Job summary
Employer heading
Assistant Psychologist
Band 4
Job overview
This post offers an exciting opportunity for an assistant psychologist with an interest in working with people with offending history and complex personality difficulties. London Pathways Partnership (LPP) is a consortium of five NHS Trusts co-delivering a pan-London Integrated Community Pathways Service (ICPS) for the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway alongside Probation Service London (PSL) colleagues.
The OPD Pathway programme provides services to men and women with complex psychological difficulties and serious offending histories, and to the multi-agency professionals working with them. The Southeast London Integrated Community Pathways Service (ICPS) is a team of psychologists, psychotherapists, clinical practitioners and probation practitioners that provides both direct and indirect support to people on probation presenting with complex personality difficulties and a high risk of harm to others with the joint aims of reducing offending and improving psychological wellbeing.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will support and enhance psychological input to the SE ICPS under the supervision of a qualified psychologist:
- To undertake projects relating to service development and evaluation.
- To set up and maintain databases, spreadsheets, and use these to support with screening, consultation and monitoring of service users, using advanced IT skills in evaluation, audit and research.
- To support consultation, assessment and treatment interventions undertaken by the service as appropriate to level of competence and training.
- To undertake direct and indirect clinical work, such as SPJ assessments, as required under live or regular supervision from a qualified Psychological Therapist.
- To plan, organise and co-facilitate psycho-educational courses and groups with appropriately qualified professional staff.
- To liaise with a range of services (including health, social care and voluntary agencies) relevant to the working area and develop the strong partnership ethos of the pathway
Working for our organisation
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.
We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.
Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
- We’re Kind
- We’re Fair
- We Listen
- We Care
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Clinical:
- To support psychological therapists with assessments and interventions (e.g. risk assessments, neuropsychological tests, self report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect observations and semi-structured interviews) of service users, family members and others involved in the service users’ care, as appropriate to level of training, competence and under live or regular supervision from a qualified Psychological Therapist.
- To formulate and deliver care, training or research plans within settings where there may be a hostile atmosphere, challenging behaviour or high levels of expressed emotion.
- To support the delivery of evidence based psychological interventions for service users.
- To assist in the development of psychologically based frameworks of understanding and care to the benefit of all service users of the service.
- To conduct literature searches, collate audit and outcome evidence, analyse relevant data and produce reports to inform and enhance care delivered by the service.
- To work with other team members to improve care, training and research practices and the quality of life of service users.
- To attend and contribute to multi-disciplinary meetings.
- To carry out other clinical and administrative tasks as appropriate to the post holder’s grade.
IT and Administrations (clinical)
- To develop and manage systems for efficient administration and co-ordination of care, training or research.
- To establish and maintain records and statistics concerning the service.
- To prepare and manage materials for clinical groups and evaluation projects.
- To be acquainted with, implement and maintain all relevant Trust and Psychology and Psychological Therapies policies and procedures.
- To report immediately any incidents affecting staff, users or visitors on health service property in accordance with Trust policies.
- To manage diaries, work plans and project plans as required.
- To carry out other clinical and administrative tasks as appropriate to the post holder’s grade.
Teaching, training and supervision (Performance and Quality)
- In common with all clinical psychologists, 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 post holder is employed.
- To develop skills and competencies that assist in the delivery of current duties.
- To contribute to the training and support of other staff in psychological care.
- To abide by the BPS code of Ethics and Conduct and the Division of Clinical Psychology Professional Practice Guidelines.
- To maintain confidentiality and information governance in line with Trust policy
- To participate in clinical and professional audit.
Research and service evaluation
- To design and implement agreed elements 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 in order to promote evidence based clinical practice. This will contribute to the clinical work of Psychological Therapists and other team members.
- To assist in the design and implementation of service development projects with the service as required.
- To attend meetings in which service developments are planned and discussed.
Person specification
Training and Qualifications
Essential criteria
- 2:2 undergraduate degree in psychology or discipline conferring BPS Graduate Status
Desirable criteria
- 2:1/First undergraduate degree
- Other relevant training/employment experience e.g. social work/substance use
- Evidence of further relevant post-qualification training, e.g. Masters
Experience
Essential criteria
- Paid work with people with psychological/ behavioural problems
- Evidence of working with diversity/range of cultural experiences
- Experience of managing databases/research skills
- Experience of providing therapeutic work either individually or in group
Desirable criteria
- Experience/understanding of psychological/MH problems related to the Criminal Justice System
- Experience of teaching/training other professionals
- Personal/lived experience relevant to understanding of issues faced by service users
Knowledge and Skills
Essential criteria
- Evidence/Examples of high level communication skills both written or verbal
- Evidence/examples of communicating complex, sensitive information to service users/carers/colleagues. E.g. explaining complex psychological issues/advocating for service user interests/communicating ongoing or completed interventions and their benefit
Desirable criteria
- High standard of report writing e.g. reports written for court/parole/CPA/risk assessment etc.
- Experience of complex data analysis, e.g. use of statistical packages, or presentation of data for research/audit/service evaluation
Personal
Essential criteria
- Ability to interact effectively with staff from all disciplines
Desirable criteria
- Interest in working with people with challenging behaviours
Applicant requirements
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
- Stewart Phillips
- Job title
- Psychological Therapist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07385 469338
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