Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical, Forensic or Counselling)

Job overview

The Psychology Service for the Nottinghamshire Adult Mental Health Acute Care Unit provides high quality psychological assessment, advice and intervention within local adult acute mental health wards.

We are seeking a Qualified Psychologist  with a keen interest in adult acute mental health to join our enthusiastic and supportive multi-disciplinary team.

The Acute Care Unit consists of a team of Qualified Practitioner Psychologists, CAP'S, Assistants, and Trainees. We pride ourselves on taking care of one another and nurturing personal and occupational wellbeing and growth. As a close knit and supportive team, we recognise the importance of one another’s lives out of work and are considerate and flexible of the personal responsibilities that individuals hold. Recognising individuals’ strengths, ambitions for continual professional development, and learning are all high priorities for the leadership team and opportunities for specialist training are supported financially and logistically.

Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. The cost of the DBS application is £26.40 (standard) or £54.40 (enhanced), this cost will be deducted from your salary over the first 2 months of employment.

You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. An annual fee of £16 per year applies.

Main duties of the job

You will work in inpatient services and will support the ward in adopting a psychological approach. You will participate in individual assessment and formulation of patients’ needs, including a wide range of clinical presentations. Our service delivers a range of brief psychologically informed group interventions as we expand our inpatient treatment directory. There will therefore be opportunities to help shape, plan, oversee and deliver group interventions whilst providing supervision and leadership to our assistant psychologists.

You will work directly with  patients on our male PICU and indirectly to advise the multi-disciplinary team, e.g. providing advice at ward review meetings on psychological aspects of patient care.

• Please note that this post does not meet the pay or skill level required for a Skilled worker visa. Successful applicants with no prior NHS experience would normally be placed at the bottom of the band in line with Agenda for Change. This salary is below the minimum salary required for sponsorship for a Skilled Worker / Health & Care visa. In these circumstances the Trust would not, therefore, be able to sponsor for a Skilled Worker/Health & Care visa. Applicants requiring a Skilled Worker Visa can determine the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship against the relevant criteria here https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The post holder will be based at Highbury Hospital, Bulwell Nottingham and will provide input to  Willows PICU, working with a male population.  There will be a team of Qualified, Assistant, Clinical Associate and Trainee Psychologists to provide professional support and additional clinical resource.

The posts are suitable for recently qualified individuals or those with some experience.  We would welcome applications from current third year trainees with a view to them developing to 8a’s within the first 12-18 months through structured preceptorship and continual professional development support in order to develop their practice further.

The successful applicant will join an established, friendly and supportive group of Psychologists and Assistants working into the inpatient wards across Nottinghamshire. The post is line managed within the profession and clinical supervision will be provided by a senior psychologist in the service. Flexibility to provide clinical supervision and specialist input across the Mid Notts and Highbury wards may be required, according to the demands of the service.

All our posts have a strong emphasis on Continuing Professional Development and there are monthly departmental meetings to ensure good networking, peer support and consistency across the Care Unit, trust wide.  This includes inpatient, Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment (CRHT) and Rehab psychology services - ten qualified  psychologist positions exist within these services.

We have close links with DClinPsych courses at Nottingham/Lincoln (Trent), Leicester and Sheffield, which offer opportunities for teaching and placements/supervision.

The Adult Mental Health Acute Care Unit provide services to the City (Highbury Hospital) and Mid and North Notts (Sherwood Oaks Hospital) regions.  There are excellent transport links to the rest of the UK and easy access to the cities of Nottingham, Derby, Leicester and Sheffield. AMH are a closely networked service of Practitioner Psychologists and Psychotherapists, focusing on delivering a range of therapeutic interventions to a complex client base. We are motivated to support recovery through least restrictive practice across our inpatient provisions. Family and carer engagement is deemed essential as we continue to improve how we support, involve and communicate with unpaid carers, families, friends and siblings of those we care for.

The successful applicant will need to be highly motivated and able to work independently with complex cases, within the guidelines, policies and procedures of the service and the Trust. They will need to be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council, or eligible for registration, and able to meet the travel needs associated with the post.