Clinical Psychologist

Job overview

The Children and Young People’s Directorate in Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is offering an exciting opportunity for a Band 8a Clinical Psychologist to join the Hope Service based in Guildford.

The Hope Service is an innovative and highly respected, multi-disciplinary service for young people aged 11-18 who are experiencing complex mental health, emotional, social and behavioural needs which could cause a placement breakdown or may require a Tier 4 hospital admission. It is a partnership between Health Services, Children’s Services and Education. We are a Centre of Clinical Excellence and awarded Outstanding by Ofsted.

We are looking to recruit to a permanent parttime position at Band 8 level Clinical Psychologist who will work with young people with complex mental health, behavioral and social care needs. This post will be suitable for a passionate and committed psychologist interested in ensuring excellent psychological care is accessible for young people with complex mental health difficulties from diverse backgrounds and with diverse needs. We are looking for a dynamic and motivated staff member with experience in working with young people with complex needs.

Applications are invited from qualified Clinical Psychologists registered with the HCPC.

For an informal discussion about this role please contact either Gemma Wood Guildford Team Manager 01483 517190

Main duties of the job

The post-holder will be responsible for providing specialist assessments and interventions for children and young people with moderate and severe mental health problems. You will contribute to the service through consultation, training, supervision, service evaluation and audit. Supervision and support is provided by a highly experienced Clinical Psychologist.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

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Key responsibilities

CLINICAL

• To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of clinical work and care.
• To maintain high standards of care in all areas of practice in accordance with the HCPC Code of Conduct, professional guidelines and Trust Policies and Procedures.
• To act within the Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act (2005).
• To be aware of and implement Safeguarding Adult and Child Protection Policies, Procedures and legislation.
• To carry out comprehensive psychological and cognitive assessments and formulation, plan implement and evaluate delivery of psychology interventions and consultations to support young people with specific and complex needs.
• To actively involve young people in developing and agreeing their own care plan, to act as an advocate and ensure that there is proper regard for their dignity, choice, self-esteem, racial, cultural, sexual and religious needs and preferences.
• To work creatively to adapt verbal and written communication to meet the needs of the young people who use our services.
• To undertake comprehensive risk assessments and develop effective risk management plans for young people with complex needs.

POLICY AND SERVICE DEVELOPMENT

• To establish and maintain effective partnerships and relationships with colleagues, other agencies, people who use services and their carers and support staff.
• To conduct and lead on clinical audit, quality assurance and research, maintaining current knowledge of research findings and development within specific care group
• To develop and provide a range of specialist teaching/training packages which can be delivered to a range of multi-disciplinary audiences.
• To positively contribute to divisional and team developments in relation to all aspects of psychology practice.
• To contribute to the development and implementation of appropriate policies, protocols and care pathways.
• To contribute to initiatives to ensure that the diverse needs of the young people are addressed within local services and future developments.
• To develop and maintain good communication links with the NHS, Social Services, Education and other agencies working in the area of Child Mental Health.

TEACHING, TRAINING, SUPERVISION AND CONSULTATION

• To lead on the supervision and Individual Performance Review/Appraisal of assistant psychologists as required.
• To be responsible for regularly providing psychological consultation and advice to colleagues from other professions.
• In collaboration with a senior Clinical Psychologist to support Clinical Psychology Trainees on placement in CAMHS.
• To provide clinical supervision to Assistant Psychologists and other staff and contribute to Individual Performance Review/Appraisal of Assistant Psychologists as required.
• To act as practice assessor/supervisor/teacher in teaching, facilitating and supporting pre-registration students and junior personnel and to participate in the audit of educational placements.
• Assist in appropriate staff recruitment and induction and contribute to the wider strategic plans regarding psychology recruitment.

EVALUATION/ RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

To remain informed of and critically evaluate current theory and research to support evidence-based practice in own professional work and to contribute this perspective in the multi-disciplinary team

To contribute to the evaluation of the Service by participating in service-related audit, research and evaluation projects.  To contribute to the project management of complex audit, assisting colleagues to develop service provision

To initiate and conduct psychologically based research relevant to the care of children with moderate and severe mental health problems, as agreed with the Service Manager and the Professional Lead

To provide advice to members of other professions as required on research design and methodology and be confident in the use of statistical packages such as SPSS

To research national best practice and enable services to benchmark practice against nationally recognised standards - in partnership with young people who use our services and their carers.

PROFESSIONAL/ADMINISTRATIVE

To participate in regular clinical supervision and to negotiate further specialist supervision, development and training with the Professional Lead, fulfilling the CPD requirement of the HCPC. To participate in regular appraisals with the Service Manager and Professional Lead and to agree standards of personal and professional development within agreed timescales.

To work within the Code of Ethics and the relevant professional practice guidelines of the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) the British Psychological Society (BPS) and the professional guidance framework of the Trust.

To work within the framework of the policies and procedures of the Trust and to undertake the mandatory training stipulated in Trust policies.

To be responsible for relevant data collection on work activities, inputting data onto the Trust databases as required, and to maintain a high standard of clinical record keeping.

To maintain and develop Information Technology skills appropriate to the demands of the post.  This includes being able to communicate effectively using IT, and to be fully competent in using IT systems to electronically search and gather relevant information related to psychological assessment and intervention.

To participate fully in supporting the activities of the Psychology profession within the Trust, including attending relevant meetings.