Highly Specialist/Principal Practitioner Psychologist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical:

1. Working within a highly specialised clinical area, to provide highly specialist psychological assessments of patients/clients referred to the team 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 patients and others involved in the patients/clients care.

2. To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a patients/clients mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the problems, and employing methods of proven efficacy. Adjusting plans to meet assessed needs of patient/client.

3. To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families 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.

4. To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.

5. To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of patients/clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.

6. To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to patients/clients formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.

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

8. To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients, and to provide general advice and second opinion to other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management.

9. To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care, some of who will be hostile, manipulative and to monitor and evaluate progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.

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

Teaching, Training and Supervision:

1. To provide clinical placements for trainee clinical and/or counselling psychologists, ensuring that trainees acquire the necessary skills, competencies and experience to contribute effectively to good mental health care and to contribute to the assessment and evaluation of such competencies.2. To provide post-qualification training (CPD) and clinical professional supervision to recently qualified clinical and/or counselling psychologists attached to the team.

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

4. To provide pre- and post-qualification teaching of clinical and/or counselling psychology as appropriate.

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

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

Management, Recruitment, Policy and Service Development:

1. To participate as a senior clinician in the development of a high quality, responsive and accessible service including advising both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.

2. To exercise delegated responsibility for managing the psychological resources available to a team, whether in the form of additional qualified and unqualified graduate psychology staff, or in the form of psychological materials employed in the assessment and treatment of patients.

3. To exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the service/team.

4. 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 practitioner psychologists.

Research and Service Evaluation:

1. To take the psychology lead, as a senior clinician, 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.

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

3. To undertake appropriate research and provide research advice to other staff undertaking research.

4. To initiate project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within and across the service to help develop and improve services to clients and their families.

General:

1. 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.

2. 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 reflexive and reflective scientist practitioner, taking part in regular professional supervision and appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the field of clinical psychology and related disciplines.

3. 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 British Psychological Society, HCPC and UHB policies and procedures.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology, (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 2000)
• Recognized training in supervision of trainee psychologists
• Completion of suitable post-qualification supervised clinical experience with specialised client group(s)
• Current HCPC registration.

Desirable

• Highly-developed knowledge of more than one psychological model

Experience

Essential

• Experience in working in multi-professional teams
• Significant experience of working in a physical health setting and working with staff
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and also within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, in-patient and residential care settings 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.
• Experience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision.

Desirable

• Experience of supervising psychologists and psychological therapists from other professions (e.g. nursing, occupational therapy)

Aptitude and Abilites

Essential

• Competence in keyboard skills and using a range of software
• 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, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Highly developed skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.

Desirable

• Welsh Language Speaking/Listening Skills at Level 3 or above

Values

Essential

• Enthusiastic, self-motivated and able to work independently.

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board

Address

Carneigie Clinic

New Road, Trealw

PONTYPRIDD

CF37 4AL

Employer's website

https://joinctm.wales/ (Opens in a new tab)