Job summary
Are you interested in a role where every day is different and where you can use a variety of psychology skills? If so, we are looking for a caring and innovative clinical psychologist to join us.
We are expanding and our all-age Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Service (CIDS) has now been joined by a Specialist Older Adult Mental Health Service (SOAMHS) which is a community service for people over 70 with complex needs which works closely with our older adult in-patient service. So although your main role would be in CIDS, there would be opportunities to work with the other teams too.
The London boroughs of Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham are culturally highly diverse and there is a real commitment to meet the needs of the communities we serve. The expansion means that within the Older People's Mental Health Service (OPMHS) whilst people work in different teams, experiences, ideas, and resources are shared which helps service users move seamlessly between our teams.
Main duties of the job
There is a huge variety of work within this role and the post-holder will play a key role in neuro-psychological assessments which may contribute to a diagnosis of dementia as well as in providing a range of post-diagnostic therapeutic options. They will provide groups and individual therapy for people with dementia as well as for their carers.
They will work with patients who have co-existing mental health needs in addition to their cognitive difficulties. They will work with care homes to help with residents whose behaviour challenges their care givers. They will promote psychological thinking within the MDT and the wider system around the patient.
The post holder will be based in the borough of Hounslow and will be involved in ensuring psychology provision is appropriate and accessible for this diverse community. The post holder will also supervise the Assistant Psychologist for the team and would be able to participate in research projects which are a feature of CIDS.
About us
West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse providers of mental health, community and social care in the UK.
Our 3,982 staff care for people in hospital and in the community, helping them to recover and go on to lead full and productive lives. We aim to be the best organisation of our kind in the country.
We provide care and treatment for more than 800,000 people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow, delivering services in the community (at home, in GP surgeries and care homes), hospital, specialist clinics and forensic (secure) units.
We'rerated good overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Together, we're committed to promoting hope and wellbeing, working with patients, service users, carers, families and partners across the communities we serve.
We are keen to ensure that our workforce reflects the community it serves, particularly in terms of ethnicity, gender, disability, LGBTQ+ and experience of mental illness.
The regulations mandating vaccination for in-scope roles in the NHS have now been removed. The Trust does however continue to encourage and support staff to be vaccinated as this remains the best line of defence against COVID19. Vaccination data will be collected by our recruitment team during your on-boarding if you are happy to provide a copy of your COVID pass.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The post-holder will contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all patients of the service, across all settings and agencies serving the client group and ensure that all members of multidisciplinary teams have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding clients of the service through the provision of advice, consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory.
The post holder will undertake neuropsychology assessment of people who may have dementia as part of the diagnostic process if needed.
The post holder will contribute to research, audit and clinical governance tasks within the hospital.
The post holder will provide line management to assistant psychologists as delegated by the lead psychologist.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The post-holder will contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all patients of the service, across all settings and agencies serving the client group and ensure that all members of multidisciplinary teams have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding clients of the service through the provision of advice, consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory.
The post holder will undertake neuropsychology assessment of people who may have dementia as part of the diagnostic process if needed.
The post holder will contribute to research, audit and clinical governance tasks within the hospital.
The post holder will provide line management to assistant psychologists as delegated by the lead psychologist.
Person Specification
Qualifications and Training
Essential
- Good honors degree (2:1 minimum) in Psychology. Eligibility for graduate membership of BPS.
- Post-graduate doctorate in clinical psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996 or those in lateral transfer) as accredited by the BPS.
- Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council.
Desirable
- Other related academic qualifications.
- Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice
- Training in clinical supervision for Doctoral and equivalent, trainees.
Experience
Essential
- Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
- Specialist employment working with older people or in clinical neuropsychology.
Desirable
- Experience of having facilitated/co-facilitated psychological therapy groups
- Experience of working with people with dementia and their carers
- Experience of assessing and treating clients across the full range of care settings.
- Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
Knowledge
Essential
- Specialist knowledge, both theoretical and practical, of psychology applied to clinical practice, particularly in respect of adults with cognitive impairment
- Able to provide and receive highly complex, highly sensitive or highly contentious information, where there are significant barriers to acceptance which need to be overcome using the highest level of interpersonal and communication skills such as would be required when communicating in a hostile, antagonistic or highly emotive atmosphere.
