Registered Practitioner Psychologist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Principal responsibilities

Clinical

To provide specialist psychological assessments of service users referred to the clinical service 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 service users , family members and others involved in the patients care.

To formulate 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.

To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, 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 where appropriate.

To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account relevant theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical, developmental and systemic 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.o provide specialist psychological advice guidance and consultation to other professionals and/or carers, contributing directly to service users formulation, diagnosis and treatment plans.

To ensure that all members of the clinical team have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding and care of service users, through the provision of advice and consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory

To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual service users and to provide both general and specialist advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.

To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of service users under their care and to monitor progress during the course of both uni and multidisciplinary care.

To provide expertise, advice and support to facilitate the effective and appropriate provision of psychological care by all members of the team.

Teaching, Training and Supervision

To provide post-qualification training (CPD) and clinical professional supervision to recently qualified HCPC registered psychologists attached to the team, where appropriate.

To provide advice, consultation, training and clinical supervision to other members of the team for the provision of psychologically based interventions to help improve service users functioning.

To provide pre- and post-qualification teaching of psychologists and/or other psychological services staff, and other disciplines as appropriate.

To develop and maintain skills in the area of professional pre- and post-graduate training.

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

To receive regular professional supervision from a senior psychologist in the team and where appropriate other senior colleagues.

To continue to gain wider post-qualification experience of psychology in line with HCPC, and where appropriate BPS, requirements.

To provide professional and clinical supervision to assistant psychologists and, as appropriate, supervise Doctoral level.

To contribute to the pre and post-qualification teaching of all relevant staff, as appropriate.

Management, Recruitment and Service Development

To participate as appropriate in staff recruitment, both in the short-listing process and as a member of interview panels for assistant, trainees and qualified psychologists.

To participate as a senior clinician in the development of a high quality responsive and accessible service, including proposing and implementing changes within the psychological service.

To exercise delegated responsibility for managing psychology staff based within the psychology service.

Research and Service Evaluation

To contribute and where appropriate take a lead role, in the evaluation, monitoring and development of of service evaluation and audit

To Incorporate psychological frameworks for understanding and provision of high-quality care and the improvement of services for service users and their families.

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

To undertake appropriate research as agreed with the line manager and Lead Consultant

Clinical Psychologist and provide research advice to team colleagues undertaking research.

To undertake a defined role in Service Governance structures if/when agreed with the service lead.

General

To ensure the development, maintenance and dissemination of the highest professional standards of practice through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes and to provide evidence of CPD undertaken, e.g. in the form of CPD log book.

To ensure the development and articulation of best practice in psychology within the service area and contribute across the service by exercising the skills of a reflective scientist practitioner, taking part in regular professional supervision and appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the field of clinical or forensic psychology and related disciplines.

To maintain and promulgate the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self- governance in accordance with professional codes of practice of the HCPC, British Psychological Society and Trust policies and procedures.

To maintain up-to-date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the specific service user group and area of care.

To perform other duties of a similar kind appropriate to the grade which may be required by the Lead Consultant Psychologist or Head of Service

To maintain professional registration with the HCPC and to adhere to HCPC standards of proficiency. To adhere to the standards of conduct, performance and ethics as set out by the HCPC.

To be competent and make full use of IT packages available within the work area, for example, Microsoft Office, E-mail, Internet and statistical package

Person Specification

QUALIFICATIONS:

Essential

• Doctoral level training in clinical psychology or equivalent for those who trained prior to 1996, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS. ? Post doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice ? HPC registration as a clinical/counselling psychologist with Chartered Status ? Trained in clinical supervision and the supervision of doctoral trainees ? Trained in care co-ordination ? Evidence of continuing professional development

Desirable

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

KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE:

Essential

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in patient settings. ? Experience 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. ? Exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care as a care coordinator within the context of a multidisciplinary team. ? Teaching, training and clinical supervision and field supervisor for doctoral theses. ? Research and development ? Quality and service improvement and evaluation.

Desirable

• Experience of teaching and training. ? Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts. ? Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g.personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc). ? High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies. ? Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health. ? Experience of working within a multicultural framework.

VALUES

Essential

• Continuous Improvement ? Accountability ? Respectfulness ? Enthusiasm ? Support ? High professional standards ? Responsive to service users ? Engaging leadership style ? Strong customer service belief ? Transparency and honesty ? Discreet ? Change oriented

Skills

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. ? Working level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology. ? Evidence- based practice relevant to the role ? Risk assessment and risk management ? Clinical governance ? Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health. ? Audit and research methodology ? Social Inclusion agenda ? Ability to sit in a constrained position when working with clients. ? Ability to sustain intense levels of concentration responding and participating as required. ? Ability to self reflect and use clinical supervision appropriately. ? Ability to cope and deal with highly distressing emotional circumstances. ? Ability to cope with unpleasant working conditions. ? 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, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.

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.

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

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Nominally: Rowan View Hospital MSU

Maghull Health Park

Maghull, Liverpool

L311FN

Employer's website

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