Job summary
We are really excited to advertise two permanent Grade 8a posts - Clinical/ Counselling Psychologists or Highly Specialist Psychotherapists(1.85WTE), to work in the Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale (HMR) Secondary Care Psychological Therapies Service (SCPTS).
We will also consider applicants from trainees/newly qualified psychologists on a band 7/8a preceptorship arrangement.
SCPTS is based in the psychological therapies department at Birch Hill Hospital, Rochdale, with close links with the three local Community Mental Health Teams. The successful applicants will be joining a friendly and well-established team, with practitioners who have training and interests in a wide range of psychological approaches, including CBT, CAT, DBT, MBT, and CFT.
There are great opportunities for further training and development, and as a service we are supportive of flexible working arrangements and there are opportunities for hybrid working, including working from the department, home working, and working from the community mental health team bases.
The Birch Hill Hospital site also has some significant benefits, including free and ample parking onsite, excellent canteen, and newly refurbished digital hub which will allow enhanced ICT support and extra space to work and meet with colleagues. Birch Hill is also a mental health specific site, which allows close working with other secondary care colleagues on the inpatient unit, in EIT and the Complex Emotional Relational Needs (CERN) team.
Main duties of the job
- To provide a qualified specialist clinical psychology service for people referred to the Heywood, Middleton & Rochdale (HMR) Secondary Care Psychological Therapy Service (SCPTS).
- To provide consultation and formulation to staff within HMR CMHTs, supported by Clinical Psychology colleagues.
- To provide specialist assessment, formulation and interventions for a clinical caseload.
- To support HMR CMHT practitioners and to develop a psychological understanding and context for service users and carers.
- Operating in an integrated and inclusive style you will work closely with the MDTs to support the development of individual care planning.
We are keen to ensure there is adequate support for the candidate in this role. Management supervision will be provided by the SCPTS clinical lead/team manager; andclinical supervision will be offered by senior clinicians within the team or via a neighbouring SCPT service. The successful applicants will be integral MDT members, working alongside CMHT colleagues, fellow SCPTS psychologists and CBT therapists, and be part of the community services transformation agenda to providepsychological assessment, formulation and intervention to service users who presentwith complex mental health problems. In addition, you will bring a psychologicalperspective to care, team meetings, formulation meetings and support thepsychosocial intervention work of colleagues, through consultation, supervision and reflectivepractice.
About us
We are passionate about staff well-being and compassionate leadership. Our staff survey results support this:
In the National Staff Survey (2023) Pennine Care was rated as 'the best mental health and learning disability trust to work for in the North West', and also the best Trust in Greater Manchester for staff feeling 'recognised and rewarded, each having a voice that counts, always learning, working flexibly and working as a team.'
Equality, diversity and inclusionis at the top of our agenda.We believe that a diverse, inclusive and engaged culture is vital; that everyone's value should be recognised and respected.
You will be joining a peer network of other Practitioner Psychologists across the trust. You will have opportunities to link with colleagues, through peer supervision and support, special interest groups, the psychological therapies leadership group and psychology forums.
Pennine Care have recently invested in the psychological leadership structure, which is supported by the Associate Network Director for Psychological Therapies and the CPPO.
There are also opportunities to link with local higher education providers and the R&I team to engage with related research projects.
We are committed to staff development and have an extensive psychological therapies training programme.
Our trust values are:
Kindness
Fairness
Ingenuity
Determination
Job description
Job responsibilities
Clinical
- To provide specialist psychological assessments based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological 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 service users and carers.
- To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological intervention and / or management of a clients mental health problems, based upon appropriate conceptual framework of the service users problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings. Clinical work requiring intense concentration over prolonged periods and also frequently involving working with highly distressed service users.
- To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across the teams, developing and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models. Judgement regarding choice of therapy intervention is based on appraisal of evidence based therapeutic options.
- To evaluate and make decisions about intervention options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
- To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of service users whose problems are managed by psychologically-based standard care plans.
- To provide specialist psychological support, consultation and guidance to other professionals contributing directly to the service users assessment, formulation and intervention plan.
