Clinical psychologist

We have a one-year fixed term Band 7 post for a dynamic and creative clinical psychologist working in two innovative community learning disabilities teams (CLDT) - in the Bromley CLDT (0.4wte) and the Bexley CLDT (0.6wte). You would be working with other clinical psychologists and psychological therapists, alongside other colleagues in the multi-disciplinary teams.

Bromley and Bexley CLDTs are both based at Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup and share the same offices. You may also work across the three boroughs of Bromley, Greenwich and Bexley. It is essential that you can travel throughout the Oxleas area, using public transport where necessary.

We have a thriving learning disability psychology speciality with 27 WTE clinical staff working in three community learning disability teams across three boroughs. Group systemic supervision is provided to all psychologists in the service and individual supervision by experienced colleagues. The psychology speciality is a creative and innovative one, encouraging research and service evaluation, with a strong focus on measuring outcomes.

You would be working with other clinical psychologists and psychological therapists, alongside other colleagues in the multi-disciplinary team, sharing psychological knowledge and ideas and fostering psychological mindedness.

For more information about this post, please contact Dr Sandra Baum, consultant clinical psychologist on 0203 871 5680 or sandra.baum@nhs.net

Main duties of the job

To provide a clinical psychology service to clients of the team providing specialist psychological assessment, intervention and treatment. Supervising assistant psychologists and offering advice and consultation on clients' psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues and to other non-professional carers.

Working autonomously within professional guidelines and within the overall framework of the service's policies and procedures, utilising research skills for audit, policy and service development and research within the area served by the team/service.

Responsible for keeping agreed information that allows an evaluation of the service offered/provided.

Expected to contribute to the development of the service, including the routine collection, review and feedback of outcome data, ensuring that activity targets are adhered to.

NB Although the postholder will be based in the Bromley and Bexley CLDTs, they will work with service users in Oxleas Learning Disability Directorate, who may originate from Bexley, Bromley or Greenwich. They will also be doing project work which relates to service users from any of these boroughs. The post holder may therefore be based within the boroughs of Bexley, Bromley or Greenwich. This may need to be varied in discussion with manager.

Job responsibilities

• To provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the clients care.
• To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a clients mental health problems and other relevant issues, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the clients problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.
• To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
• To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
• To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically-based standard care plans.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Doctoral level training in clinical psychology
• Registration with HCPC
• Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.

Experience

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in patient settings
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity
• Experience of working within a neurodevelopmental team and/or an ASD diagnostic pathway

Skills/Abilities/Knowledge

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration
• Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with neurodevelopmental disabilities etc)

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.