Job summary
We are looking for an 8a Older Adult Clinical / Counselling Psychologist to join the Buckinghamshire Adult Acute Care Pathway (Buckinghamshire)!
We have a range of roles & sessions and lots of opportunities to work across several services. We are keen to hear from psychological practitioners who are either ready for the step to 8a or would be ideal for a preceptorship.
We are happy to support flexible working hours to fit with external commitments. We would really love to hear from you - you may have ideas about skills you have and what you want to develop further, as well as roles you want to pursue - we are open to supporting your professional development!
The core work of the 8a Clinical / Counselling Psychology posts in our services are to provide psychological assessments and interventions for adults with severe and/or complex mental health problems, their families and carers, as well as working with teams to provide consultation, support and training.
We also encourage supervising trainees and assistants and working with the patients and managers of the teams for co-produced service growth and development. In the post you will have access to a range of CPD activities alongside a strong network of psychological therapists.
There are excellent opportunities for service development, service evaluation/ research and teaching/training. The service has excellent links with the Oxford Institute of Clinical Psychology Training and Research.
Main duties of the job
You will be responsible for:
- Contributing to care provision of patients by providing consultation to the multidisciplinary team and giving ongoing support to create and implement care and treatment plans
- Undertaking psychological assessments, including neuropsychological assessments where appropriate
- Delivering individual and group psychological interventions, where appropriate
- Evaluating the effectiveness of individual and group interventions
- Providing consultation and supervision to team colleagues in the delivery of psychologically informed treatments
- Involvement in the ward leadership team alongside the Ward Manager and Consultant Psychiatrist to assist with service improvement and the implementation of service changes.
- Supervising and supporting the psychological assessment and therapy provided by any assistant psychologists, doctoral trainee clinical psychologists and other clinical members of the team who provide psychologically based care and treatment.
- Providing ad hoc advice and guidance to colleagues in Buckinghamshire Older People's Community Mental Health Teams, inpatient wards, social care and GPs in planning and implementing care plans for patients with psychological care needs
- Working autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of local policies and procedures to exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the ward to which the post relates.
About us
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust provides physical, mental health and social care for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset.
Our services are delivered at community bases, hospitals, clinics and people's homes, delivering care as close to home as possible
Our vision is that no matter who you are or where you are, you will tell us that you receive:"Outstanding care delivered by an outstanding team"
Our values are:"Caring, safe and excellent"
At Oxford Health we offer a wide range of benefits designed to support your career and wellbeing. These include:
- Excellent opportunities for career progression
- Access to tailored individual and Trust wide learning and development
- 27 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days with continuous service
- NHS Discount across a wide range of shops, restaurants and retailers
- Competitive pension scheme
- Lease car scheme
- Cycle to work scheme
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Mental Health First Aiders
- Staff accommodation (please note waiting lists may apply)
- Staff networking and support groups hosted by our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion team
Job description
Job responsibilities
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust has been rated as Good by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
You will work as part of the inpatient team on Amber ward, attending team meetings as appropriate and seeing clients individually and in group settings, including ward rounds and discharge planning meetings.The post holders office base will be with other team members for clinical work undertaken for each ward and you will have access to hot desk areas within the OP Psychological Therapies area at the Whiteleaf Centre if necessary.
You will have access to support from the ward based admin team and will be free to use any other hot-desking area at the other bases within the trust as is convenient.
Please see attached JD/PS for further details of the role.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust has been rated as Good by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
You will work as part of the inpatient team on Amber ward, attending team meetings as appropriate and seeing clients individually and in group settings, including ward rounds and discharge planning meetings.The post holders office base will be with other team members for clinical work undertaken for each ward and you will have access to hot desk areas within the OP Psychological Therapies area at the Whiteleaf Centre if necessary.
You will have access to support from the ward based admin team and will be free to use any other hot-desking area at the other bases within the trust as is convenient.
Please see attached JD/PS for further details of the role.
Person Specification
Knowledge
Essential
- 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.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
- Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
- Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.
Desirable
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies with older people.
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to older people and mental health.
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised neuropsychological assessment for dementia
Qualifications
Essential
- Doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or equivalent training in Counselling Psychology with evidence of specific experience of older adults and neuropsychological assessment skills) including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology, as accredited by the BPS.
- Registered with HCPC
- Ability to travel across Buckinghamshire to provide patient care, attend meetings etc.
Desirable
- Pre-qualification training and qualifications or experience in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology
- Current clean full driving licence and use of a car that can be used for work.
- Post doctoral qualification relevant to current post
Experience
Essential
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, day services and in patient settings.
- Experience of working with a wide variety of clients, 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
- Experience of working with older adults with mental health problems
- Experience of working with clients with functional and with organic illnesses
- Experience of neuropsychological assessment of dementia
Desirable
- Experience of teaching and training.
- Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
- Experience of supervision of others.
- Experience of working with families, carers and different care systems.
- Experience of working with complex neuropsychological presentations
- Experience of working with complex psychological presentations
- Experience of working with complex trauma
Contractual Requirements & Personal Skills
Essential
- A positive approach to working with older adults
- Ability to work as part of a team and independently.
- Willingness to develop skills in teaching and training others
- 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.
- Commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.
Desirable
- Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
- Willingness to work flexibly
- A sense of humour
- An awareness of own strengths and limitations
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings
Person Specification
Knowledge
Essential
- 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.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
- Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
- Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.
Desirable
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies with older people.
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to older people and mental health.
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised neuropsychological assessment for dementia
Qualifications
Essential
- Doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or equivalent training in Counselling Psychology with evidence of specific experience of older adults and neuropsychological assessment skills) including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology, as accredited by the BPS.
- Registered with HCPC
- Ability to travel across Buckinghamshire to provide patient care, attend meetings etc.
Desirable
- Pre-qualification training and qualifications or experience in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology
- Current clean full driving licence and use of a car that can be used for work.
- Post doctoral qualification relevant to current post
Experience
Essential
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, day services and in patient settings.
- Experience of working with a wide variety of clients, 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
- Experience of working with older adults with mental health problems
- Experience of working with clients with functional and with organic illnesses
- Experience of neuropsychological assessment of dementia
Desirable
- Experience of teaching and training.
- Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
- Experience of supervision of others.
- Experience of working with families, carers and different care systems.
- Experience of working with complex neuropsychological presentations
- Experience of working with complex psychological presentations
- Experience of working with complex trauma
Contractual Requirements & Personal Skills
Essential
- A positive approach to working with older adults
- Ability to work as part of a team and independently.
- Willingness to develop skills in teaching and training others
- 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.
- Commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.
Desirable
- Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
- Willingness to work flexibly
- A sense of humour
- An awareness of own strengths and limitations
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings
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).
