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Job summary

Main area
MHST - Assistant Psychologist
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 4
Contract
Fixed term: 2 years (80% of Annual Leave needs to be taken during the School holiday period, due to service demand during term time.)
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
395-PP252-24
Employer
NELFT NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Maidstone Studios
Town
Maidstone
Salary
£26,530 - £29,114 Pro rata, per annum
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
12/12/2024 23:59

Employer heading

NELFT NHS Foundation Trust logo

MHST Assistant Psychologist

NHS AfC: Band 4

Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.

The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for three consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.

Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video

Job overview

We are looking to recruit a full time assistant psychologists within the Mental Health Support Team in Kent. These posts will be based in either Thanet and South Kent Costal or Maidstone and surrounding areas, in Kent.

Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) are a new service designed to support children and young people with mild to moderate mental health and emotional wellbeing in education settings. They are made up of Children and Young People’s Mental Health Practitioners and Education Mental Health Practitioners.

MHSTs aims to:

  • support children and young people with mild to moderate mental health problems through evidence-based interventions
  • support schools in developing their whole school approach to mental health
  • provide timely advice to school staff and to liaise with other services in order to help children and young people get the right help and stay in education.

This advert is likely to attract a high number of applicants and will close early once a maximum number of applicants has been reached.

We are asking candidates to utilise the person specification to outline: What experience you have working with children in a community setting. Please also stipulate your choice of location. 

Please see our Website for examples and explanations of our work.

Kent and Medway Mental Health Support Teams | NELFT NHS Foundation Trust

Main duties of the job

               To undertake, under the supervision of a qualified practitioner psychologist or other appropriately qualified team member, protocol-based psychological assessments of clients.

 

2.             To assist in the formulation and delivery of routine care plans involving the psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s problems, under the direct supervision of a qualified practitioner psychologist or other appropriately qualified team member. 

 

          To assist, under the supervision of a qualified practitioner psychologist or other appropriately qualified team member, in the coordination and running of therapeutic groups.

 

4.           To manage  an  ongoing  programme  of  audit  of  MHST outcomes involving measures completed by children, young people and families.   

 

          To analyse this data and contribute to the production of reports of outcomes for the team and for commissioners.

 

6.          To support the multi-disciplinary team at all stages of the research process including writing grant applications, data collection, data analysis and write up of results

 

         To attend and contribute to appropriate internal and external meetings.

 

         To be responsible for organising and prioritising own and others workload.

 

Working for our organisation

Starting with NELFT

NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment.  As part of the process, new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team and senior managers and attend a number of drop-in sessions focussing on engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in CEME Campus, Rainham, Essex, RM13 8EU (please note: in order to travel to this destination you will have to make the Dartford crossing and be aware of the ULEZ charges). Candidates must have business insurance when travelling by car to claim travel and above expenses charges.

 

Probationary Period

This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should sufficient applications be received.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

This role will involve working with children, young people, families and schools to support the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people. It will also involve taking an active role in audit, evaluation and research relevant to the work of the MHSTs.  

 

The post holder will support the provision of evidence-based psychologically informed direct and indirect support to children, young people, families, and education staff under the supervision of a qualified clinician. This will involve working according to a plan agreed with a qualified practitioner psychologist and within the overall framework of the team’s policies and procedures.  The post holder will also assist with clinically related  administration,  conduct  of  audits, collection of statistics, and development of audit and/or research projects, teaching and project work.

 

The post holder will support their peers and team manager and be an effective team member whilst working on their own initiative.  They will have a commitment to collaborative working and actively supporting and liaising with other health and social professionals and agencies.

 

The post holder will contribute to the work of all Kent & Medway MHSTs working in schools, colleges and specialist education settings. This will involve supporting individual and group work with children, young people and families; liaison with education settings; facilitating outcome monitoring and service audit and evaluation; supporting with research; and supporting with other service development and delivery related tasks.

 

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further details on this vacancy.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Psychology Qualification - An upper second class honours degree or higher in psychology. Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society
Desirable criteria
  • Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis

Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • High level communication skills demonstrated within personal statement. Ability to communicate sensitive information to patients, carers and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance
  • An understanding of the needs and difficulties of people with mental health problems or other disabilities, demonstrated with additional training or within personal statement
  • Personal statement demonstrates an understanding of psychology applied to health care, and an awareness of NHS Plan, NSF and clinical governance priorities
Desirable criteria
  • Experience using RIO and Ardentia for databases or data- analysis, especially Windows
  • Knowledge of the educational system in England
  • Additional training relating either to child development or mental health

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Working with children and young people with mental health problems and/or other disabilities
  • Working within the community setting
Desirable criteria
  • Working within school or educational setting
  • Car driver and Use of a vehicle

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Employers for CarersApprenticeships logoAge positiveDisability confident employerHappy to Talk Flexible WorkingDefence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) - GoldEmployers Network for Equality & InclusionTop Employers for Working Families 2021Top 10 Employer 2023

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.

Application numbers

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible to ensure consideration.

If you require any additional support during the application process please contact [email protected]. We are happy to make reasonable adjustments to support you throughout the recruitment journey.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
valentine Onyekweli
Job title
Operational Manager
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
07970443167
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