Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Principal Lead Clinical Psychologist to join a passionate team of professionals working in partnership with people with learning disabilities and their carers in Ealing.
Ealing community team for people with learning disabilities is an integrated multidisciplinary team with a reputation for delivering high quality person and family centred outcomes and wider systemic change. The appointed candidate will be responsible for helping to lead an established psychological services team comprising of 2 qualified psychologists, 2 assistant psychologists, 3 Positive behaviour support specialists, and a Music and Art therapist.
As a lead psychologist in the service, you will be well placed to innovate and to deliver creative and new ways to make a difference to the lives of service users and their families.
In addition, you will work with families, carers and 3rd sector partners to enable people who use our services to live as independent a life as possible within the community and to stay local. There will be opportunities to participate in service developments and to undertake clinical audit. The service is committed to developing its staff and have a range of learning opportunities available.
For an informal discussion either contact Helen Devonshire (Principal Clinical Psychologist) on 020 8566 2360 / 07548 142 618
Main duties of the job
To work closely and collaboratively with the multi-disciplinary teamwithin Ealing community team for people with learning disabilities. The post holder will be responsible for providing and leading on specialist psychological input and pathways as part of the wider service. The successful candidate will be expected to provide consultation, training and advice to other organisations. The role offers opportunity to shape future delivery of services, with support from experts by experience, peers within the team and the Head of Psychology. The role will involve providing clinical supervision and management to more junior psychologists within the psychology service.
The post holder will act as a lead clinician in the service ensuring that high quality individualised care is delivered which ensures safety and a commitment to wellbeing maximising independence. The post holder will support the development of local care pathways and provide in-depth specialist knowledge and advice that will inform this process.
We actively promote, research, continuing professional development and the development of individual areas of interest.
About us
Ealing Community Team for People with Learning Disability is comprised of a dynamic and passionate multi-disciplinary group of professionals. Our team puts people with learning disabilities at the centre of our thinking. We are dedicated to co-producing psychological initiatives and interventions alongside people with learning disabilities and their families.
West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse providers of mental and physical 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 arerated 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.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Clinical:
- To lead the psychology component of the clinical team to provide highly specialist assessments of people with learning disabilities based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data, from a variety of sources including psychological and psychometric tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with service users, family members and others involved in the persons care.
- To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a service users problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the persons problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across a full range of care settings (including mental health teams). To act as a resource for nonspecific learning disability services and to facilitate mainstream access to services wherever possible.
- To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
- To provide highly specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other clinicians, professionals and members of the multi-disciplinary team contributing directly to service users formulation, diagnosis and treatment plans.
- To have an advanced knowledge of and be able to assess, plan, implement and evaluate all aspects of risk assessment and management. To formulate risk management plans that are fully understood and accessible to service user population and their wider support networks. To lead and actively contribute to multi-disciplinary risk assessments and plans across and beyond the service with other statutory organizations and provider
Management and Leadership:
- To significantly contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the teams clinical practice through the deployment of professional skills in supervision, leadership, research, service evaluation and clinical audit. To lead on and ensure that there is a robust clinical outcomes framework in place for psychological innervations and wider practice undertaken.
- To be involved in recruitment processes including the shortlisting and interviewing of clinical staff.
- To support other qualified psychologists to manage their workloads in accordance with job plans and within the framework of the team / services policies and procedures.
Teaching, Training and Supervision:
- To receive regular clinical professional supervision from a more senior psychologist and, where appropriate, other senior professional colleagues.
- To gain additional highly specialist experience and skills relevant to clinical psychology and/or the service as agreed with the professional psychology manager.
- To provide professional and clinical supervision of trainee, assistant Clinical Psychologists and if appropriate level of experience, newly qualified Clinical Psychologists.
General :
- To contribute to the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the postholders professional and service manager(s).
- To contribute to the development and articulation of best practice in psychology across the service, by continuing to develop the skills of a reflexive and reflective scientist practitioner, taking part in regular professional supervision and appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the field of clinical psychology and related disciplines.
- To undertake and lead on investigations (including serious incidents) at service and Trust level (when required) using standardised and recognised methodologies.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Clinical:
- To lead the psychology component of the clinical team to provide highly specialist assessments of people with learning disabilities based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data, from a variety of sources including psychological and psychometric tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with service users, family members and others involved in the persons care.
- To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a service users problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the persons problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across a full range of care settings (including mental health teams). To act as a resource for nonspecific learning disability services and to facilitate mainstream access to services wherever possible.
- To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
- To provide highly specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other clinicians, professionals and members of the multi-disciplinary team contributing directly to service users formulation, diagnosis and treatment plans.
