Job summary
1To provide highly specialist psychological assessments of patients referred to the Bariatric Surgery Service based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological data from a variety of sources including psychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with patients, family members and others involved in the client's care. Through these assessments, to reach a full functional analysis of the impact of weight management issues upon each individual in order to determine the most appropriate intervention.
Main duties of the job
To be responsible for the overall provision of specialist psychological input to Bariatric Surgery. This will include -
- Co-ordinating the provision of specialist psychological assessment for people under the care of the Bariatric Surgery Service
- Ensuring that people under the care of the Bariatric Surgery Service are signposted to appropriate support services including facilitating referrals to Eating Disorder Teams, IAPT and other mental health services
- Overseeing the provision of focused psychological input to address specific issues around readiness for bariatric surgery and / or adjustment post bariatric surgery,
- Offering advice and consultation on psychological aspects of assessment for and adjustment to bariatric surgery.
About us
St George's, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and Health Group cares for a population of four million people in South West London and North East Surrey.Our sites include St George's Hospital, one of 11 major trauma centres in the UK and the largest healthcare provider and major teaching hospital in the area; St Helier Hospital, home to the South West Thames Renal and Transplantation Unit and Queen Mary's Hospital for Children; and Epsom Hospital, home to the South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre (SWLEOC).
After years of collaboration, our two Trusts became a hospitals group in 2021. While remaining as two separate Trusts, being a hospitals group will help us to collaborate more closely on research, and the development, education, and training of our 17,000-strong workforce.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see attached Job Description for a detailed document of the main responsibilities required for this role.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see attached Job Description for a detailed document of the main responsibilities required for this role.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical / counselling psychology (or equivalent as accredited by the BPS, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology
- Registration with the HCPC as an Applied Psychology Practitioner
- Evidence of continuing professional development
- Formal training in supervision of other psychologists.
Desirable
- Post-doctoral training in evidence-based psychological interventions specific to working with people with physical health problems
Experience
Essential
- Substantial experience of working as a qualified clinical / counselling psychologist within a multidisciplinary team with adults presenting with physical health problems, presenting problems that reflect the whole life span, full range of clinical severity and full range of care settings including inpatient, outpatient, community, and residential care settings.
- Substantial experience of working independently as an autonomous clinician, in and accordance with professional, service and NHS Trust policies.
- Experience of proposing changes to practices/policies with an impact at service-level or for the wider organisation.
- Experience of developing and facilitating staff teaching and training for psychologists and wider multidisciplinary services.
- Experience of representing psychology within the context of multi-disciplinary care and actively working to promote effective team working.
- Experience of representing psychology within the wider organisation.
- Experience of professional management/supervision of qualified, trainee or assistant psychologists.
- Experience of working in Bariatric Surgery / Medical Weight Management Services
Skills
Essential
- Ability to maintain a high degree of professionalism and to cope with highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse or other distressing histories, emotional/behavioural difficulties and disturbances. Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to such situations.
- Ability to demonstrate leadership skills in relation to exercising clinical responsibility for service users psychological care and treatment and for professional actions within the roles of clinical psychologist, keyworker/care co-ordinator and within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
- Highly-developed skills in applying theory and evidenced based psychological approaches and interventions for people within physical health problems and their close relatives.
- Highly-developed skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment assessment, frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration and in restricted positions for long periods of time.
- Highly-developed skills in providing consultation to multidisciplinary teams and other professional/non-professional groups
- Highly-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing. This will include communicating highly technical, complex and clinically sensitive information to service users, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
- Ability to work flexibly and under pressure while delivering high quality work with highly developed skills in planning, organising and prioritising clinical work according to the needs of oneself, others' and unpredictable events, coordinating this with intervention programs implemented by colleagues in the multidisciplinary service.
- Ability and confidence to make decisions based on rapidly changing information, taking into account service users emotional state and factors contributing to clinical risk.
- Well-developed IT skills including entry and analysis of data gathered for research/service purposes.
