Job Description
We have an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and motivated Band 7/8a psychologist or psychological therapist to join our team. You will provide specialist psychological assessments, formulations, and interventions as part of an interdisciplinary team, and work with individuals, families, and groups . You will also support our staff teams, using your knowledge and experience to provide teaching and consultation on psychological aspects of managing long-term conditions, to help develop and embed psychologically informed care within our organisation. This role will include work within medical areas where psychology is already well integrated, as well as have significant scope to develop our service and build relationships with medical areas where psychological support is not currently available. It will suit someone who is passionate about paediatric health and who enjoys working creatively to provide high quality care for our service users.
You will be joining a small, friendly, and innovative team of professionals who have experience of work utilising a range of psychological approaches and across a variety of medical presentations. Clinical supervision will be provided by the Lead Paediatric Clinical Psychologist. Our service has good links with local CAMHS colleagues, which provides excellent opportunities for joint working and for continued professional development.
- Providing highly specialist psychological assessment, formulation, and intervention for children and families who are experiencing psychological and emotional adjustment difficulties associated with a range of long-term conditions.
- Working alongside multi-disciplinary colleagues to develop and deliver group programmes and standalone workshops/webinars.
- Providing advice and consultation on patients’ psychological care to colleagues from other disciplines, working autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the team’s policies and procedures.
- Supervision of doctoral trainees and psychology assistants and students.
- Utilising research skills for audit, policy and service development.
- Risk management and referral on to other mental health services as appropriate.
- Developing the provision of psychological services within the multidisciplinary teams where based, and maintaining good working relationships with other clinical staff.
- Provide specialist psychological training, supervision, guidance, and consultation to other professionals.
- Maintain electronic systems for referrals, appointments, activity, and outcome monitoring
Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics.
You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career.
We have state-of-the art facilities placing us at the heart of cutting edge health care. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.
Please note that vacancies may close prior to the advertised closing date when sufficient number of applications have been received. Please ensure that you make your application as soon as possible.
All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering their first six months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required.
Please review all documents attached to this advert to ensure you familiarize yourself with all requirements of the job.
JOB SUMMARY:
- Providing highly specialist psychological assessment, formulation, and intervention for children and families who are experiencing psychological and emotional adjustment difficulties associated with a range of long-term conditions.
- Working alongside multi-disciplinary colleagues to develop and deliver group programmes and standalone workshops/webinars.
- Providing advice and consultation on patients’ psychological care to colleagues from other disciplines, working autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the team’s policies and procedures.
- Supervision of doctoral trainees and psychology assistants and students.
- Utilising research skills for audit, policy and service development.
- Risk management and referral on to other mental health services as appropriate.
- Developing the provision of psychological services within the multidisciplinary teams where based, and maintaining good working relationships with other clinical staff.
- Provide specialist psychological training, supervision, guidance, and consultation to other professionals.
- Maintain electronic systems for referrals, appointments, activity, and outcome monitoring.
Strategic Responsibilities
- As a member of the MDT within local paediatric services, the post holder will ensure that interventions are undertaken on the principle of strong, collaborative partnership working between agencies and each agency will be clear about which aspects of their work, support, prevention and early intervention. This includes a main presence in the two General Hospital sites and working in partnership with the local CAMHS clinics.
Operational Responsibilities
- To provide psychological assessments of children and young people referred to the paediatric teams based upon the appropriate use, interpretation, and integration of highly complex data from a variety of sources. This may include psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations, and semi-structured interviews with clients, carers/family members, professionals and others involved in the client’s care.
- To use effective communication skills to engage with children, young people, their carers/families and professionals involved in their care.
- To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for children and young people, carers, families and groups.
- To provide empathetic and sensitive handling of highly emotional and complex information surrounding the difficulties experienced by the young person and their carers/family, and the professionals responsible for their care.
- To maintain Trust standards of clinical record keeping in conjunction with Trust guidelines and professional codes of practice of British Psychological Society (BPS).
Staff Management Responsibilities
- To receive regular clinical professional supervision from the Lead Paediatric Clinical Psychologist, as well as regular team meetings.
- To provide supervision to Trainee Clinical Psychologists, Assistant Psychologists and Student Psychologists (dependent on their own level of experience).
- To provide advice, consultation, training and supervision, where appropriate, to other health care staff working with the client group.
- To ensure the development and maintenance of the highest personal 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).
Financial Management
Not applicable to the post.
Communication Responsibilities
- The post holder would be expected to keep clinical records and to communicate appropriately with patients, referrers, and other agencies, complying with the Trust’s requirements regarding record keeping and outcome monitoring, and with guidelines on confidentiality and data protection. Where a degree of clinical judgment is needed about the management of information with potentially serious legal and clinical consequences, the post holder would be required to refer to their supervisor or other senior members of staff.
- The post holder will be required to offer consultation to other professionals in the community and to organizations and staff groups as appropriate.
- To contribute to the development and articulation of best practice in clinical psychology across the service, by exercising the skills of a reflexive and reflective practitioner, taking part in regular professional supervision and appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the field of psychology and related disciplines.
- To work effectively as a member of a multi-disciplinary clinical team and actively support the ethos of the service.
- To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local NHS, Social Care and Education policies and issues of relevance to the service and client group particularly child protection procedures and practices and National Service Frameworks and NICE guidelines.
Information Systems Responsibilities
- To work in accordance with Trust policies and guidelines.
- To follow Trust protocols to maintain timely, accurate and high quality clinical record keeping and data inputting.
- To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the team’s operational policies and services, through participation in research, service evaluation and audit.
- To assist in the development and execution of relevant audits.
Responsibility for Patient Care
- To adapt psychological therapies according to the client’s culture, developmental level and the level of understanding of children, adolescents and parents/carers. Also to adapt assessments and interventions according to a client’s physical ability.
- To represent the Psychology team at various multi-agency meetings contributing directly and indirectly to a psychologically-based framework within the acute hospital settings.
Mandatory Training
- The post holder will complete the Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust mandatory training programme annually within directed timescales.
Multi-agency Meetings
- The post holder will prioritise attendance at relevant multi-agency planning meetings such as Child In Need, Child Protection conferences, and professionals meetings.
Policy and Procedure
The post holder will work in line with Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust policy and procedures at all times. These include:
- Confidentiality, Data Protection and Information Sharing
- Code of Conduct
- Capability
- Equality and Diversity
- Health and Safety
- Infection Prevention and Control
- Finance
- Safeguarding Children
- Sickness Absence
- Use of Information Technology
Professional Standards and Performance Review
- The post holder will fully participate in the Trust’s appraisal/supervision programme and work with their manager to ensure that they have a clear job plan and description.