and treatment planning