Knowledge
Essential
- Advanced knowledge of complex methods of psychological assessment including the theory, evidence base and application of psychological approaches and interventions for people with physical health problems and their relatives. In relation to the above, to demonstrate clinical expertise in at least one area of clinical practice relevant to work in weight management
- Highly-developed knowledge in approaches to consultation provided to multidisciplinary services and other professional/non-professional groups
- Knowledge and experience of using clinical standards in record keeping and integrity with regards to managing sensitive and/or confidential information shared by service users, close relatives and staff.
- Well-developed knowledge of the needs of individuals from diverse social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds and experience of applying clinical / counselling health psychology in this context
- Well-developed knowledge of the use clinical governance to support and maintain good clinical practice.
Desirable
- Record of having published in either peer reviewed, academic or professional journals and/or books.
- Provision of academic teaching e.g. on Doctorate in Clinical Psychology courses
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical / counselling psychology (or equivalent as accredited by the BPS, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology
- Registration with the HCPC as an Applied Psychology Practitioner
- Evidence of continuing professional development
- Formal training in supervision of other psychologists.
Desirable
- Post-doctoral training in evidence-based psychological interventions specific to working with people with physical health problems
Experience
Essential
- Substantial experience of working as a qualified clinical / counselling psychologist within a multidisciplinary team with adults presenting with physical health problems, presenting problems that reflect the whole life span, full range of clinical severity and full range of care settings including inpatient, outpatient, community, and residential care settings.
- Substantial experience of working independently as an autonomous clinician, in and accordance with professional, service and NHS Trust policies.
- Experience of proposing changes to practices/policies with an impact at service-level or for the wider organisation.
- Experience of developing and facilitating staff teaching and training for psychologists and wider multidisciplinary services.
- Experience of representing psychology within the context of multi-disciplinary care and actively working to promote effective team working.
- Experience of representing psychology within the wider organisation.
- Experience of professional management/supervision of qualified, trainee or assistant psychologists.
- Experience of working in Bariatric Surgery / Medical Weight Management Services
Skills
Essential
- Ability to maintain a high degree of professionalism and to cope with highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse or other distressing histories, emotional/behavioural difficulties and disturbances. Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to such situations.
- Ability to demonstrate leadership skills in relation to exercising clinical responsibility for service users psychological care and treatment and for professional actions within the roles of clinical psychologist, keyworker/care co-ordinator and within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
- Highly-developed skills in applying theory and evidenced based psychological approaches and interventions for people within physical health problems and their close relatives.
- Highly-developed skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment assessment, frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration and in restricted positions for long periods of time.
- Highly-developed skills in providing consultation to multidisciplinary teams and other professional/non-professional groups
- Highly-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing. This will include communicating highly technical, complex and clinically sensitive information to service users, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
- Ability to work flexibly and under pressure while delivering high quality work with highly developed skills in planning, organising and prioritising clinical work according to the needs of oneself, others' and unpredictable events, coordinating this with intervention programs implemented by colleagues in the multidisciplinary service.
- Ability and confidence to make decisions based on rapidly changing information, taking into account service users emotional state and factors contributing to clinical risk.
- Well-developed IT skills including entry and analysis of data gathered for research/service purposes.
Knowledge
Essential
- Advanced knowledge of complex methods of psychological assessment including the theory, evidence base and application of psychological approaches and interventions for people with physical health problems and their relatives. In relation to the above, to demonstrate clinical expertise in at least one area of clinical practice relevant to work in weight management
- Highly-developed knowledge in approaches to consultation provided to multidisciplinary services and other professional/non-professional groups
- Knowledge and experience of using clinical standards in record keeping and integrity with regards to managing sensitive and/or confidential information shared by service users, close relatives and staff.
- Well-developed knowledge of the needs of individuals from diverse social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds and experience of applying clinical / counselling health psychology in this context
- Well-developed knowledge of the use clinical governance to support and maintain good clinical practice.
Desirable
- Record of having published in either peer reviewed, academic or professional journals and/or books.
- Provision of academic teaching e.g. on Doctorate in Clinical Psychology courses
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).
Additional information
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).
