Clinical Lead - Enhanced Mental Health Pathfinder

Job overview

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust are proud to be part of the new Pan-London Enhanced Mental Health Pathfinder Alliance; bringing together the NHS and voluntary sector to improve care for adult victims and survivors of sexual assault and abuse with complex trauma-related mental health needs, enabling recovery and long-term wellbeing.    The Alliance aims to strengthen collaboration between statutory and voluntary sector services, improve identification of complex trauma-related needs and develop the capacity and pathways required to deliver timely, sustained, trauma informed support.

We are seeking an psychological professional for a pivotal leadership role in the Alliance Management Team, responsible alongside the Alliance Director for ensuring the EMHP Alliance delivers its vision and strategic objectives. The post holder will bring experience of working with survivors of sexual harm who have complex mental health needs. They will be a compassionate leader with substantial experience in strategic clinical decision making, leading complex service change, and the ability to influence across a range of organisations. They will occupy a senior psychological profession position, making contributions to professional associations, forums and teaching institutions.   They will role model and champion the EMHP Alliance’s vision and values, building a culture where staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds flourish.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work autonomously within EMHP Alliance, Oxleas NHS Trust and professional guidelines. Alongside the Alliance Director, the post holder will provide strategic and operational clinical leadership across the Alliance, ensuring safe, effective, trauma-informed evidence-based, timely care for adult survivors of sexual assault and abuse with complex mental health needs. They will lead clinical governance, safeguarding, risk management, service planning and clinical pathway development across partner organisations, while promoting shared clinical standards, reducing fragmentation and improving access and outcomes. The post holder will chair relevant forums, lead audit, policy and service development with the AMT, oversee evaluation and research activity, and help shape training, supervision and workforce development. The role requires visible senior leadership, strong partnership working across NHS and voluntary sector services, and a commitment to equity, inclusion, lived experience and psychological safety.

The Alliance is made up of six core members: Ashiana, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, Pan London Sexual Violence Alliance, Respond, Solace and Survivor’s Trust.  The post holder will be required to work in offices of Alliance members on a regular basis.

Please note, this is a pan London development project and the Post holder will be required to travel across the whole of London as part of their duties.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Further detailed information relating to the role and responsibilities can be found in the attached supporting documentation: Job description and person specification.

Key Task and Responsibilities

• To provide senior clinical leadership to develop, coordinate, monitor and evaluate the overall Pan-London programme of work undertaken by the Alliance following best practice evidence, policy and guidance and London and EMHP Alliance organisational priorities.
• To oversee workforce development and training in specialist, evidence-based clinical approaches and clinically informed care and support, including the development of staff from diverse backgrounds to ensure the staff team reflect the local communities.
• To lead on development, oversight and provision of clinical governance for the work of the Alliance including oversight of clinical audit cycles, incident reporting, learning dissemination, and quality improvement plans.
• To lead on the development of clinical standards, frameworks and clinical pathways of care across the Alliance programme.
• To work closely and in collaboration with Alliance partners; the Alliance Director and wider stakeholders.
• To ensure that the voice of victims and survivors is fully embedded within the work of the Alliance through co-production and lived experience representation.
• To provide effective reporting and guidance to the Alliance Leadership and Delivery Teams within a system of empowered and accountable management; to assist decision making in line with Alliance principles.
• To initiate audit, policy and service development and research activities within the EMHP to ensure the delivery of a reflexive, high quality, and financially efficient interventions with a sound basis in evidence-based treatment and best clinical practice
• To monitor and manage relevant key performance indicators for the EMHP Alliance.
• To effectively foster and develop relationships with both internal and external partners and stake holders Pan London.
• To clinically co-ordinate and oversee the development of SOPs, shared assessment frameworks, and expert clinical consultation within and by the Alliance.
• To embed Trauma-Informed Principles across the work of the Alliance.
• To ensure that they and all psychological practitioners for whom the post-holder has leadership or management responsibility, comply with the registered body Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics/Standards of Proficiency, maintain professional standards and continuing professional development according to the employer, EMHP Alliance Personal Development Plan requirements  and any regulating bodies e.g., the UKCP, BABCP & HCPC
• To act as the designated safeguarding lead for the EMHP Alliance, overseeing safeguarding governance, escalation, learning and assurance processes.

Leadership

• To act as a clinical lead for psychological interventions for adult survivors of sexual abuse, to include the development of psychological services in this area, Pan-London.
• To lead on clinical input into Alliance pilots, clinical standards, shared frameworks (including a shared biopsychosocial assessment framework and multi-agency care plan), standard operating procedures and pathway refinement
• To lead as chair of clinical governance committees and relevant sub-groups, being responsible for assurance against CQC, NICE, and professional registration standards and the development of appropriate supervision structures and standards for the EMHP
• To lead on development and embedding of a consistent trauma-informed clinical culture across NHS and VCSE partners, and with wider stakeholder
• To lead on monitoring, evaluation and outcomes of clinical activities, using service user feedback, clinical data and audit findings to report back to the Alliance Leadership team and commissioners, to inform continuous improvement and to support system wide learning.

