Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist

Job description

Job responsibilities

To provide highly specialist psychological and neuropsychological assessment and intervention, using highly complex cognitive and psychological data gained from a variety of sources.

To ensure the systematic provision of neuropsychological service, including the responsibility to prioritise work appropriately.

To communicate assessment results, formulations, outcome data, and other complex and sensitive information orally and in written form in order to support the work of multidisciplinary colleagues.

To provide highly specialist psychological advice, guidance, consultation and supervision to other professionals and staff contributing to the formulation, diagnosis, treatment plans and management of clients, both within and outside the Trust.

To contribute to the development of services through reviewing service outcomes, designing and participating in audit, research and clinical governance initiatives, and working cooperatively with colleagues to achieve service goals and maximise service effectiveness. This will involve communication with a wide range of clinical and managerial colleagues, within and outside the Trust.

To provide supervision to trainee clinical/counselling psychologists on placement, to assistant psychologists, volunteers and other colleagues, including professional and doctoral research supervision, as required.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Analytical Skills

Ability to produce expert comprehensive biopsychosocial formulations of client issues and advice in highly complex clinical situations, which will require the combination of a range of complex and sometimes contradictory, unclear or conflicting information and where expert opinion may differ.

The experience and skills to provide highly specialist psychological and neuropsychological assessment and therapy, using highly complex cognitive and psychological data gained from a variety of sources.

Planning and Organisational Skills

The post holder will prioritise their own work, and that of any attached staff, trainees or assistants. They will plan, organise and re-organise complex activities to meet long and short term clinical and managerial goals and to take account of changes in priorities, and will adjust work programmes to fit changes in the urgency of the clinical work which arise. They will contribute to service planning collaboratively with colleagues as required.

Measurable Result Areas

Accountability: to work as an autonomous specialist clinician, participating in regular clinical and managerial supervision, working at all times within professional guidelines and adhering to standards set out by the Health Professions Council.

To contribute to policy/service development as required

Resources: to be responsible for resources and equipment associated with the post, advising managerial and secretarial colleagues on any difficulties or shortages in a timely manner

Responsibility for information resources: to use computer and statistical packages, as required, to record, analyse, and to communicate information. To produce reports using statistical analyses and/or diagrams and charts on occasion.

Management responsibility: to provide teaching, supervision and training, as required, for example, providing clinical placements for trainee clinical or counselling psychologists, contributing to the doctoral training course and to other professional, multidisciplinary, or community training initiatives. To participate, as appropriate, in staff recruitment, contributing to short listing and interviews, as required.

Responsibility for research and development: to regularly contribute research and audit skills to the multidisciplinary teams, advising on methodology, and providing supervision as required. To carry out audit and research projects. To use skills to share relevant research findings with colleagues, advising on any methodological issues involved.

As a clinical supervisor, to be responsible for the research work that the doctoral trainees carry out whilst on placement in this locality.

Communications and Working Relationships:

To provide training to others

To communicate to a variety of professional and non-professional audiences highly complex and sensitive clinical information

To employ high level communication skills in individual and group setting with clients and staff around emotional and sometimes contentious topics.

To communicate with the multi-disciplinary around the sensitivity/complexity issues.

To provide consultation and support to other members of the team and further advice consultation to management as required.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Doctorate in Clinical Psychology
• Registration with the HCPC in Clinical Psychology
• Pre- and post- qualification training in specialist assessment and treatment of adults with cognitive, behavioural, affection and neuropsychological impairments following brain injury and neurological disease, as well as research methodology, staff training and /or other fields of applied neuropsychology in relation to rehabilitation of brain injury

Desirable

• Qualifications or equivalent experience in teaching, training and supervising of Assistant Psychologists and doctoral level Trainees
• Completion of the Qualification in Clinical Neuropsychology or equivalent
• Registration on the BPS Specialist Register in Clinical Neuropsychology

Experience

Essential

• Experience of providing specialist neuropsychological/psychological assessments and interventions with adults with complex cognitive, affective and behavioural impairments following neurological injury while maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and threat of physical abuse.
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for patients' neuropsychological/psychological care, assessment and treatment within the context of an interdisciplinary goal/care plan.
• Experience of working with patients who are difficult to engage because of cognitive, behavioural and/or communication difficulties
• Experience of supporting families, carers and staff to understand and cope with the impact of patients' brain injury on cognitive, emotional and behavioural functioning.
• Experience in providing consultancy to other professional and nonprofessional groups.

Desirable

• Experience of supervising of Assistant Psychologists, Trainee Clinical Psychologists and other interdisciplinary team members
• Evidence of research activity and/or having published in professional publications

Skills

Essential

• Knowledge of the theory and practice of highly specialist neuropsychological and psychological assessment methods and interventions with individuals with brain injury and neurological disease requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Well-developed skills in the ability to effectively communicate, both orally and in writing, highly technical and clinically sensitive information to families and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS. Ability to communicate highly complex condition-related information to patients with neurological and cognitive impairment, often in emotive and/or hostile environments
• Well-developed skills in multidisciplinary neurorehabilitation team working in terms of enhancing understanding of biopsychosocial formulations of the impact of neurological impairment and provision of psychological support to the team.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to this client group, in particular, a thorough knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act in relation to issues encountered in neurorehabilitation
• Evidence of continuing professional development in line with HCPC and BPS guidelines
• Doctoral level Knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practised within the field of Clinical Neuropsychology/Neuropsychology.
• High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialist psychological models
• Ability to teach/train others using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within the public, professional and academic settings.
• Awareness of working within a multicultural framework
• Familiarity with Safeguarding processes especially within the context of brain injury and neurological impairment
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour
• Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and behaviours that challenge
• Ability to identify, plan and executive service-related project work in order to enhance the provision of neuropsychological rehabilitation, patient experience, and carer and staff support
• Able to achieve personal objectives

Desirable

• Awareness of current NHS issues and priorities

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Ability to work independently and using own initiative, yet willing and able to develop from consulting with In-Patient Lead Clinical Psychologist and Consultant Neuropsychologist as appropriate
• Ability to communicate effectively and compassionately to patients, carers and colleague, in sometimes difficult interpersonal circumstances
• The ability to maintain a calm, objective and approachable demeanour with good interpersonal skills with patients, carers and colleagues
• The ability to "contain" the distress of patients, carers and colleagues
• Ability to manage the emotional and psychological impact on oneself of working with patients who present with verbal and physical aggression as well as families and carers with high levels of emotional distress.

Other

Desirable

• Flexible working and able to work outside standard working hours

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

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

Employer details

Employer name

South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

CERU

Central England Rehabilitation Unit (CERU), South Warwickshire NHS Trust

Warwick

CV34 6SR

Employer's website

https://www.swft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)