Job overview
We are seeking an organised, highly motivated assistant psychologist with significant interest in health psychology to join the ICU Psychology team on two adult intensive care units (ICU) at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust. The postholder will provide psychological service to inpatients admitted to ICU at West Middlesex University Hospital and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, under the supervision of Lead Psychologists at each site. The postholder will assist in providing support and consultation for patients and individuals who support them (e.g. families and carers), as well as the multi-disciplinary staff team on the unit.
The postholder will contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
The postholder will take lead in maintaining and continuously improving the ICU Psychology database. The postholder will regularly prepare data for presentations at service-wide meetings.
The post holder will utilise research skills by supporting the senior psychologists in audits, policy and service development and research within the areas served by the team/service.
The post holder will be required to work on both ICUs at both hospital sites, sometimes autonomously with access to a senior psychologist during work hours. Occasionally, travel between two sites will be required within the same day. There is limited flexibility to work from home.
Main duties of the job
The part time (0.6WTE) Assistant Psychologist post is a vital clinical and administrative part of an effective and specialist inpatient services for the Adult Intensive Care Units at both Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation sites. The postholder will be required to allocate their time on both sites, based on clinical and administrative need.
The postholder will assist the Lead Psychologists on both units to support patients and families/carers who may be experiencing acute distress, ICU related delirium, and issues associated with long hospital stay and rehabilitation following critical illness. The postholder will help to provide psychoeducation and coping strategies, and communicate with the multidisciplinary team about referrals.
A key part of the postholder’s role will also be to maintain the clinical databases across both sites, and to support the Lead Psychologists to present data on psychology service activity to the NWL ICU network. They may also support in delivering teaching for professionals, and conduct service evaluations. The postholder will also involved in contributing to service development initiatives across both sites and to both units.
The postholder will be supervised by the Lead ICU Psychologists and there will be the opportunity to network with the group of Assistant Psychologists already working in Clinical Health Psychology in the Trust.
See full Job Description for a more comprehensive overview.
Working for our organisation
The ICU Psychology Team at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust is a specialised area within the wider Clinical Health Psychology Team for Kensington & Chelsea. The service continues to evolve and innovate a psychology provision to meet the diverse needs of patients, carers and staff. This is an exciting opportunity to join a dynamic and fast-paced environment with a welcoming team of nurses, doctors, and other allied health professionals all of whom have one goal of providing excellent care for our clients and staff at the heart of the trust. The role would suit someone who is interested in promoting psychologically informed environments in physical healthcare settings, and for someone who is considering pursuing a career in clinical health psychology.
As part of our commitment to address inequalities in healthcare, we are particularly keen to hear from applicants with lived experience relevant to the diverse communities we work with, and from those with particular skills in understanding and promoting anti-discrimination associated with protected characteristics. The Trust has the following active Staff Networks: BAME Staff Network, Disabled Employees Network (DEN+), Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Staff Network (LGBT+), Carers at Work Network, Lived Experience of Mental Health Issues Stigma Transformation (LEMHIST) Network and Women’s Network. The postholder will be supported to access and contribute to the work of these networks as a member or ally.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The detailed job description, including the main responsibilities, can be found in the attached Job Description and Person Specification.
This post will be based on both sites with little opportunity to consider hybrid working due to the nature of the work.
The post holder will have access to peer support with other assistant psychologists in the Clinical Health Psychology service.
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.
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