Job summary
We are looking to recruit to a combined role of assistant psychologist and assistant speech and language therapist, to join our friendly multi-disciplinary team at Cary Ward, Fromeside. The candidate should have an interest in working with autistic adults and adults with learning disabilities who present a significant risk to others.
Cary Ward is an 8 bed medium secure ward for men with autism and /or a learning disability within our Secure Services. Secure services consists of Fromeside, an 81 bed medium secure unit and Wickham, a 30 bed low secure unit, both based on the Blackberry Hill Hospital site in north Bristol. Cary Ward multi-disciplinary team includes representation from clinical and forensic psychology, speech and language therapy, mental health and learning disabilities nursing, psychiatry, education, social work and occupational therapy.
This role will be jointly supervised by a forensic/ clinical psychologist and a speech and language therapist, and will involve clinical work focusing on individuals' communication needs, as well as more focused psychological work. The role will include developing accessible materials for service users, co-facilitating therapeutic groups, and contributing to the development and implementation of positive behavioural support plans.
Main duties of the job
Please see attached job description and person specification for more information on roles and responsibilities.
The post-holder will receive regular supervision from a qualified psychologist as well as a qualified speech and language therapist. They will join an experienced and friendly psychology department with expertise in working with sex offenders, violence, trauma and with service users with a diagnosis of personality disorder. There is a range of expertise within the department and clinicians use various clinical models and approaches. There are good support, supervision, and management structures.
Adverts normally close for application a few minutes before midnight on theclosing date and we will let you know if we are offering you an interviewby email via our recruitment system 'TRAC'. Please note that the application may close early if a maximum number of applications is reached. We contact all applicants within 4 weeks after the closing date, so please check your emails regularly once you have submitted your application; you are welcome to contact us, via the TRAC system, if you have any queries about your application.
About us
We are AWP: a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care.
We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire, and in parts of Dorset.
Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person-centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.
We are proud to be fostering a diverse workforce that reflects our communities. A key commitment to this is improving staff representation from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, those from the LGBTQ+ communities, people with 'lived-experience' of mental health conditions and people living with disabilities,- we are a 'Disability Confident Employer' offering a guaranteed interview to Disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria.
We encourage applications from people who wish to work on a flexible basis, recognising that flexibility may mean a range of different working patterns and hours, we do our utmost to work with our staff to meet their needs and the needs of our service users. If you are interested in joining us, we would love to hear from you. Any personal details you supply to us are kept safe in line with GDPR.
Job description
Job responsibilities
This role has been developed to support both the Psychology and Speech and Language Therapy teams on Cary Ward. This was developed since these disciplines work very closely together when supporting individuals with Learning Disability/ Autism. For example, the Assistant will be expected to support with the communication and social challenges that the Service Users are likely to experience.
In this role, the Assistant will be expected to complete tasks that are often required of Assistant Psychologists, however will also be expected to support the Speech and Language Therapist. In addition to the information provided on the Job Description about being an Assistant Psychologist, they will be required to:
- Under supervision, to complete communication screens and informal Speech and Language Therapy assessments.
- To work alongside professionals to implement accessible information standards with the ward and across the wider service.
- To be aware of Speech and Language Therapy service policies and procedures.
- To complete literature reviews of evidence based practice across Speech and Language Therapy and Psychology.
- To contribute towards the research and training within Psychology and Speech and Language Therapy.
Job description
Job responsibilities
This role has been developed to support both the Psychology and Speech and Language Therapy teams on Cary Ward. This was developed since these disciplines work very closely together when supporting individuals with Learning Disability/ Autism. For example, the Assistant will be expected to support with the communication and social challenges that the Service Users are likely to experience.
In this role, the Assistant will be expected to complete tasks that are often required of Assistant Psychologists, however will also be expected to support the Speech and Language Therapist. In addition to the information provided on the Job Description about being an Assistant Psychologist, they will be required to:
- Under supervision, to complete communication screens and informal Speech and Language Therapy assessments.
- To work alongside professionals to implement accessible information standards with the ward and across the wider service.
- To be aware of Speech and Language Therapy service policies and procedures.
- To complete literature reviews of evidence based practice across Speech and Language Therapy and Psychology.
- To contribute towards the research and training within Psychology and Speech and Language Therapy.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- An honors degree in Psychology (2:1 or 1st)
- Eligibility for graduate membership of the BPS
Specialised Knowledge
Essential
- Previous experience of applying statistical software packages to quantitative data
- Research skills
- Assessment/ interview skills with adults
Experience
Essential
- Paid employment in adult mental health/ forensic services/ learning disability services OR significant voluntary experience or experience in another specialism
Desirable
- Assistant psychologist experience in adult mental health or learning disability
- Experience working in a forensic setting
Skills
Essential
- Effective team player with good communication and liaison skills
- Well organised with good administration skills
- Familiarity with word processing packages, data entry, and statistical software
- Ability to cope with potentially threatening situations and to use breakaway techniques
- Emotional resilience in face of distressing situations
- Ability to concentrate for prolonged periods
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- An honors degree in Psychology (2:1 or 1st)
- Eligibility for graduate membership of the BPS
Specialised Knowledge
Essential
- Previous experience of applying statistical software packages to quantitative data
- Research skills
- Assessment/ interview skills with adults
Experience
Essential
- Paid employment in adult mental health/ forensic services/ learning disability services OR significant voluntary experience or experience in another specialism
Desirable
- Assistant psychologist experience in adult mental health or learning disability
- Experience working in a forensic setting
Skills
Essential
- Effective team player with good communication and liaison skills
- Well organised with good administration skills
- Familiarity with word processing packages, data entry, and statistical software
- Ability to cope with potentially threatening situations and to use breakaway techniques
- Emotional resilience in face of distressing situations
- Ability to concentrate for prolonged periods
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).
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).
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