Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arise to join a team of neuropsychologists, assistant psychologists and undergraduate placement students delivering a regional and supra-regional adult and paediatric neuropsychological service in a specialist neurosciences centre. The post-holder will have/develop a sub-specialty interest in epilepsy surgery and awake craniotomy surgery for brain tumours, and will have a primary responsibility for providing a service to those teams. The post holder will also undertake specialist neuropsychological assessment, rehabilitation and therapy of patients with neurological and neurosurgical conditions and to their families and carers, referred by neurologists, gerontologists, psychiatrists general practitioners and others, both from within Oxford University Hospitals Trust and externally.
Main duties of the job
1. To provide expert neuropsychological and rehabilitation assessments of patients, based on the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with patients, family members and others involved in the client’s care. Clinical work may require intense concentration over prolonged periods in a potentially constrained position and will frequently involve working with highly distressed patients.
2. To make highly skilled evaluations about treatment options including elective surgery in conjunction with the MDT taking into account theoretical and therapeutic models, psychometric data and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes.
3. To administer a range of highly specialised neuropsychological and psychometric tests assessing cognitive functions and emotional wellbeing, including setting up and manipulating materials involving fine motor dexterity; conducting prolonged observations of clients’ abilities, emotional state and behaviour during neuropsychological examinations with commensurate recording, documentation and appropriate dissemination of clinical findings and opinion.
Working for our organisation
The Neuropsychology department is situated in the Russell Cairns Unit on Level of the John Radcliffe West Wing and is built on strong teamwork. Each neuropsychologist has responsibility for designated specialist clinics with associated MDTs and is expected to share the general referral demand as appropriate. The department works closely with colleagues in Neurosurgery, Neurology, Neurophysiology, Neuroradiology and Neuropathology, as well as with colleagues in Psychological Medicine.
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research. The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.
Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community.
We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence.
These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family.