Senior Stroke Psychologist - Community Wards (Preceptorship at Band 7)

Job overview

We have an exciting opportunity for an 8a (or Preceptorship Band 7) Psychologist to join the Community Stroke  Rehabilitation Wards Teams covering Mid and South Essex population. We welcome applications from psychologists who are newly qualified, as well as from those with more experience.

The post holder will work with individuals and families post stroke and working alongside a team of dedicated psychologists working in stroke care pathways locally and across the region.  Whilst this is a new post, the stroke psychology services have been established since 2013 and are seen as integral to the community and acute stroke pathways by our partners and ICB leads.

The community rehabilitation wards (Rochford and Brentwood) run by multidisciplinary teams and interface with the acute hospital teams and the  Early Supported Discharge Team (ESD) based across Mid and South Essex.

Main duties of the job

The stroke psychology service provides neuro/psychological assessment, one-to-one and group interventions for individuals who have experienced stroke and their families, alongside collaborative work with our MDT teams in joint sessions, consultation and training. Therefore, knowledge and skill in psychological therapy and neuropsychological approaches are fundamental to this post. This will be supported through supervision and peer relationships in Clinical Health Psychological Therapies Services. The post holder will be responsible for ensuring high quality care is delivered in a timely manner in line with client needs, our wider services and national guidance.

In Clinical Health Psychology Services (CHPS) we work in the interface between physical and mental health, which provides unique opportunities for relationship building and service development. In CHPS across Essex, peer support is encouraged and there are other services e.g. Mental Health Liaison, Breathlessness and Pain Management, where psychologists have a range of therapeutic interests; narrative therapy, systemic approaches, acceptance and commitment therapy, motivational interviewing and cognitive behaviour therapy. Collaborative working with peers is supported and has generated innovative and creative projects to date.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please review the person specification and job description for more details.

Professional development is important to us and we have varied CPD opportunities within the service, the wider Trust, and external opportunities. This is supported by robust supervision and appraisal structure.  We want to provide staff with high quality training to meet needs and ensure that we are offering the best possible interventions to the populations we serve.

The Clinical Health Psychology Team has good relationships with local Clinical Psychology doctorate courses. The team contributes to teaching and provide placements for trainees at different stages of training. We work closely with the other psychology services in Essex and Hertfordshire and have regular meetings to provide cohesiveness and support service development as a wider Clinical Health Service. This has allowed us to develop cross specialty groups and be able to share skills and knowledge, driving our services forward.

For an informal conversation about this post please contact Dr Amy Bartlett, Head of Clinical Health Psychology on [email protected]/07507773397