Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical:    
•    To provide specialist psychosocial interventions, risk management and advice for highly complex service users with significant psychological difficulties following their release from prison; integrating highly complex information from a variety of sources addressing both risk and personality difficulties, and requiring analysis, interpretation and comparison of a range of options. 
•    To provide enhanced substance misuse support to people screened in to the OPD Pathway. This should be delivered in conjunction with, and avoiding duplication with, mainstream support available to people on probation, e.g., through the Dependency and recovery service for people on probation (London) - Forward Trust.
•    To identify services and play a key role in building relationships with substance misuse services across South West London.
•    To ensure that case formulations consider the function and role of substances in individuals’ offending behaviour and personality difficulties.
•    To formulate and implement plans for service users’ effective support and management, based upon an appropriate theoretical and evidence-based framework of the person on probation’s problems, and employing methods based upon evidence and practice and professional guidelines. 
•    To provide specialist substance misuse advice and consultation on resettlement to probation and prison staff, mental health services, and other relevant criminal justice, health and third sector agencies.  
•    To plan, organise and implement a range of specialist psychosocial interventions and activities requiring formulation and adjustment in response to service users, and where appropriate carers and involved professionals; co-working with clinical and non-clinical colleagues as appropriate. 
•    To evaluate and make decisions about interventions and support, 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.
•    To communicate highly sensitive information and decisions in situations where there may be barriers to acceptance and a hostile, antagonistic or highly emotive atmosphere. 
•    To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for assessment and interventions with people on probation whose problems are managed by psychosocially informed care/pathway plans within the OPD Pathway. 
•    To ensure that case formulations consider the function and role of substances in individuals’ offending behaviour and personality difficulties.
•    To undertake risk assessment and risk management for people on probation in community settings, and to provide advice to other professions on psychosocial aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
•    To take responsibility for initiating planning and review of psychosocial interventions and care/pathway plans including service users, their carers, referring agents and others involved in the network of care. 
•    To provide specialist psychosocial advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to people on probation’s formulations and pathway plans.  
•    To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychosocially-based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all users of the service, across all settings and agencies.
•    To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner information concerning the assessment, formulation, intervention and support plans of people on probation within the OPD Pathway and to monitor progress during the course of multi-agency pathway delivery.

Teaching, training and supervision:
•    To offer consultation and training to substance misuse providers in order to reduce exclusion on the grounds of organisational anxiety.
•    To offer support and training for OPD Pathway staff to increase confidence and competence in working with people with substance misuse problems.
•    To receive regular supervision and line management from a senior clinical psychologist and/or relevant senior professional colleague.
•    To continue to gain post-qualification experience in psychosocial interventions and management, within the principal service area where the post holder is employed. 
•    To develop skills in teaching, training and supervision.
•    To contribute to external and internal training programmes.

Policy and service development:
•    To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the team’s operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.
•    To adhere and contribute to the development of the service’s governance and strategy, and to implement and monitor policy and practice initiatives as required. 
•    To work closely with partner agencies to ensure treatment planning and review is in line with sentence and risk planning, and clinical interventions are integrated with psychosocial interventions.
•    To signpost individuals into a range of health, social care and wrap-around services to support treatment and recovery goals, ensuring mapping of a wide range of internal and external referral partners.
•    To support information sharing and shared processes with key partners. 
•    To regularly undertake research and development projects to continually improve service delivery.

IT responsibilities:
•    To be proficient in the use of IT for email, intranet and clinical record purposes. To be familiar with word processing and database packages; to use appropriate computer software to develop and create clinical or other service-related reports or documents.
•    To ensure all service activity and service user information is recorded to a high standard using the required case management platforms, and within agreed timeframes.

Research and service evaluation:
•    To use theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other team members.  
•    To contribute to the evaluation, monitoring and development of the service, including audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within and across the service, to help develop and improve services to all service users.
•    To contribute to the evaluation, monitoring and development of the multi-disciplinary team.
•    To contribute to the development, implementation, evaluation and monitoring of the Directorate’s and Trust’s operational policies and services. 

General:
•    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 post holder’s professional and service manager(s).
•    To contribute to the development and articulation of best practice across the service, by continuing to develop relevant professional skills taking part in regular professional supervision and appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the relevant disciplines. 
•    To maintain 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 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 client group and mental health.