Principal Clinical Psychologist

Job overview

Neonatal Principal Clinical Psychologist

Band 8b

• WTE

Permanent

Are you a Clinical Psychologist who is passionate about delivering compassionate support to families accessing the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit? Do you want to make the most of an exciting opportunity to join an innovative multidisciplinary team? Do you want to work creatively to develop clinical psychology as part of the NICU MDT? Are you ready to step into a clinical leadership post?

This is a varied Clinical Psychology role; providing assessment, formulation and intervention to families accessing the NICU; working creatively to support staff teams providing care in a challenging but rewarding setting; with support, developing psychology as part of the NICU MDT. You will also represent the LMNS in the local neonatal workstream and provide clinical supervision to other clinical psychologists working locally.

The post holder would join our friendly multi-disciplinary team based on the NICU, working closely with the perinatal and maternal mental health psychology team (within community perinatal mental health services). Supervision will be provided by a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and the postholder will be supported by the Neonatal Network Lead.

We offer excellent clinical supervision and support. There are a wide range of CPD opportunities available. The post is hospital based and will involve a combination of face to face and remote working.

Main duties of the job

The Neonatal Unit at Royal Stoke University Hospital, University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, is a busy and dynamic Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

There are 26 cots in total: 10 x intensive care cots, 6 x High Dependency cots and 14 x Special Care cots. There is a 10 bedded Transitional Care Unit and a Neonatal Community Outreach Team, who support discharge from the NICU and transition to home.

There are approximately 6500-6800 births per year a Royal Stoke University Hospital, at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust.

The Neonatal Unit at UHNM supports approximately 600 admissions per year.

We provide care at all levels, to babies and their families, from within Stoke and Stafford area, regionally within the West Midlands Neonatal Network, and beyond.

We care for babies born at 22 weeks gestation to >42weeks gestation.

Admission to the unit is via the Delivery Suite, directly linked to the NICU, and can be via planned or emergency delivery.

The NICU Team are trained to attend deliveries, to stabilise and transfer the preterm/term infant to the NICU, and then continue to deliver individualised and high quality care, for the duration of the baby’s neonatal journey.

We also work to support deliveries in the Interventional Radiography Department and work closely with our colleagues in the Fetal Medicine and Antenatal Screening Departments.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The NICU Team works collaboratively within the Multi-Disciplinary Team and with Allied Health Professionals to deliver high quality care to every baby and family admitted to the NICU. We support research and audit, and strive to provide best practice in all areas of our service.

We care for babies and families who need our care and support, for the entirety of their neonatal journey. This may only be for a number of hours or for days and months, or as part of end of life care.

We recognise that every admission to the NICU is unplanned, and parents & families require different levels of support throughout their journey by all members of the Neonatal Team, and will be signposted to additional support services, where indicated.

Every family will experience feelings of stress and anxiety, fear of the unknown and loss of control following their admission to the NICU. We aim to support and guide every family through the service, ensuring that they feel listened to and supported

We embrace the Family Integrated Care Model and work closely with families to promote parents as partners in care. We recognise the importance of family, and have an open visiting policy to ensure families can be together at such a difficult time.

Joining the NICU Team at RSUH, UHNM will mean that you are joining a driven and motivated team, who strive to provide care, with babies and families, at the core of everything we do. Psychology is now embedded into the team, with the new postholder having the opportunity to further develop and shape this provision.