Job summary
We currently have an exciting opportunity for the post of a paediatric mental health practitioner (we would be open to applications from practitioner psychologists, child or systemic psychotherapists and family therapists) in the Paediatric Critical Care Unit, based at the Royal London Children's Hospital, Whitechapel.
The post will include conducting assessments, formulation and interventions with children and young people and their families who are inpatient on PCCU. They will need to link with other teams within the hospital and external services and agencies to ensure there is ongoing support for children and families post PCCU. They will offer consultation to PCCU staff, contribute to MDT meetings and lead on providing psychologically informed care on the unit. The post holder will also contribute towards staff support on the unit, for instance, facilitating debriefs/reflective spaces and linking closely with trust staff support services.
Ideally, the post holder will have experience of working in a paediatric physical health setting, of working closely with medical MDTs and of providing trauma informed therapies and care.
The Royal London Hospital serves a diverse population in East London and we would welcome applications from candidates who speak languages represented in the local community including, Bangladeshi, Somali and Arabic.
Main duties of the job
The Paediatric Liaison Team is a multidisciplinary team, including clinical and counselling psychologists, psychiatry, mental health nursing, psychotherapy and art psychotherapy which provides assessment, intervention and consultation for young people experiencing mental health difficulties or emotional distress associated with physical health conditions who are under the care of the Royal London Hospital.
To provide specialist psychological assessment and therapeutic interventions to children, young people and their families on PCCU.
To provide a highly visible psychological presence embedded in PCCU offering advice and consultation on patients' psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues.
To support the delivery of a psychological framework of care for PCCU staff in their work with patients, relatives and carers.
Clinically lead the provision of a psychologically informed approach to service provision on the PCCU.
To lead on development of psychological support post discharge, including developing links with external organisations, including teaching and training to those services as appropriate.
To supervise and support trainee psychologists/psychotherapists.
To provide specialised psychological advice, support, teaching and consultation to the medical, nursing and allied health professional staff in the PCCU, to enhance their knowledge and skills in the psychological aspects of critical care.
About us
Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain's leading healthcare providers.
The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.
Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.
We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.
We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are underrepresented within Barts Health at this band.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.
Person Specification
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working with children, young people and their families.
- Experience of working with children and young people with physical health conditions.
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment, formulation 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 including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
- Extensive experience of working in a multidisciplinary team.
- Experience of working in a multi-cultural setting
Desirable
- Experience of working with children and families in a medical setting.
- Experience of working in a critical care setting.
- Experience of contributing towards staff support.
Skills
Essential
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, psychological formulation, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration. This requires the use of highly developed analytical and judgment skills
- Planning and organising skills for caseload management.
- Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information, including contentious and highly distressing information, to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance, including regular supervision, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups
Knowledge
Desirable
- High Level Knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies relevant to paediatric care (ie trauma focussed therapies)
- Knowledge of the impact of physical health on children, young people and their families.
Qualifications
Essential
- Either post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS, or a BPS Statement of Equivalence. Or an MSc/ Post-graduate Diploma in Systemic Psychotherapy/ Family Therapy/Child Psychotherapy or equivalent, with an additional qualification in a related profession (e.g. social work, nursing, clinical psychology).
- Registered with the HCPC, UKCP
Desirable
- Further training in clinical supervision
- Further training in working systemically
- Further training in trauma work
Person Specification
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working with children, young people and their families.
- Experience of working with children and young people with physical health conditions.
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment, formulation 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 including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
- Extensive experience of working in a multidisciplinary team.
- Experience of working in a multi-cultural setting
Desirable
- Experience of working with children and families in a medical setting.
- Experience of working in a critical care setting.
- Experience of contributing towards staff support.
Skills
Essential
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, psychological formulation, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration. This requires the use of highly developed analytical and judgment skills
- Planning and organising skills for caseload management.
- Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information, including contentious and highly distressing information, to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance, including regular supervision, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups
Knowledge
Desirable
- High Level Knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies relevant to paediatric care (ie trauma focussed therapies)
- Knowledge of the impact of physical health on children, young people and their families.
Qualifications
Essential
- Either post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS, or a BPS Statement of Equivalence. Or an MSc/ Post-graduate Diploma in Systemic Psychotherapy/ Family Therapy/Child Psychotherapy or equivalent, with an additional qualification in a related profession (e.g. social work, nursing, clinical psychology).
- Registered with the HCPC, UKCP
Desirable
- Further training in clinical supervision
- Further training in working systemically
- Further training in trauma work
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.
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).
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.
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).
