Assistant Psychologist - NMUH Mental Health Liaison Service

Job description

Job responsibilities

Relationships/Communications

The post holder is expected to establish and maintain positive interpersonal relationships with other staff members characterised by trust, mutual respect, and open, honest communication.

Internal Relationships

NMUH Emergency Department and hospital ward teams, North London NHS Foundation Trust Acute Care teams including CRHTTs, North London NHS Foundation trust generic and specialist locality teams, Psychology HUB, Older Adults Services, CAMHS and other Trust services.

External Relationships

General Hospital, GPs, local authorities, educational services, employment services, Safeguarding Children and Adult teams and a range of specialist community and voluntary (Third Sector) mental health organisations within each borough.

Financial responsibility

To be responsible for ensuring the safe keeping of their laptop, mobile, keys, fobs, or alarms that they are allocated as part of their post. To be responsible for ensuring the safe keeping of other equipment used by Mental Health Liaison Team To take delegated responsibilities for managing the psychological therapies resources available to the service, whether in the form of qualified and unqualified graduate psychological therapies staff, or in the form of psychological therapies materials employed in assessment and treatment of patients.

Responsibility for Human Resources

To receive regular clinical supervision in accordance with professional practice guidelines. To gain wider experience of professional psychology within the NHS over and above that provided within the principal service area where the postholder is employed. To develop skills and competencies that assist in the delivery of current duties. To assist the development of and contribute to the training and support of acute care health staff, as part of a rolling programme delivered by the North Middlesex University Psychiatric Liaison Service, and in response to bespoke requests from the hospital and the BPLS itself.

Responsibility for Administration

Responsible for keeping good quality clinical records that comply with data protection legislation and the trust policies and protocols. Under the supervision of the practitioner psychologist to maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry. To maintain data bases and enter data and perform analyses and produce reports. To assist in clinical data collection, and provision of summaries for the SU presented in the team formulation meetings etc.

Responsibility for IT and Digital Systems/Services

To be able to send and receive e-mails, including attachments. To be able to use a word processing package competently. To be able to use research databases and advanced tools for analysis at both quantitative and qualitative levels. To have a good working knowledge of data base packages, i.e. Excel and Access.

Clinical Responsibilities

To assist in the formulation and delivery of care plans involving the psychological treatment and/or management of a service users problems, under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist, in the acute care hospital setting. To assist in the identification and administration of psychometric and neuropsychological tools as appropriate. To provide individualised psychological interventions under the direction and supervision of the lead psychologist where appropriate. To assist in the development of a psychologically informed framework of understanding and care, within the North Middlesex University Hospital Mental Health Liaison Service. To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary meetings.

Operational Responsibilities

To support/assist the Team Manager or Psychology Lead and in any operational duties that are delegated.

Policy / Service Development

To assist in the design and implementation of service development projects within the service as required. To attend meetings in which service developments are planned and discussed.

Research And Development

To be responsible for the collection of data regarding the use of psychological interventions provided with the North Middlesex University MH Liaison Service. To assimilate and analyse pre and post intervention measures in relation to either psychology interventions or psychologically informed practice. Audit information to be communicated in an accessible and transparent format. To assist in the design and implementation of audit and research projects. To undertake data collection, analysis, the production of reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes. To undertake searches of evidence-based literature and research to assist qualified clinical psychologists in evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other team members.

General

All staff are responsible for the continual compliance with CQC standards and outcomes. The postholder must be aware of, and work in line with, the Trusts Safeguarding Adults and Children procedures. To contribute to the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the postholders professional and team/operational manager(s). To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing in accordance with professional codes of practice of the British Psychological Society and Trust policies and procedures. To prepare test materials and visual aids as required. To undertake specific administrative duties as required. To perform other duties of a similar kind appropriate to the grade, which may be required from time to time by their Psychology Manager.

Personal Development

All staff are required to be appraised by their line managers at least once a year at a personal development review meeting where progress made over the last year is discussed and agreed. Focus on the following years departmental and personal objectives will be identified, discussed and agreed. Where necessary, help and support will be provided, and development opportunities agreed in line with service provision and the knowledge and skills competency framework.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• An upper second-class honours degree or higher in psychology.
• Eligible for graduate membership of the British Psychological Society

Desirable

• Further post graduate training in relevant areas of research design and analysis.

Skills/ Abilities

Essential

• High level computer and IT skills relating to understanding and managing data bases and data analysis.
• An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a mental health context.
• An understanding of psychology applied to health care.

Desirable

• Experience especially Excel for Windows.
• High standard of report writing.

Experience / Knowledge

Essential

• Work with people with mental health problems and/or other disabilities.
• Demonstration of involvement in audit work.
• An understanding of the needs and difficulties of people with mental health problems or other disabilities.
• Experience of working with people during acute episodes of mental distress.

Desirable

• Experience of paid work in direct care provision.
• Working in a multi-disciplinary team.
• Working with clients with complex difficulties.

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Teamwork
• Resilience
• Compassion
• Motivation
• Empathy
• Reflective

Other Requirements

Essential

• Ability to develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.

Desirable

• Lived experience of mental health issues

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).

Employer details

Employer name

North London NHS Foundation Trust

Address

North Middlesex University Hospital (NMUH)

Sterling Way

London

N18 1QX

Employer's website

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