South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Consultant Psychologist or Psychotherapist

This job is now closed

Job summary

We are looking to recruit a highly skilled and motivated Consultant Psychologist/Psychotherapist to join the Ladywell Unit team at the University Hospital Lewisham, working across the adult inpatient services. There are two male and two female acute inpatient wards based at Ladywell as well as a male Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit and the post-holder will work across all these services and particularly support an additional new ward in the unit.Clients present with complex and enduring serious mental illness, including schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, other psychotic problems and personality disorder. In addition, clients present with emotionally difficult situations (e.g. abuse, trauma, threats to others, self-harm, suicide attempts).

Main duties of the job

You will provide highly specialist psychological assessments, formulations and interventions for clients admitted to the inpatient wards and PICU. An essential part of your role will be to support ward staff and advise teams as to how to provide specialist psychological care and assist in the development of robust behavioural and risk management plans. As a Lead Consultant you will act as a Team Leader and will supervise Junior Psychological Therapists including trainees, Assistants and Clinical Associate Psychologists.You will have experience of both individual and group work and be able to provide culturally appropriate psychological interventions for patients, carers and families. You will be expected to develop and carry out Quality Improvement projects, research and audits as required and lead service development within the acute and crisis pathway.This is a varied role with excellent opportunities to develop desirable and transferable skills working with adults experiencing an acute phase of their mental illness. You will receive regular clinical supervision and be supported by the broader inpatient team.

For further details / informal visits contact:

Dr Stephen Goggins, Head Of Psychology & Psychotherapy

stephen.goggins@slam.nhs.uk or 07794 222 494

About us

We are committed to ensuring our staff get the most out of their benefits package and understand the importance of a healthy work life balance. There is an extensive range of excellent benefits for you and your family. We want you to feel like you are part of a close knit team at SLaM. It's important to us that you valued and appreciated and that are why we have a comprehensive benefits package on offer

Some of our benefits are highlighted here:

Generous pay, pensions and leave, we offer a comprehensive pay, pensions and leave package which is dependent on the role and length of service.
Work life balance, flexible working and support a range of flexible options, such as: part-time working and job sharing.
Career development, There are plenty of opportunities to progress your career and we support your development through a number of programmes such as mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership and other talent programmes
Car lease, our staff benefits from competitive deals to lease cars
Accommodation, our staff benefits from keyworker housing available which is available on selected sites
NHS discounts, with discounts up to 10% from a variety of well-known retail brands though Health Service Discounts website.

Other benefits include:

Counselling services
Wellbeing events
Long service awards
Cycle to work scheme
Season ticket loan
Childcare vouchers
Staff restaurants

We look forward to receiving your application.

Date posted

22 December 2023

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8c

Salary

£70,417 to £81,138 a year per annum plus HCAs pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

334-CLI-5911783

Job locations

Ladywell Unit, Lewisham Hospital

Lewisham High Street

London

SE13 6LW

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose:

To develop strategy for and lead, manage and plan the delivery of a highly specialist psychological therapy service to the inpatient acute wards and PICU at University Hospital Lewisham including specialist assessment, treatment, planning, implementation and monitoring of outcomes; and personally provide expert clinical input.
To be responsible to the Professional Head of Psychology and Psychotherapy for the monitoring and implementation of professional standards in the practice of psychological therapy and for the systematic and effective provision of professional supervision.
To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
To ensure the conduct of research, service evaluation and audits relevant to the service and the research agenda
To be develop standards for and take a lead in ensuring the good clinical governance, quality and appropriateness of the work of psychological practitioners in the service.
To work as an autonomous professional within registration body guidelines and codes of conduct, and guided by principles and policies or procedures, and interpret these and be responsible for their implementation within the service areas of responsibility.
To take a lead on staff support within their area, working closely with Corporate Psychology and Psychotherapy to support colleagues and ensure all staff in SLaM have access to evidence-based support. To participate, as a recipient, in staff support work when appropriate.