- To ensure that all members of the team have access to a psychologically-based framework for understanding and caring for the service user, through the provision of advice, consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory.
- To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual service users and to provide general advice to other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management.
- To communicate and receive highly complex and contentious information in a skilled and sensitive manner, in the course of psychological assessment and therapy.
- To provide training and support to facilitate the effective and appropriate provision of psychological care by all members of the teams.
- To deliver a care package appropriate for the service users needs, co-ordinating the work of others involved with care, arranging service user reviews as required and communicating effectively and monitoring progress during the course of multi-disciplinary interventions.
Teaching, Training and Supervision
- To support clinical placements for trainee clinical and/or counselling psychologists and other therapists, ensuring that trainees acquire the necessary experience to contribute effectively to good mental health care and to the assessment and evaluation of such competencies.
- To provide advice, consultation, training and clinical supervision to other members of MDTs for their provision of psychologically-based interventions to help improve service users functioning.
- To provide pre and post qualification teaching of clinical psychology as appropriate.
- To maintain and develop skills in the area of professional pre and post graduate training and clinical supervision.
Management and Recruitment
- To contribute to the appropriate use of the psychological resources available to a team, whether in the form unqualified graduate psychology staff, or in the form of psychological materials employed in the assessment and treatment of patients.
- To contribute to the systematic governance of psychological practice within the service / team.
- To participate as appropriate in staff recruitment, both in the short-listing process and as a member of interview panels for assistant and trainee clinical psychologists.
Policy and Service Development
- To participate in the development of a high quality, responsive and accessible service including advising both service and professional managers on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
Research and Service Evaluation
- To participate in the evaluation, monitoring and development of the teams operational policies, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit and ensuring incorporation of psychological frameworks for understanding and provision of high quality care.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Clinical
- To provide specialist psychological assessments based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological 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 service users and carers.
- To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological intervention and / or management of a clients mental health problems, based upon appropriate conceptual framework of the service users problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings. Clinical work requiring intense concentration over prolonged periods and also frequently involving working with highly distressed service users.
- To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across the teams, developing and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models. Judgement regarding choice of therapy intervention is based on appraisal of evidence based therapeutic options.
- To evaluate and make decisions about intervention options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
- To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of service users whose problems are managed by psychologically-based standard care plans.
- To provide specialist psychological support, consultation and guidance to other professionals contributing directly to the service users assessment, formulation and intervention plan.
- To ensure that all members of the team have access to a psychologically-based framework for understanding and caring for the service user, through the provision of advice, consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory.
- To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual service users and to provide general advice to other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management.
- To communicate and receive highly complex and contentious information in a skilled and sensitive manner, in the course of psychological assessment and therapy.
- To provide training and support to facilitate the effective and appropriate provision of psychological care by all members of the teams.
- To deliver a care package appropriate for the service users needs, co-ordinating the work of others involved with care, arranging service user reviews as required and communicating effectively and monitoring progress during the course of multi-disciplinary interventions.
Teaching, Training and Supervision
- To support clinical placements for trainee clinical and/or counselling psychologists and other therapists, ensuring that trainees acquire the necessary experience to contribute effectively to good mental health care and to the assessment and evaluation of such competencies.
- To provide advice, consultation, training and clinical supervision to other members of MDTs for their provision of psychologically-based interventions to help improve service users functioning.
- To provide pre and post qualification teaching of clinical psychology as appropriate.
- To maintain and develop skills in the area of professional pre and post graduate training and clinical supervision.
Management and Recruitment
- To contribute to the appropriate use of the psychological resources available to a team, whether in the form unqualified graduate psychology staff, or in the form of psychological materials employed in the assessment and treatment of patients.
- To contribute to the systematic governance of psychological practice within the service / team.
- To participate as appropriate in staff recruitment, both in the short-listing process and as a member of interview panels for assistant and trainee clinical psychologists.
Policy and Service Development
- To participate in the development of a high quality, responsive and accessible service including advising both service and professional managers on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
Research and Service Evaluation
- To participate in the evaluation, monitoring and development of the teams operational policies, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit and ensuring incorporation of psychological frameworks for understanding and provision of high quality care.
