Principal Psychologist

Job overview

Principal Psychologist 8b 0.4 WTE (15 hours) Permanent

We are pleased to be able to advertise a permanent Principal Practitioner post in our Adult Critical Care Unit (ACCU) based at the UHNM. The ACCU has undergone significant expansion of its MDT rehabilitation across the care pathway, to include In-patients, ward follow up, and an out-patient clinic. The expansion includes the provision of psychology for patients, staff wellbeing and support for families/carers.

This has led to the development of our specialist Critical Care Psychology Team. This includes a Consultant Psychologist, Principal Psychologists, Senior Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Psychologists.

We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Principal Psychologist, to support the innovation, ongoing development & delivery of psychological services across the care pathway.

The post holder will be responsible, with the support of the strategic and clinical lead and Consultant Psychologist within critical care (NSCHT), for providing highly skilled psychology service in the specialist areas of critical care at UHNM. This will include:

• ACCU Inpatient
• Follow up on wards at UHNM
• Out-patient clinic

The preferred candidate will have experience of leading services and a demonstrable interest in working with adults with physical health problems, and working with an MDT. There will be an expectation to work from site. Days of work can be discussed and negotiated prior to interview.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will join a highly specialist and motivated multi-disciplinary rehabilitation team at the UHNM Adult Critical Care Unit (ACCU), in partnership with North Staffordshire Combined Mental Health Trust (NSCHCT).

An emphasis with be on the clinical screening, triaging, assessment and treatment of patients at high risk of psychological distress and difficulties as a consequence of the incident that brought them into ITU services and their experiences whilst receiving these services. This includes patients who may be experiencing mental health difficulties for the first time and those with a pre-existing history of such difficulties. There will also be a need to work with patients’ families experiencing PTSD, depression and anxiety as a consequence of their experiences. The post holder will also provide support, consultation and advice to staff.

The post holder will have expertise in working psychologically within physical health care settings, as well as within a wider physical health psychological context. There will be a leadership component, with experience required in clinical assessment, interventions and signposting, as well as managing caseloads, risk assessment/management and individual/group psychology programmes, within a timely and professional manner.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The post holder will be responsible, with the support of the strategic and clinical lead and Consultant Psychologist within critical care and health psychology (NSCHCT), for providing highly skilled psychology service in the specialist areas of critical care at UHNM. This will include services in the following areas:

• 1)    ACCU Inpatients 2)    Follow up on the wards at UHNM 3)    Out-patient clinic for community follow-up 4)    Staff-wellbeing 5)    Family/ carer support

The key duties of the role will be:

To provide expertise in the highly specialist clinical area of intensive care and to deliver high quality psychological assessments, formulations and interventions for patients and their families, within the critical care services of UHNM

To contribute to the design, planning, delivery & evaluation of a psychological service for patients on the ACCU pathway, from Critical Care in-patients, ward follow-up at UHNM, and a prospective out-patients clinic.

To contribute to the delivery of a 7 day psychological service for critical care patients

To deliver direct/ indirect psychological support for the family/ carers of ACCU patients.

To hold clinical and managerial responsibility for junior psychologists in the delivery of highly specialist psychological services. To provide clinical leadership to psychology staff to provide psychological interventions for complex and contentious co-morbid physical and mental health conditions in ITU which may include challenging behaviours and possible risk of physical aggression

To provide clinical supervision and training to junior colleagues within the designated psychology service and to staff external to the team

To undertake formal research as a major part of the job and act as field supervisor to doctorate trainees

To engage in continual service improvement within own area