Key Responsibilities:

KR 1 Clinical and Client Care

To plan, organise and ensure the delivery of psychological services in the Lewisham Acute and Crisis Service
To plan and organise the integrated delivery of psychological services with other agencies and service providers and ensure co-ordination of psychological therapy with other services.
To provide highly specialist psychological therapy assessments, formulations and interventions for clients in the Acute & Crisis pathway including clients (individuals, couples, families and social networks where the identified client has complex mental health needs) admitted to the inpatient wards and PICU including clients with complex mental health needs - patients presenting with personality disorder, psychosis, complex mood disorders or where cognitive impairment may be a factor affecting recovery; at levels expected of a psychological practitioner who has achieved the equivalent of a PG Diploma-worth of post-qualification specialist development.).
To provide culturally appropriate psychological therapy interventions with carers or families of referred clients when required.
To assess and monitor risk and draw up appropriate risk management plans
To ensure that all services provided are acceptable and accessible to the diverse communities which make up the population of Lewisham and other boroughs covered by SLaM NHS Trust.
To take responsibility for initiating planning and reviewing care plans, co-ordination of network meetings

KR 2 Responsibilities for team or service clinical functioning

To work with the leads/managers of other SLaM services and of other agencies services to plan and deliver joint services that are integrated around the needs of service users
To co-ordinate (and chair) team and service meetings for the service to ensure effective functioning and review when appropriate.
To ensure the effective working of the team or service and a psychologically informed framework for the service.
To take a lead in ensuring the team or services ability to deliver accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.
To be proactive in challenging discrimination and support the development of culturally competent services.
To advise other members of the service on specialist psychological care of clients.
To liaise with referrers, GPs and other professionals concerned with clients in order to develop and review care plans.
To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
To liaise with the service/s MDT and other professionals.

KR 3 Policy and service development

To lead on strategy development and the development of policy and guidance for application in the service. To be responsible for the interpretation and implementation of policy.
To plan, initiate, implement and ensure appropriate service developments to improve the quality and delivery of services in the service and in partner services.
To ensure the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.
To participate in, or lead when appropriate, Trust and Directorate strategic development and implementation of new initiatives (e.g. national guidelines), through membership of committees and/or working parties.
To lead in the development and application of clinical governance standards within the service and ensure that these are maintained and improved.
To take a lead role in ensuring that services to clients are of a high quality and are managed efficiently, according to the overall requirements of the Trust, NHS and government guidance and standards.

KR 4 Care or management of resources

To be responsible for the management of psychological resources.
To monitor and advise clients on the safe use of materials and processes.
To ensure adequate confidential and safe storage for artefacts produced during the therapy process in line with professional guidelines.
KR 5 Management and supervision

To deputise when appropriate for the Directorate Head of Psychology & Psychotherapy.
To provide leadership to psychological practitioners and other professionals in the service.
To ensure appropriate systems are in place for the clinical and professional supervision of psychological practitioners in the service.
To lead recruitment of psychological practitioners.
To lead appraisals of, and personal development plans for psychological practitioners in the service.
To be responsible for the management of psychological practitioners in the service, including agreement of Job Plans, key tasks, workload and management of relevant Trust HR procedures
To provide professional, clinical and management supervision to less senior psychological practitioners, assistants and trainees and the psychological work of other professions as appropriate and having completed the relevant training.

KR 6 Teaching and Training

To organise access to, and provide specialist clinical placements for trainee applied psychological practitioners.
To be responsible for planning, organising, and the delivery of teaching and training of pre and post- qualification psychological practitioners and specialist training to other professions.
To contribute to the development of the knowledge and skills base within the service by maintaining an active awareness of current developments in psychological therapy and by implementing knowledge gained in practice.
To disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations and published articles.

KR 7 Record-keeping and Information Governance

To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by Trust policies and local procedures.
To ensure the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry, in those parts of the service for which the post-holder has management or leadership responsibility.

KR 8 Research and development

To ensure the planning, initiation and completion of research, service evaluation and audits relevant to the service and the directorate research agenda
To initiate and implement the development of outcome measurement and assessment and assist other staff in the implementation of same.

KR 9 Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development

To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior psychological practitioner according to professional and Trust guidelines.
To maintain own Continuing Professional Development in line with registered body and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements and the Standards for Continuing Professional Development.
To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current developments in professional and clinical practice and of relevant legislation and policies.
To comply with the registered body Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics/Standards of Proficiency.
To ensure that all psychological practitioners for whom the post-holder has leadership or management responsibility, maintain professional standards and continuing professional development.

