Overview
Senior Assistant Psychologist in the Community Perinatal Team (CPT). The CPT is a multi-disciplinary team serving Hertfordshire, supporting women with mental health needs during pregnancy and postnatally, and working with maternity staff and primary, secondary and inpatient care providers. This post is suitable for an enthusiastic psychology graduate with some previous Assistant Psychologist experience and an interest in perinatal mental health.
Responsibilities
* Support clinical psychologists in the delivery of 1:1 psychological therapy, maintain a small caseload, and deliver simple CBT, CFT and DBT-informed interventions.
* Conduct assessments of participants, coordinate and co-facilitate group therapy programmes.
* Work across psychology and parent-infant therapy pathways to coordinate interventions and plan effective care pathways for women under the team.
* Collate and manage clinical outcome data for patients under care of the team.
* Be involved in audit, small-scale research and service development projects.
* Play an active role in the wider multi-disciplinary team and receive regular supervision from a Psychologist; attend team meetings and perinatal training sessions; liaise with healthcare professionals across Hertfordshire. The team has links with the University of Hertfordshire and its clinical psychology training course.
* Possess a driving licence and access to a car (essential).
* For further information, contact Karima Tasker at karima.tasker3@nhs.net or 0300 124 0939.
Details
Employer: Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT). Band 5, Agenda for Change, Permanent contract, Full-time. Salary £32,602 to £39,686 per annum (inclusive of 5% HCA). Location: Prospect House, Peace Drive, Watford, WD17 3XE. Reference: 367-SS-9724.
Job description and responsibilities
To undertake psychological interventions under the supervision of a qualified Clinical Psychologist:
* Assist in the formulation and delivery of intervention plans for service users, considering the mother, baby and wider family at all times.
* Contribute to assessment and ongoing management of clinical risk under direct supervision.
* Assist in coordinating, running, evaluating and developing a programme of therapeutic groups.
* Develop a psychologically based framework of understanding and care for all service users across settings.
* Work with team members to provide safe and effective care to mothers, babies and families.
* Be an integrated member of the MDT; attend and contribute to team and multi-disciplinary meetings.
* Consider service user involvement in service development and therapeutic groups.
* Work flexibly in different community locations as required by local need to maximise accessibility.
* Maintain high standards of clinical record keeping and reporting in line with professional codes of practice and Trust policies; maintain contemporaneous HPFT psychological records in the electronic patient record system.
* Perform other duties appropriate to grade as requested by the supervising Clinical Psychologist.
* Work flexibly in response to service user needs as agreed with team managers or supervising Clinical Psychologists.
Supervision, Teaching and Training:
* Participate in regular clinical and line management supervision with the supervising Clinical Psychologist, in line with professional guidelines.
* Assist in identifying and meeting the training needs of direct care staff; contribute to training and support of other staff within the Perinatal Community Team and across the county, in line with team policies and procedures.
* Gain wider NHS psychology experience beyond the principal service area and develop skills and competencies to deliver current duties.
* Attend HPFT induction and contribute to CPD activities in consultation with the supervising Clinical Psychologist.
Research and Service Evaluation:
* Assist in administration, audits, statistics collection, and development of audit/research projects, teaching and project work.
* Under supervision, collect and coordinate clinical outcome data from multi-disciplinary team members and develop efficient storage, analysis and reporting methods.
* Assist in designing and implementing audits and research projects; undertake data collection and analysis using IT tools (Word, Excel, SPSS) and produce reports.
* Review evidence-based literature to support evidence-based practice and service development.
* Attend and contribute to meetings where service developments are planned and discussed.
Clinical Responsibility:
Clinical responsibility remains with the Clinical Supervisor. The Assistant Psychologist will assist in planning, delivering and monitoring psychology interventions under direction, contribute to therapeutic input (1:1 and group), gather and report data, and assist in compiling and writing care notes and psychological reports.
Qualifications and Skills
Essential
* An honours degree (2:2 or above) in Psychology with entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society.
* Ability to work independently under day-to-day supervision of a qualified psychologist; reliable, consistent, with initiative.
* Understanding of psychology applied to a mental health context.
Desirable
* Further postgraduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice, therapeutic approaches and/or research design and analysis.
* Knowledge/experience of working with high-risk presentations and safeguarding protocols.
* A desire to pursue a career in professional psychology.
Previous experience
* Essential: Experience of working with people with mental health and/or disabilities in a care setting; experience of group work; previous experience as an Assistant Psychologist.
* Desirable: Paid direct care experience; NHS experience; setting up/co-facilitating therapy groups; experience with CBT and/or 3rd wave approaches; experience with perinatal women.
Communication skills
* Essential: High-level written and verbal communication; ability to work in emotive settings; computer/database experience (Excel, SPSS); ability to convey sensitive information; effective interaction with staff across disciplines; IT and media equipment competence.
* Desirable: Proficiency in PowerPoint and projector setup; strong report writing and information governance knowledge; prior multi-disciplinary teamwork experience.
Analytical skills
* Essential: Ability to apply psychological knowledge in a mental health context; ability to use supervision effectively.
* Desirable: Experience receiving formal supervision with a clinical/counselling psychologist.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and requires a Disclosure to check for any previous criminal convictions.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see the NHS Careers website.
Employer details
Employer: Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Prospect House, Peace Drive, Watford, WD17 3XE
Employer's website: hpft.nhs.uk/careers/
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