Practitioner Psychologist in ICU

Job overview

This is an opportunity to work into the ICU Service of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (ICHT), providing psychological care to the patients & families, as well as helping staff manage the emotional challenges of the work.

This .8 WTE Band 7 Maternity cover post (for 11 months) will be based at Charing Cross Hospital, but will liaise with the teams at the other sites and may be asked to work at the other sites. The post will be part of a team of 4 qualified Psychologists and an Assistant Psychologist, along with trainees on placements. The ICU psychology team is part of the wider supportive Clinical Health Psychology department which has its base at St Mary’s Hospital, and offers supervision, peer support and access to CPD.

We will welcome applications from those with experience of working in acute hospitals and with a real interest in health psychology. The postholder will be able to tolerate an emotionally and logistically pressured environment (including exposure to critical illness, trauma and end of life) and will thrive on being able to work closely with a wide range of other professionals, bringing a high standard of theoretical and clinical expertise to patient care. This post would require significant movement around the ward, clinic spaces and the hospital including use of stairs, sitting or standing for extended periods. We would make efforts to accommodate individual needs but please consider if this working environment is suitable for you.

Main duties of the job

• To provide a specialist psychology service to the ICU including specialist assessment, treatment, planning, implementation and monitoring of outcomes.
• To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
• To provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate.
• To undertake service evaluation, audit and research.
• To work as an autonomous professional within BPS and HCPC guidelines and codes of conduct, and guided by the policies and procedures of the service, taking responsibility for own work including treatment and discharge decisions with support of clinical supervisor

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical and Client Care

• To provide specialist psychological assessments, formulations and interventions for ICU patients within the Clinical Health Psychology service; this will include work with ICU inpatients and outpatients.
• To provide culturally appropriate psychological interventions with carers, families or visitors of referred clients of the ICU when required.
• To offer support to ICU staff at the group or individual level, around the psychosocial impact of work in ICU.
• To work systemically as part of the Clinical Health Psychology and Critical Care departments; offering psychological consultation, teaching & training and supervision when suitable.
• To assess and monitor risk and draw up appropriate risk management plans.
• To act as liaison on the patient pathway, between the acute hospital, primary care and community services as necessary for the psychological well-being of the patients.

Policy and service development

• To implement policies and procedures in own area of work, and to propose improvements or beneficial changes.
• To contribute to the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.
• To contribute to service development through undertaking and participating in appropriate projects.

Care or management of resources

• To take care of, and use carefully, the Trust’s equipment and physical resources.

Management and supervision

• To be responsible for the allocation and/or clinical supervision of the work of an assistant psychologist if required, under supervision from a more senior psychologist.
• To supervise trainee applied psychologists within own area of specialism after completion of the relevant Training Course’s Supervision Training.

Teaching and Training

• To provide occasional specialist training in psychological approaches to care to other professions as appropriate.
• To disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations and published articles.

Record-keeping and Information Governance

• To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by Trust policies and local procedures.
• To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry.

Research and development

• To undertake regular complex service evaluation, audits or research relevant to service needs.

Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development

• To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior psychologist according to HCPC and Trust guidelines.
• To ensure own Continuing Professional Development in line with BPS and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements and the HCPC ‘Standards for Continuing Professional Development’.
• To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current developments in professional and clinical practice and of relevant legislation and policies.
• To comply with the HCPC ‘Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics’ and ‘Standards of Proficiency’, and ensure professional development in line with these.

General

• To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group, and follow trust policies relating to its management.
• To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations and to support others involved in such situations.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

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.