KR10 General

To travel to other Trust sites for meetings and training and to visit other treatment centres and the homes of patients and their carers/families to support treatment and care planning as appropriate and across the Trust when required.
To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group, and follow trust policies relating to its management.
To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations such as instances of challenging behaviour, violence and aggression and to support others involved in such situations.
To work flexibly which may include offering some regular commitment to late clinics or Saturday working, within the overall Job Plan.
To work closely with Corporate Psychology and Psychotherapy to ensure consistent and timely delivery of staff support within their area across all disciplines. Contributing to the development of the staff support offer in line with relevant quality improvement projects.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose:

To develop strategy for and lead, manage and plan the delivery of a highly specialist psychological therapy service to the inpatient acute wards and PICU at University Hospital Lewisham including specialist assessment, treatment, planning, implementation and monitoring of outcomes; and personally provide expert clinical input.
To be responsible to the Professional Head of Psychology and Psychotherapy for the monitoring and implementation of professional standards in the practice of psychological therapy and for the systematic and effective provision of professional supervision.
To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
To ensure the conduct of research, service evaluation and audits relevant to the service and the research agenda
To be develop standards for and take a lead in ensuring the good clinical governance, quality and appropriateness of the work of psychological practitioners in the service.
To work as an autonomous professional within registration body guidelines and codes of conduct, and guided by principles and policies or procedures, and interpret these and be responsible for their implementation within the service areas of responsibility.
To take a lead on staff support within their area, working closely with Corporate Psychology and Psychotherapy to support colleagues and ensure all staff in SLaM have access to evidence-based support. To participate, as a recipient, in staff support work when appropriate.

Key Responsibilities:

KR 1 Clinical and Client Care

To plan, organise and ensure the delivery of psychological services in the Lewisham Acute and Crisis Service
To plan and organise the integrated delivery of psychological services with other agencies and service providers and ensure co-ordination of psychological therapy with other services.
To provide highly specialist psychological therapy assessments, formulations and interventions for clients in the Acute & Crisis pathway including clients (individuals, couples, families and social networks where the identified client has complex mental health needs) admitted to the inpatient wards and PICU including clients with complex mental health needs - patients presenting with personality disorder, psychosis, complex mood disorders or where cognitive impairment may be a factor affecting recovery; at levels expected of a psychological practitioner who has achieved the equivalent of a PG Diploma-worth of post-qualification specialist development.).
To provide culturally appropriate psychological therapy interventions with carers or families of referred clients when required.
To assess and monitor risk and draw up appropriate risk management plans
To ensure that all services provided are acceptable and accessible to the diverse communities which make up the population of Lewisham and other boroughs covered by SLaM NHS Trust.
To take responsibility for initiating planning and reviewing care plans, co-ordination of network meetings

KR 2 Responsibilities for team or service clinical functioning

To work with the leads/managers of other SLaM services and of other agencies services to plan and deliver joint services that are integrated around the needs of service users
To co-ordinate (and chair) team and service meetings for the service to ensure effective functioning and review when appropriate.
To ensure the effective working of the team or service and a psychologically informed framework for the service.
To take a lead in ensuring the team or services ability to deliver accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.
To be proactive in challenging discrimination and support the development of culturally competent services.
To advise other members of the service on specialist psychological care of clients.
To liaise with referrers, GPs and other professionals concerned with clients in order to develop and review care plans.
To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
To liaise with the service/s MDT and other professionals.

KR 3 Policy and service development

To lead on strategy development and the development of policy and guidance for application in the service. To be responsible for the interpretation and implementation of policy.
To plan, initiate, implement and ensure appropriate service developments to improve the quality and delivery of services in the service and in partner services.
To ensure the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.
To participate in, or lead when appropriate, Trust and Directorate strategic development and implementation of new initiatives (e.g. national guidelines), through membership of committees and/or working parties.
To lead in the development and application of clinical governance standards within the service and ensure that these are maintained and improved.
To take a lead role in ensuring that services to clients are of a high quality and are managed efficiently, according to the overall requirements of the Trust, NHS and government guidance and standards.

