Principal Psychologist in ICU

Job overview

This post offers the opportunity to work closely with the Critical Care Rehabilitation Team at Midland Metropolitan University Hospital, alongside providing supervision to the Psychologist at Russell’s Hall Hospital. The role sits within a passionate and highly valued multidisciplinary team committed to ensuring patients receive comprehensive rehabilitation and psychological follow-up following admission to Critical Care.

The role includes:

• Attending MDT ward rounds to identify and assess psychological needs following Critical Care admission
• Providing 1:1 therapeutic interventions for inpatients recovering from Intensive Care
• Offering consultation and psychological expertise to ward teams and the wider MDT
• Liaising with, and referring to, community services including GPs and Community Mental Health Teams to support continuity of care following discharge
• Contributing to service development, pathway innovation, and psychologically informed approaches within Critical Care Rehabilitation
• Supporting staff wellbeing and providing psychologically informed consultation to teams working in high-intensity settings
• Contributing to audit, service evaluation, teaching, and training opportunities across the service

Main duties of the job

1.1.     Provides highly specialist psychological assessment of clients with highly complex and contentious conditions based on the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of data from a variety of sources, which may include neuropsychological testing.

1.2.     Responsible for recognising the potential for or signs of client harm, abuse or neglect, including poor clinical practice, reporting all such concerns and taking all reasonable steps to protect the client. Responsible for identifying and reporting concerns regarding the safeguarding of children who may be at risk.

1.3.     Undertakes risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and provides highly specialist advice to other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management and the high physical risks inherent in the client group.

1.4.     Formulates plans for highly specialist psychological therapy and/or management of clients’ mental health conditions based upon an appropriate conceptual framework and evidence-based practice. Negotiates the implementation of such plans with clients and/or their carers.

1.5.     Implements a range of highly specialist psychological therapies for individual clients, carers, families and groups, adjusting and refining psychological formulations as required.

1.6.     Undertakes highly skilled evaluations and makes decisions about treatment options.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Supervisory/Professional Responsibility

2.1.     Clinical supervision of Trainee Applied Psychologists and Assistant Psychologists

2.2.     Supervises Band 7 and 8a Applied Psychologists

2.3.     Specialist psychological supervision and scaffolding in a care pathway/cluster

2.4.     Line manage Assistant Psychologists

2.5.     Will hold responsibility and accountability for their own actions, ensuring appropriate support and supervision is sought when required.

2.6.     To keep abreast of current developments in this field through reading, attendance at appropriate training courses, and a range of other CPD activities, and to ensure that a log is kept of this in line with HCPC requirements.

2.7.     To contribute, as appropriate, to the teaching offered on the local Applied Psychology training courses.

• Multi-Disciplinary Training and Development

3.1.     To work with members of the multi-disciplinary team to develop and maintain psychologically minded ways of understanding and working with clients using the services, both to promote and maintain the mental health and coping strategies of the clients and to maintain the safety of clients and staff.

3.2.     Provides highly specialist advice, guidance and consultation to other direct care staff in MDT

3.3.     Provide clinical supervision to other direct care staff in MDT

3.4.     Ensures appropriate clinical supervision and scaffolding is in place to enable embedding of psychological skills in relation to a specific care pathway/cluster

3.5.     Assesses the need for and develops a plan for training in psychological interventions for the team in relation to a specific care pathway/cluster

3.6.     Devises and delivers training to staff which may include those outside immediate MDT in consultation with Consultant Applied Psychologist

• Service and Organisational Development

4.1.     Clinically leads MDT in development, implementation and monitoring of MD care plans/ pathways/clusters

4.2.     Takes a lead role in MDT delivery of CQUIN and QIP projects, NICE benchmarking and compliance requirements as required within MDT

4.3.     Able to identify service priorities and to work with Consultant Applied Psychologist and/or Team/Service Managers on developing these into action plans

• Service Redesign and Cultural Change

5.1.     Bring an understanding of psychological change processes to own role within MDT and to help MDT to cope with changes, in consultation with Consultant Applied Psychologist

5.2.     Bring an understanding of psychological change processes to help Team/Service Managers to devise suitable plans for change

5.3.     Represent a psychological perspective in regular specific Division-wide forums around governance, quality and redesign under guidance from Consultant Applied Psychologist