Job summary
- Main area
- Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist
- Grade
- Band 8a
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 222-LS-OPMHS-172
- Employer
- West London NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- H&F CID
- Town
- Hammersmith
- Salary
- £58,698 - £65,095 per annum inclusive of HCAS
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 24/07/2024 23:59
- Interview date
- 14/08/2024
Employer heading
Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist
Band 8a
West London NHS Trust provides a full range of mental health, community and physical healthcare services for children, adults and older people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow.
We also provide some specialist services that are commissioned regionally, such as our medium secure services; and nationally, such as the Cassel Hospital for people with complex and severe personality disorder and our high secure services at Broadmoor Hospital.
Job overview
Are you interested in a role where every day is different and where you can use a variety of psychology skills? If so, we are looking for a caring and innovative clinical psychologist to join us. There is a huge variety of work within this role and you will undertake neuro-psychological assessments which may contribute to a diagnosis of dementia as well as provide a range of post-diagnostic therapeutic options.
These include providing groups and individual therapy for people with dementia as well as for their carers. You will also work with patients who have co-existing mental health needs in addition to their cognitive difficulties.
The service works with care homes to help with residents whose behaviour challenges their care givers and you will provide psychological expertise to this part of the service. You will also provide consultation to help promote psychological thinking within the MDT and the wider system around the patient.
Main duties of the job
The London boroughs of Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham are culturally highly diverse and there is a real commitment to meet the needs of the communities we serve. You will be based in the borough of H&F and be involved in ensuring psychology provision is appropriate and accessible for this community. Our teams reflect the cultural diversity of our communities and we are developing our outreach abilities to help us engage with seldom heard communities.
Our all-age Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Service (CIDS) has now been joined by a Specialist Older Adult Mental Health Service (SOAMHS) which is a community service for people over 70 which works closely with our older adult in-patient service. So although your main role would be in CIDS, there are opportunities to work with the other teams too. You will supervise the Assistant Psychologist for the team and band 7 psychologists within CIDS and would be able to participate in research projects which are a feature of CIDS.
Working for our organisation
West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse healthcare providers in the UK, delivering a range of mental health and physical healthcare and community services. The Trust runs Broadmoor Hospital, one of three high secure hospitals in the country, with an international reputation.
Our high secure services care for patients from South of England and we provide low and medium secure services across eight London boroughs. The Trust also provides mental and physical healthcare in three London boroughs (Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham). We employ 4,500 staff, of whom 56% are BME. Our turnover for 2023-24 is £426m.
The Trust is rated as ‘Good’ overall by the Care Quality Commission. Forensic services are rated as ‘Outstanding’.
The Trust is an established partner and contributor in the development of the evolving North West London Integrated Care System and the Integrated Care Board. The Trust leads the NW London Children and Adolescent Mental Health provider collaborative.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. Please view as attached
The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.
Person specification
Qualifications and Training
Essential criteria
- Good honors degree (2:1 minimum) in Psychology. Eligibility for graduate membership of BPS.
- Post-graduate doctorate in clinical psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996 or those in lateral transfer) as accredited by the BPS.
- Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council.
- Training in clinical supervision for Doctoral and equivalent, trainees.
Desirable criteria
- Other related academic qualifications.
- Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience working as a qualified (specialist) psychologist within a clinical psychology setting or equivalent).
- Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
Desirable criteria
- Specialist employment working with older people or in clinical neuropsychology.
- Experience of representing psychology within the context of multi-disciplinary care.
- Experience of assessing and treating clients across the full range of care settings.
- Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Highly developed specialist knowledge, both theoretical and practical, of psychology applied to clinical practice, particularly in respect of adults with cognitive impairment
- Able to provide and receive highly complex, highly sensitive or highly contentious information, where there are significant barriers to acceptance which need to be overcome using the highest level of interpersonal and communication skills such as would be required when communicating in a hostile, antagonistic or highly emotive atmosphere.
- Able to make judgements involving highly complex facts or situations, which require the evaluation of a range of options (e.g. the assessment of specialist clinical conditions and the determination of treatment options), where expert opinions may differ.
- Able to plan, prioritise and organise own service user caseload, treatment programmes (individual or group) involving other staff and other aspects of the work such as research activity.
- 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.
- Able to use database, word processing and test administration/scoring software
- Post-graduate level knowledge of research design and methodology.
- Evidence of continuing professional development
Desirable criteria
- Specialist theoretical and practical knowledge of the assessment and treatment of a wide range of mental health conditions. Practical knowledge of the assessment and treatment of behaviours that challenge.
- Experience of having published in either peer reviewed or academic or professional journals and/or books
Personal Qualities
Essential criteria
- Able to adapt to rapidly changing service demands
- Able to maintain intense concentration frequently and for prolonged periods with unpredictable patients (e.g., in the assessment and treatment of patients with very complex difficulties).
- Able to function in potentially traumatic circumstances and in highly emotionally distressing circumstances on a frequent basis (e.g., in dealing with patients with serious mental illness, histories of homicide and serious violence, self- harm, sexual abuse).
- Able to provide services in environments with patients who are distressed and present with challenging behaviour
- Able to respond adaptably to rapidly changing service demands
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Helen Stirk
- Job title
- Lead Clinical Psychologist
- Email address
- [email protected]
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