KR 4 Care or management of resources

To be responsible for the management of psychological resources.
To monitor and advise clients on the safe use of materials and processes.
To ensure adequate confidential and safe storage for artefacts produced during the therapy process in line with professional guidelines.
KR 5 Management and supervision

To deputise when appropriate for the Directorate Head of Psychology & Psychotherapy.
To provide leadership to psychological practitioners and other professionals in the service.
To ensure appropriate systems are in place for the clinical and professional supervision of psychological practitioners in the service.
To lead recruitment of psychological practitioners.
To lead appraisals of, and personal development plans for psychological practitioners in the service.
To be responsible for the management of psychological practitioners in the service, including agreement of Job Plans, key tasks, workload and management of relevant Trust HR procedures
To provide professional, clinical and management supervision to less senior psychological practitioners, assistants and trainees and the psychological work of other professions as appropriate and having completed the relevant training.

KR 6 Teaching and Training

To organise access to, and provide specialist clinical placements for trainee applied psychological practitioners.
To be responsible for planning, organising, and the delivery of teaching and training of pre and post- qualification psychological practitioners and specialist training to other professions.
To contribute to the development of the knowledge and skills base within the service by maintaining an active awareness of current developments in psychological therapy and by implementing knowledge gained in practice.
To disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations and published articles.

KR 7 Record-keeping and Information Governance

To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by Trust policies and local procedures.
To ensure the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry, in those parts of the service for which the post-holder has management or leadership responsibility.

KR 8 Research and development

To ensure the planning, initiation and completion of research, service evaluation and audits relevant to the service and the directorate research agenda
To initiate and implement the development of outcome measurement and assessment and assist other staff in the implementation of same.

KR 9 Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development

To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior psychological practitioner according to professional and Trust guidelines.
To maintain own Continuing Professional Development in line with registered body and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements and the Standards for Continuing Professional Development.
To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current developments in professional and clinical practice and of relevant legislation and policies.
To comply with the registered body Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics/Standards of Proficiency.
To ensure that all psychological practitioners for whom the post-holder has leadership or management responsibility, maintain professional standards and continuing professional development.

KR10 General

To travel to other Trust sites for meetings and training and to visit other treatment centres and the homes of patients and their carers/families to support treatment and care planning as appropriate and across the Trust when required.
To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group, and follow trust policies relating to its management.
To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations such as instances of challenging behaviour, violence and aggression and to support others involved in such situations.
To work flexibly which may include offering some regular commitment to late clinics or Saturday working, within the overall Job Plan.
To work closely with Corporate Psychology and Psychotherapy to ensure consistent and timely delivery of staff support within their area across all disciplines. Contributing to the development of the staff support offer in line with relevant quality improvement projects.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

To have undertaken a recognised qualification in one of the core mental health professions, e.g. psychiatric nursing, clinical psychology, medicine, social work and occupational therapy OR to have equivalent relevant experience and demonstrable competence to work in the mental health field in the NHS.
Entry-level qualification in applied psychological therapy/mental health/social welfare profession or equivalent and demonstrable practice in this field (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level/supervised practice/additional training) that has been accepted for the purposes of professional registration.
For Psychologists: . Entry-level qualification in Applied Psychology (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level additional training) that has been accepted by the HCPC for purposes of professional registration. Clinical psychologist: Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent; Counselling psychologist: MSc and PG Diploma in Counselling Psychology; Forensic psychologist: MSc in Forensic Psychology plus completion of the British Psychological Society's Qualification in Forensic Psychology Stage 2) For Family / Systemic Psychotherapists: Post-graduate qualification in relevant mental health/social welfare profession and demonstrable practice in this field (A/I) PLUS Masters level qualification in Family and Systemic Psychotherapy or equivalent qualification, accredited by UKCP
For Psychotherapists: Entry-level qualification in Psychotherapy that has been accepted by the APC/BPC/UKCP/BACP/BABCP (specify which, according to nature of post) for purposes of professional registration.
For Arts Therapists: Masters Degree (or equivalent) in Arts Therapy or Dance Movement Therapy. (or specify Art Therapy, Music Therapy, Dramatherapy or Dance Movement Therapy)

Desirable

Training in CBT, DBT and Family Intervention relevant to acute care settings

Experience

Essential

Evidence of having worked as a clinical specialist under supervision in multi-disciplinary adult mental health teams.
Experience of undertaking leadership roles
Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature in secondary care adult mental health services
Experience of supervising assistants and trainees having completed the relevant training.
Post-qualification experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities.