Person Specification
Education/Qualifications
Essential
- oDoctorate in Clinical/Counselling Psychology and registration with the Health Professions Council OR UKCP registered therapist with core professional qualification e.g. RMN; OT; MHSW and Masters qualification in Psychotherapy plus experience/training to Doctoral level OR BABCP/BACP accredited CBT/therapist with additional training in for example EMDR/DBT plus experience/training to Doctoral level
Desirable
- oFurther qualifications and / or training in a range of therapy models / interventions i.e. CAT
- oFurther training and/or qualifications in the delivery of clinical supervision
Experience
Essential
- oExperience of specialist psychology assessment and treatment across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in-patient settings.
- oExperience 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.
- oExperience of working within multidisciplinary services in mental health
- oExperience of providing clinical supervision to other psychological therapists
Desirable
- oExperience in teaching / training of other qualified mental health staff / nonpsychology staff
- oExperience of developing and conducting service related research, including, i.e., clinical audits or service evaluations.
- oDelivering psychological therapy in a group format (e.g. DBT, CBT, Schema Therapy, CFT).
- oExperience of the application of psychological therapies in different cultural contexts.
Knowledge
Essential
- oEvidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS, BABCP, BACP
- oKnowledge of the application of clinical governance and risk management policies
- oKnowledge of the practice implications of National guidance and policy, e.g. Nice Guidance, MHA, etc.
Desirable
- oKnowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnosis, people with additional disabilities etc.)
- oHigh-level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
- oKnowledge of legislation in relation to working age adults and mental health.
- oDoctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology
Skills and Abilities
Essential
- oWell-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical and clinically sensitive information to service users, carers and other professional colleagues
- oSkills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment and intervention frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- oSkills in providing consultation to other professional and nonprofessional groups.
- oAbility to prioritise work, manage waiting lists, meet deadlines and revise work plans accordingly
- oAbility to teach and train others using a variety of complex and multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
- oAbility 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.
Desirable
- oExperience of working within a multicultural framework.
- oStrong interest and experience of working with service users with severe / complex needs
Person Specification
Education/Qualifications
Essential
- oDoctorate in Clinical/Counselling Psychology and registration with the Health Professions Council OR UKCP registered therapist with core professional qualification e.g. RMN; OT; MHSW and Masters qualification in Psychotherapy plus experience/training to Doctoral level OR BABCP/BACP accredited CBT/therapist with additional training in for example EMDR/DBT plus experience/training to Doctoral level
Desirable
- oFurther qualifications and / or training in a range of therapy models / interventions i.e. CAT
- oFurther training and/or qualifications in the delivery of clinical supervision
Experience
Essential
- oExperience of specialist psychology assessment and treatment across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in-patient settings.
- oExperience 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.
- oExperience of working within multidisciplinary services in mental health
- oExperience of providing clinical supervision to other psychological therapists
Desirable
- oExperience in teaching / training of other qualified mental health staff / nonpsychology staff
- oExperience of developing and conducting service related research, including, i.e., clinical audits or service evaluations.
- oDelivering psychological therapy in a group format (e.g. DBT, CBT, Schema Therapy, CFT).
- oExperience of the application of psychological therapies in different cultural contexts.
Knowledge
Essential
- oEvidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS, BABCP, BACP
- oKnowledge of the application of clinical governance and risk management policies
- oKnowledge of the practice implications of National guidance and policy, e.g. Nice Guidance, MHA, etc.
Desirable
- oKnowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnosis, people with additional disabilities etc.)
- oHigh-level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
- oKnowledge of legislation in relation to working age adults and mental health.
- oDoctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology
Skills and Abilities
Essential
- oWell-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical and clinically sensitive information to service users, carers and other professional colleagues
- oSkills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment and intervention frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- oSkills in providing consultation to other professional and nonprofessional groups.
- oAbility to prioritise work, manage waiting lists, meet deadlines and revise work plans accordingly
- oAbility to teach and train others using a variety of complex and multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
- oAbility 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.
Desirable
- oExperience of working within a multicultural framework.
- oStrong interest and experience of working with service users with severe / complex needs
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).