- Able to make judgements involving highly complex facts or situations, which require the evaluation of a range of options (e.g. the assessment of specialist clinical conditions and the determination of treatment options), where expert opinions may differ.
- Able to plan, prioritise and organise own service user caseload, treatment programmes (individual or group) involving other staff and other aspects of the work such as research activity
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
- Able to use database, word processing and test administration/scoring software.
- Post-graduate level knowledge of research design and methodology.
- Evidence of continuing professional development
Desirable
- Specialist theoretical and practical knowledge of the assessment and treatment of a wide range of mental health conditions.
- Specialist theoretical and practical knowledge of the neuropsychological assessment
- Practical knowledge of the assessment and treatment of behaviours that challenge.
- Able to speak other languages relevant to the communities we serve.eg Hindi, Punjabi, Somali.
Personal Qualities
Essential
- Able to adapt to rapidly changing service demands
- Able to maintain intense concentration frequently and for prolonged periods with unpredictable patients (e.g., in the assessment and treatment of patients with very complex difficulties).
- Able to function in potentially traumatic circumstances and in highly emotionally distressing circumstances on a frequent basis (e.g., in dealing with patients with serious mental illness, histories of homicide and serious violence, self- harm, sexual abuse).
- Able to provide services in environments with patients who are distressed and present with challenging behaviour
- Able to "hold" the stress of patients who may not wish to engage with services.
- Able to respond adaptably to rapidly changing service demands
Person Specification
Qualifications and Training
Essential
- Good honors degree (2:1 minimum) in Psychology. Eligibility for graduate membership of BPS.
- Post-graduate doctorate in clinical psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996 or those in lateral transfer) as accredited by the BPS.
- Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council.
Desirable
- Other related academic qualifications.
- Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice
- Training in clinical supervision for Doctoral and equivalent, trainees.
Experience
Essential
- Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
- Specialist employment working with older people or in clinical neuropsychology.
Desirable
- Experience of having facilitated/co-facilitated psychological therapy groups
- Experience of working with people with dementia and their carers
- Experience of assessing and treating clients across the full range of care settings.
- Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
Knowledge
Essential
- Specialist knowledge, both theoretical and practical, of psychology applied to clinical practice, particularly in respect of adults with cognitive impairment
- Able to provide and receive highly complex, highly sensitive or highly contentious information, where there are significant barriers to acceptance which need to be overcome using the highest level of interpersonal and communication skills such as would be required when communicating in a hostile, antagonistic or highly emotive atmosphere.
- Able to make judgements involving highly complex facts or situations, which require the evaluation of a range of options (e.g. the assessment of specialist clinical conditions and the determination of treatment options), where expert opinions may differ.
- Able to plan, prioritise and organise own service user caseload, treatment programmes (individual or group) involving other staff and other aspects of the work such as research activity
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
- Able to use database, word processing and test administration/scoring software.
- Post-graduate level knowledge of research design and methodology.
- Evidence of continuing professional development
Desirable
- Specialist theoretical and practical knowledge of the assessment and treatment of a wide range of mental health conditions.
- Specialist theoretical and practical knowledge of the neuropsychological assessment
- Practical knowledge of the assessment and treatment of behaviours that challenge.
- Able to speak other languages relevant to the communities we serve.eg Hindi, Punjabi, Somali.
Personal Qualities
Essential
- Able to adapt to rapidly changing service demands
- Able to maintain intense concentration frequently and for prolonged periods with unpredictable patients (e.g., in the assessment and treatment of patients with very complex difficulties).
- Able to function in potentially traumatic circumstances and in highly emotionally distressing circumstances on a frequent basis (e.g., in dealing with patients with serious mental illness, histories of homicide and serious violence, self- harm, sexual abuse).
- Able to provide services in environments with patients who are distressed and present with challenging behaviour
- Able to "hold" the stress of patients who may not wish to engage with services.
- Able to respond adaptably to rapidly changing service demands
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
