Job overview
Clinical psychologist - Social Communication Team (SCT)
18.75 hours per week (0.5 wte) Fixed Term – 12 months
We are looking for proactive, creative and highly skilled Clinical Psychologist to join a dynamic multi-disciplinary neurodevelopmental diagnostic service for children aged 5 years and under. The successful applicant will be passionate about promoting a holistic and neuroaffirmative, strength-based approach to the process of assessment and diagnosis of autism and adhd, and associated conditions, and reaching vulnerable families in our borough.
Main duties of the job
Please see the Job Description and the Persons Specification for further details about the job role.
Working for our organisation
Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The Borough
Islington is a wonderfully diverse borough. Despite its relatively small size it is densely populated with a resident child population of 40,000, which is about 20% of the total population. The borough is a varied community with extremes of affluence and poverty. There is a broad cultural mix from a range of ethnic minority groups.
The Post
The post holder will work in the Islington Social Communication Team;a specialist service for children 5 years and under with neurodevelopmental differences (including autism and ADHD). The service provided consists of assessment, diagnosis and post-diagnostic support for individual autistic children as well as providing a support service to parents/carers and education staff.
The post holder will be an autonomous practitioner and be responsible for organising and managing a defined caseload. The post involves working with children and their families remotely and face to face in clinic and at times in nursery/school and the child’s home. The post holder will be responsible for providing a clinical psychology service for children with additional needs who are under the care of the Social Communication Team (SCT). The post holder will have specialist knowledge within the area of autism as well as having specialist knowledge and experience in a wide range of conditions relevant to the Early Years population, including ADHD. This post holder will primarily work with children aged 5 years and under, with neurodevelopmental conditions (including autism and ADHD) and their families.
The clinical psychologist will provide psychological assessment and treatment and offer advice and consultation on clients’ psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues and to other, non-professional carers, working autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the service’s policies and procedures.
The post holder will be based primarily at the Northern Health Centre but may also be required to travel to educational settings and/or the child’s home. They will receive regular supervision and relevant in-service and external training. The post will evolve and is subject to change as the neurodevelopmental pathway develops across North Central London (NCL).
Person specification
Education / Qualifications
Essential criteria
1. Post-graduate/doctoral level qualification in Clinical psychology as recognised by HCPC
Desirable criteria
2. ADOS training
Skills & Abilities
Essential criteria
3. Able to confidently and competently take a generic developmental history.
4. Ability to engage Children and families with compassion and professionalism
5. Demonstrates excellent verbal and written communication
6. Skills in the assessment of clinical risk and safeguarding concerns.
7. Strong report writing skills; able to use Word and Excel and analyse/present basic data
8. Competent in the use of clinical recording systems such as RiO
Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
9. Understands the importance of assessment that explores and considers individual cultural identity and associated support needs.
10. Able to work effectively as part of a multi-disciplinary team, actively engaging in and supporting rotas, peer support, training and skills development
11. Able to build strong partnerships with external agencies and develop effective joint planning and support arrangements
12. Understands the process for keeping safe, secure and relevant clinical records
13. Experience of working with children in a mental health or neurodevelopmental context.
14. Experience of carrying out assessment and formulation for children and young people.
SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN AND ADULTS
To comply with the Trust’s Safeguarding Children and Adults policies, procedures and protocols. All individual members of staff (paid or unpaid) have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults This will require you to:
15. Ensure you are familiar with and comply with the London Child Protection Procedures and protocols for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people.
16. Ensure you are familiar and comply with the London Multi Agency Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Pan London Procedures.
17. Ensure you are familiar and comply with local protocols and systems for information sharing.
18. Know the appropriate contact numbers and required reporting lines.
19. Participate in required training and supervision.
20. Comply with required professional boundaries and codes of conduct
Whittington Health is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.