Knowledge

Essential

Knowledge of the theory and practice of management and leadership.
Advanced theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment
Advanced knowledge of the theory of psychological practice/processes and their therapeutic application.
Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities.
Knowledge of a range of therapeutic ideas/approaches/models in assessment and treatment relevant to discipline

Desirable

Knowledge of Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act relevant to Adult Mental Health Hospital based Treatment

Skills

Essential

To deliver specialist therapy across cultural and other differences.
To select and administer specialist assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several sources, on which expert opinion may differ.
To communicate skilfully and sensitively complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication including sensory, and emotional difficulties, cultural differences and hostility to or rejection of information.
To plan and schedule assessment and interventions for individual clients and groups and carers (and for meetings such as CPA and case reviews where appropriate).
Consultation skills to work with the multi-professional team or other professional groups and sensitively managing, a number of people's needs simultaneously within the context of therapeutic work/consultation.

Desirable

Experience of delivering and supervising brief CBT skills groups Experience of delivering and supervising family support and intervention

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

To have undertaken a recognised qualification in one of the core mental health professions, e.g. psychiatric nursing, clinical psychology, medicine, social work and occupational therapy OR to have equivalent relevant experience and demonstrable competence to work in the mental health field in the NHS.
Entry-level qualification in applied psychological therapy/mental health/social welfare profession or equivalent and demonstrable practice in this field (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level/supervised practice/additional training) that has been accepted for the purposes of professional registration.
For Psychologists: . Entry-level qualification in Applied Psychology (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level additional training) that has been accepted by the HCPC for purposes of professional registration. Clinical psychologist: Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent; Counselling psychologist: MSc and PG Diploma in Counselling Psychology; Forensic psychologist: MSc in Forensic Psychology plus completion of the British Psychological Society's Qualification in Forensic Psychology Stage 2) For Family / Systemic Psychotherapists: Post-graduate qualification in relevant mental health/social welfare profession and demonstrable practice in this field (A/I) PLUS Masters level qualification in Family and Systemic Psychotherapy or equivalent qualification, accredited by UKCP
For Psychotherapists: Entry-level qualification in Psychotherapy that has been accepted by the APC/BPC/UKCP/BACP/BABCP (specify which, according to nature of post) for purposes of professional registration.
For Arts Therapists: Masters Degree (or equivalent) in Arts Therapy or Dance Movement Therapy. (or specify Art Therapy, Music Therapy, Dramatherapy or Dance Movement Therapy)

Desirable

Training in CBT, DBT and Family Intervention relevant to acute care settings

Experience

Essential

Evidence of having worked as a clinical specialist under supervision in multi-disciplinary adult mental health teams.
Experience of undertaking leadership roles
Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature in secondary care adult mental health services
Experience of supervising assistants and trainees having completed the relevant training.
Post-qualification experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities.

Knowledge

Essential

Knowledge of the theory and practice of management and leadership.
Advanced theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment
Advanced knowledge of the theory of psychological practice/processes and their therapeutic application.
Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities.
Knowledge of a range of therapeutic ideas/approaches/models in assessment and treatment relevant to discipline

Desirable

Knowledge of Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act relevant to Adult Mental Health Hospital based Treatment

Skills

Essential

To deliver specialist therapy across cultural and other differences.
To select and administer specialist assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several sources, on which expert opinion may differ.
To communicate skilfully and sensitively complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication including sensory, and emotional difficulties, cultural differences and hostility to or rejection of information.
To plan and schedule assessment and interventions for individual clients and groups and carers (and for meetings such as CPA and case reviews where appropriate).
Consultation skills to work with the multi-professional team or other professional groups and sensitively managing, a number of people's needs simultaneously within the context of therapeutic work/consultation.

Desirable

Experience of delivering and supervising brief CBT skills groups Experience of delivering and supervising family support and intervention

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).

Additional information

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

Certificate of Sponsorship

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 London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Ladywell Unit, Lewisham Hospital

Lewisham High Street

London

SE13 6LW

Employer's website

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

Employer details

Employer name

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Ladywell Unit, Lewisham Hospital

Lewisham High Street

London

SE13 6LW

Employer's website

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