Management responsibilities

• To work closely with the Alliance Director to manage clinical risks and emerging issues during mobilisation, and exercise responsibility for developing and delivering plans for management of costs.
• To lead on clinical workforce development related to the Alliance programme and to clinically-inform development of the wider workforce across relevant stakeholder groups, including ensuring systems are in place for compliance with standards for employment of appropriately trained, qualified, and professionally registered psychological therapy staff.
• To lead on and be responsible for ensuring systems are in place to provide professional, clinical and management supervision and to monitor compliance for all psychological practitioners working with the EMHP Alliance to maintain their professional standards and continuing professional development, maintaining standards of practice according to the employer and any regulating bodies e.g., the UKCP, BABCP & HCPC etc
• To take lead responsibility for policy and guidance development, interpretation and implementation for application in the EMHP Alliance.
• To initiate, implement and monitor appropriate service developments to improve the quality and delivery of services in the Pan-London EMHP, working with the leads/managers of the EMHP Alliance, partner organisations and other agencies’ to plan and deliver joint services that are integrated around the needs of service users.
• To take a lead in ensuring the team/ service’s ability to deliver accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities, proactively challenging discrimination and supporting the development of culturally competent services.
• To ensure the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.

Clinical Responsibilities

• Provide senior clinical leadership across the Alliance to improve standards of care, outcomes and trauma-informed practice for adults with severe and complex mental health needs who have experienced sexual abuse or harm.
• Lead the development of evidence-based clinical pathways, protocols and interventions, including screening, assessment, formulation and treatment approaches, in partnership with NHS, VCSE and experts by experience.
• Provide expert clinical advice, consultation and supervision on complex cases to EMHP staff, Alliance leadership and partner agencies, including establishing arrangements for multidisciplinary consultation.
• Oversee clinical risk management, safeguarding and culturally appropriate practice, including work with vulnerable adults, families/carers where appropriate, and ensuring services respond to the diverse and holistic needs of the client group.
• Support the wider workforce and system by providing psychological consultation, staff support and specialist guidance to strengthen psychologically informed practice across and beyond the Alliance.
• Lead clinical governance systems including accurate record keeping, routine outcome monitoring, high-quality clinical reporting, information sharing and confidentiality to support safe, effective care.

Research and learning:

• Lead the Alliance’s research, evaluation and learning agenda, ensuring services are outcomes-focused, evidence-based and informed by a clear programme theory.
• Provide senior clinical leadership and oversight for impact evaluation, including meaningful data collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination to drive improvement and inform commissioners and partners.
• Shape the development of clinical communities of practice, promoting shared learning, knowledge exchange and a culture of innovation and continuous improvement across the Alliance.
• Strengthen and contribute to the evidence base for best practice, ensuring emerging learning is translated into high-quality trauma-informed care and system-wide development.

Communication Responsibilities

• Communicate with credibility and influence across a wide range of audiences, using highly developed verbal and written skills to negotiate, manage complexity and support effective partnership working
• Provide sensitive and skilled communication with service users, carers and professionals where information may be complex, contentious or highly distressing.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with commissioners, Alliance leaders, partner organisations, lived experience representatives and wider stakeholders to support strategic delivery of the programme.
• Promote and embed professional and evidence-based practice across the Alliance, providing advice, guidance and support to ensure high standards of psychological care.
• Support workforce knowledge and professional standards by promoting continuing professional development, up-to-date practice, professional registration and awareness of relevant legislation and policy.
• Ensure high standards of clinical documentation and reporting, including accurate record keeping, electronic data entry and compliance with Trust, Alliance and professional standards.

Person Specification: Essential Criteria

• Relevant professional qualification and registration in an applied psychological profession, with specialist post-qualification training relevant to trauma, complex mental health and/or sexual harm.
• Extensive senior clinical and leadership experience in adult mental health, including complex trauma and multi-agency partnership working.
• Strong expertise in clinical governance, risk management, service development and workforce leadership.
• Advanced knowledge of trauma-informed, evidence-based practice, relevant policy, safeguarding and equality issues.
• Excellent communication, influencing and partnership skills, with the ability to work effectively across complex systems.
• Experience of supervision, training, audit, evaluation and quality improvement.
• Commitment to co-production, inclusion, professional standards and continuous improvement.