- To have an advanced knowledge of and be able to assess, plan, implement and evaluate all aspects of risk assessment and management. To formulate risk management plans that are fully understood and accessible to service user population and their wider support networks. To lead and actively contribute to multi-disciplinary risk assessments and plans across and beyond the service with other statutory organizations and provider
Management and Leadership:
- To significantly contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the teams clinical practice through the deployment of professional skills in supervision, leadership, research, service evaluation and clinical audit. To lead on and ensure that there is a robust clinical outcomes framework in place for psychological innervations and wider practice undertaken.
- To be involved in recruitment processes including the shortlisting and interviewing of clinical staff.
- To support other qualified psychologists to manage their workloads in accordance with job plans and within the framework of the team / services policies and procedures.
Teaching, Training and Supervision:
- To receive regular clinical professional supervision from a more senior psychologist and, where appropriate, other senior professional colleagues.
- To gain additional highly specialist experience and skills relevant to clinical psychology and/or the service as agreed with the professional psychology manager.
- To provide professional and clinical supervision of trainee, assistant Clinical Psychologists and if appropriate level of experience, newly qualified Clinical Psychologists.
General :
- To contribute to the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the postholders professional and service manager(s).
- To contribute to the development and articulation of best practice in psychology across the service, by continuing to develop the skills of a reflexive and reflective scientist practitioner, taking part in regular professional supervision and appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the field of clinical psychology and related disciplines.
- To undertake and lead on investigations (including serious incidents) at service and Trust level (when required) using standardised and recognised methodologies.
Person Specification
Qualifications and Training
Essential
- Doctorate level training in clinical psychology, including specific models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS.
- Up to date registration with Health and Care Professionals Council as a Practitioner Psychologist.
- Evidence of ongoing continuing professional development (as required by HCPC, BPS, Trust)
Desirable
- Qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.
- Further training and qualification in autistic spectrum conditions (e.g. autism diagnostic interview - revised and autism diagnostic observation schedule)
- Pre or post-qualification training in a relevant area, such as systemic psychotherapy or Positive Behaviour Support.
Experience and Knowledge
Essential
- Experience providing specialist psychological assessment, formulation, and treatment of service users across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in patient settings.
- Working with people who have learning disabilities/autism who present with challenging needs.
- Experience of drawing on a Positive Behaviour Support Framework including carrying out functional assessment.
- Working with a wide variety of service user groups across the learning disability spectrum with a full range of needs (including behaviours that challenge, mental health, abuse etc).
- Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology.
- Understanding and experience of adapting communication and therapeutic approaches to work with people with learning disabilities.
Desirable
- Specific experience in the quantitative assessment and audit for people with learning disabilities
Skills
Essential
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- Ability to undertake complex multiagency working and liaise with multiple systems effectively.
- Ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
- Values led collaborative team working and multidisciplinary pathway implementation.
- Formal training in supervision of other psychologists.
Desirable
- Demonstrable experience in co-production with people with learning disabilities.
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
Other skills / Requirements
Essential
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
- 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.
Desirable
- Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
Person Specification
Qualifications and Training
Essential
- Doctorate level training in clinical psychology, including specific models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS.
- Up to date registration with Health and Care Professionals Council as a Practitioner Psychologist.
- Evidence of ongoing continuing professional development (as required by HCPC, BPS, Trust)
Desirable
- Qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.
- Further training and qualification in autistic spectrum conditions (e.g. autism diagnostic interview - revised and autism diagnostic observation schedule)
- Pre or post-qualification training in a relevant area, such as systemic psychotherapy or Positive Behaviour Support.
Experience and Knowledge
Essential
- Experience providing specialist psychological assessment, formulation, and treatment of service users across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in patient settings.
- Working with people who have learning disabilities/autism who present with challenging needs.
- Experience of drawing on a Positive Behaviour Support Framework including carrying out functional assessment.
- Working with a wide variety of service user groups across the learning disability spectrum with a full range of needs (including behaviours that challenge, mental health, abuse etc).
- Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology.
- Understanding and experience of adapting communication and therapeutic approaches to work with people with learning disabilities.
Desirable
- Specific experience in the quantitative assessment and audit for people with learning disabilities
Skills
Essential
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- Ability to undertake complex multiagency working and liaise with multiple systems effectively.
- Ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
- Values led collaborative team working and multidisciplinary pathway implementation.
- Formal training in supervision of other psychologists.
Desirable
- Demonstrable experience in co-production with people with learning disabilities.
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
Other skills / Requirements
Essential
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
- 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.
Desirable
- Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
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
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).
