Eating Disorder Clinical Psychologist

Job responsibilities

Working with the support of the Principal Clinical Psychologist, the post holder will be responsible for providing a Clinical Psychology service to people experiencing an eating disorder. This will include directly providing highly specialist assessment, formulation and intervention to service users, as well as consultation, training and support to colleagues within the multidisciplinary team and wider CMHS, and driving service improvement through clinical research.

In addition, the post holder will be responsible for providing clinical supervision to other clinicians and trainees as needed, and may hold some line management responsibilities. The post holder will work with colleagues to continue the promotion and development of psychological approaches within the service.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

Clinical Lead for Eating Disorders (Adults)

Eating Disorder Principal Clinical Psychologist

Eating Disorder Assistant Psychologist

Eating Disorder Psychological Therapists

Eating Disorder Clinical Associate Psychologists

Eating Disorder Locality Leads (EDLLs)

Eating Disorder Support Workers (EDSWs)

Eating Disorder Specialist Dietitians

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) service lead

Adult Psychology & Psychological Therapies Co-ordinator

Head of Psychological Professions

CMHS Operational Managers

CBT staff

Multi-disciplinary colleagues

FREED Network partner organisations

Duties and Responsibilities

Clinical Responsibilities

To provide a specialist, doctoral level, assessment and treatment service to adults who may be experiencing an eating disorder.

To tailor interventions to the developmental needs of young adults, using the FREED care package resources as appropriate.

To provide consultancy and support on the psychological aspects of care to other professionals as required.

To provide written and/or verbal reports as needed.

To keep accurate clinical records and conduct appropriate correspondence.

To use Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and psychometric assessments, as required, to enable ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the interventions offered

To be responsible for updating electronic patient records and other IT functions including outcome measurements.

To work to an agreed contract to minimise waiting times and ensure treatment delivery remains accessible and within Trust agreed timescales.

Clinical Supervision, Teaching & Training

To provide clinical supervision to colleagues with the EDSA or broader CMHS as required.

To take overall responsibility for identifying training needs within the EDSA and developing a program of training to meet these needs, using external providers as needed and ensuring that there is a robust plan for long term sustainability

To offer consultation to colleagues within Community Mental Health Services and other services, as appropriate.

To offer training in psychological therapy approaches to eating disorders to colleagues within the EDSA and wider staff within the Trust

To agree a Job Plan and a Personal Development Plan (PDP), to be updated annually and to participate in an annual Personal Development Review (PDR).

To participate in clinical supervision and caseload supervision arrangements provided by the Community Mental Health Service, in accordance with good practice guidelines for all psychologists.

Line Management Responsibilities

To undertake line management for Eating Disorder Psychological Therapists or other colleagues as required.

Service Development

To continuously review the implementation of the FREED service model and care package, advising the Clinical Lead for Eating Disorders (Adults) on its progress, and identifying any areas for improvement or opportunities for further service development

To be responsible for ensuring that required core outcome data are collated and reported back to the FREED Network, with support from Assistant Psychologist colleagues

To contribute to the development of clinical psychology and psychological therapies services in accordance with Trust strategy and local needs.

Professional

To observe fully the HPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics (2008), BPS (1996) Code of Conduct and the DCP (2001) Professional Practice Guidelines.

To participate in the EDSA business and professional meetings, including service development days.

To maintain and further develop high standards of psychological practice, through cooperative work with other clinical psychologists, peer supervision and ongoing relevant CPD.

To be aware of and adhere to Trust and Psychology polices and procedures, including supervision and performance appraisal procedures.

To undertake and keep up to date with mandatory training, including in the Prevention and Management of Violence and Aggression.

Clinical Governance

To participate in relevant Trust and ESDA clinical governance initiatives.

To propose changes to work practices to improve the efficacy and accessibility of psychological services.

To provide and maintain appropriate statistics and records of own work, including electronic patient records, clinical outcome measures and data on audit standards.

To promote the use of effective, evidence-based interventions in the service.

To support and participate in clinical audits within EDSA and CMHS to ensure that best practice is shared.

To promote the use of effective, evidence-based interventions in the service.

Research and Development

To initiate research and service evaluation as required by the needs of the local services.

To offer advice and support to other members of relevant teams undertaking research projects.

To participate regularly, in Clinical Audit projects in the EDSA and CMHS.

To encourage a culture of evidence-based practice in all parts of the service by keeping up to date and disseminating good practice within all teams and across agencies.

Any Other Specific Tasks Required

To travel between the countywide bases (Wells, Bridgwater, Yeovil, Taunton) and/or primary care settings as needed to enable delivery of the service.

To undertake any other duties at a comparable level of responsibility as may be allocated.

Attending meetings as appropriate.

Fulfilling duties of weekly timetable.

Duties as instructed by your manager or appropriate authority.

Qualifications

Essential

• Doctoral Clinical Psychology/Counselling Psychology qualification or equivalent.
• Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council.

Desirable

• Relevant specialist CPD (e.g. CBT-E, SSCM, MANTRA, Motivational Interviewing, DBT, RO-DBT, Trauma-Focussed CBT, EMDR, NET).
• Post qualification training in psychological therapy
• Accredited psychological therapist

Experience

Essential

• Experience of work in adult mental health services and working with people with severe and complex mental health needs, including eating disorders
• Teaching and training of Psychology and other staff.
• Knowledge of more than one psychological therapy.
• Knowledge of legislation and its implications for clinical practice.
• Experience of working with young people aged 16-25
• Clinical supervision experience

Desirable

• Evidence of specialist interest in working with adults with eating disorders during training.
• Extended casework in relevant speciality area before and during training.
• Experience of service evaluation and implementing new service developments
• Experience of project management
• Experience of offering line management
• Clinical audit work in specialist area
• Experience in undertaking leadership roles within clinical psychology services in the NHS and in contributing to the development, implementation and evaluation of strategies and clinical policies in multi-disciplinary and multi-agency contexts

Additional Criteria

Essential

• Knowledge of specialist therapeutic interventions with the client group.
• Advanced, specialist skills in psychological assessment, formulation and intervention
• Strong leadership qualities, resilience and ability to handle ambiguity and uncertainty.
• Effective team player with good liaison and communication skills.
• Very well organised with good administration skills.
• Ability to work independently.
• Ability to cope with workload pressure and prioritise workload.
• Ability to make clinical decisions around complex and emotive issues with young people and their families.
• Empathy/engagement with the client group.
• Self-awareness and emotional resilience.
• Must be a car driver with a valid driving licence or have access to transport with appropriate business insurance in order to travel throughout the Trust, to meet the needs of the service.

Desirable

• R & D skills

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).