Senior Clinical Psychologist in Congenital Cardiology & Neonates

Job responsibilities

Clinical:

1. To provide specialist psychological assessments of patients based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with patients, family members and others involved in the patients care.

2. To formulate, develop and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a patients psychological problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the patients problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.

3. To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.

4. To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.

5. To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of patients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.

6. To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to patients formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.

7. To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically-based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of patients under the medical services, across settings and agencies serving the patient group.

8. To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual patients and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management, with particular reference to deliberate self-harm.

9. To act as care co-ordinator, where appropriate, taking responsibility for initiating planning and review of care plans under enhanced CPA (or its equivalent in the acute physical health care setting) including patients, their carers referring agents and others involved in the network of care.

10. To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of patients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.

Teaching, training, and supervision

1. To receive regular clinical professional supervision from a more senior clinical psychologist and, where appropriate, other senior professional colleagues .

2. To gain additional highly specialist experience and skills relevant to clinical psychology and the service (as agreed with the Head of Paediatric Psychology Services) up to two sessions per week (pro rata).

3. To develop skills in the area of professional post-graduate teaching, training and supervision and to provide supervision to other MDT staffs psychological work as appropriate.

4. To provide professional and clinical supervision of doctoral trainee and graduate/assistant psychologists.

5. To contribute to the pre- and post-qualification teaching of clinical, health and/or counselling psychology, as appropriate.

6. To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the patient group across a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate.

Management, recruitment, policy and service development

1. To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the team, specialty and department operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.

2. To advise both clinical services and the Head of Paediatric Psychology Services on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.

3. To manage the workloads of assistant graduate psychologists and doctoral trainee clinical psychologists, within the framework of the team/specialty and Department policies and procedures.

4. To be involved, as appropriate, in the short-listing and interviewing of assistant/graduate psychologists.

Research and service evaluation

1. To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other team members.

2. To undertake, as a major component of the post, appropriate research and provide research advice to other staff undertaking research, and to disseminate appropriate material via presentation and publication.

3. To lead on research projects within the area served by the team/service.

4. To undertake project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service to help develop service provision.

Qualifications

Essential

• Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology
• Two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology, as accredited by the British Psychological Society
• Further training in a specialised area of clinical practice through formal post-doctoral training (diploma or equivalent)
• Completion of (or completion by the time of starting the post), formal clinical supervisor training sufficient to be able to supervise doctoral trainees.

Desirable

• Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.

Skills & behaviours

Essential

• Ability to exercise the full clinical responsibility for patients psychological care and treatment within the clinical specialty and to co-ordinate the psychological care provided by others.
• Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate
• Ability to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
• 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 patients, their families, and others
• 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 Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

Desirable

• Ability to provide emotional support and professional mentorship to multi-disciplinary team members, when necessary.
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies for specific difficult to treat groups
• Advanced level knowledge of the theory and practice of specialist psychological therapies.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the patient group and mental health.

Additional Requirements

Essential

• Able to fulfil Occupational Health requirements for the post (with reasonable adjustments if necessary), including clearance on blood borne viruses in compliance with Trust Policy.

Experience

Essential

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of patients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in-patient settings.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of patient groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity

Desirable

• Experience of working with children, young people and adults with chronic illness & their families.
• Experience of working with and engaging BAME groups.
• Experience of working within activity and waiting list targets.
• Experience of teaching, training and supervision.
• Experience of working with medical MDTs, supervising healthcare staff and offering systemic interpretations to have impact on team functioning.

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).