Job summary
Barts Health Clinical Health Psychology is delighted to be offering a new permanent B4 Assistant Psychologist post in the Tower Hamlets Persistent Pain Management Service. This post presents an excellent opportunity to develop and extend psychological competencies in a specialist setting, supported by an experienced and enthusiastic team.
The successful candidate will contribute to and be a part of an evolving Persistent Pain Management Service and a wider Clinical Health Service within the trust and will support and work directly under the clinical supervision of a clinical/counselling psychologist to help enhance the psychological aspect of pain management within the Persistent Pain Management Service. This will include carrying out assessments, facilitating group and individual interventions, and contributing to service evaluation.
We are looking for a psychology graduate who is highly motivated, with excellent communication and empathy skills who can work independently and integrate into the multidisciplinary Persistent Pain Service, as well as being proactive in establishing links with other Primary and Secondary Care services and local third sector organisations.
Tower Hamlets is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse boroughs in London. The ability to speak Bengali and/or Sylheti is considered a valuable asset for this role to support many of our patients and their families, ensuring our service is as inclusive and accessible as possible.
Main duties of the job
Facilitate and co-facilitate online and in-person group interventions for people living with chronic pain
Provide psychological assessments and supervised treatments for patients with mild to moderate anxiety, depression, and adjustment difficulties related to long-term health conditions
Deliver joint pain management interventions with physiotherapists
Conduct mood screening and contribute to case discussions with feedback at MDT meetings
Assist with audits, outcome measures, research, and service development projects
Support training and teaching sessions for other healthcare professionals
Develop resources and materials to empower patients in pain self-management
Collaborate with the wider team to ensure timely, coordinated care and contribute to service improvements
About us
Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain's leading healthcare providers.
The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.
Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.
We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.
We are dedicated to being an outstanding place to work and will work with you to get the best experience. We know flexible working is not a one size fits all and will mean something different to everyone. We are inclusive, so if you are interested in flexible working, please speak to the recruiting manager.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.
We are dedicated to being an outstanding place to work and will work with you to get the best experience. We know flexible working is not a one size fits all and will mean something different to everyone. We are inclusive, so if you are interested in flexible working, please speak to the recruiting manager.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- An upper second class honours degree or higher in psychology
- Eligibility for Graduate registration with BPS
Desirable
- Further post-graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis
Experience
Essential
- Experience of work with people presenting with long-term physical and/or mental health challenges or other relevant problems (e.g., persistent pain, depression, anxiety)
- Experience facilitating or co-facilitating group interventions (e.g., psychoeducation, skills-based or therapeutic groups.
- Experience working effectively with patients from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds in a healthcare or community setting
Desirable
- Paid work in a setting providing direct care.
- Experience of working with people who may be deemed at risk with regards safeguarding.
- Experience carrying out risk assessments under the supervision of a qualified psychologist.
- Experience supporting individuals with persistent pain
- Experience working in a multidisciplinary team.
- Experience of publication in a peer reviewed journal
Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- Fluency in Bengali and/or Sylheti to support engagement with the diverse Tower Hamlets community
- High level of interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to work and effectively communicate complex or sensitive information in emotionally charged settings potentially involving conflict and significant personal distress.
- Effective communication when interacting with service users and colleagues, especially when information is sensitive.
- An awareness and understanding of needs and difficulties of people with mental health problems and disabilities and of contemporary issues in the field.
- An ability to link and apply psychological theory - principles, understanding and knowledge - to applied practice.
- An awareness and understanding of working with a diverse population of service users and colleagues. Particularly, the differential needs of people from black and minority ethnic communities and from other groups with protected characteristics.
- An awareness of the service issues arising within a multi-cultural urban area.
- Ability to respond safely to physical and verbal aggression, drawing on training in de-escalation and breakaway where provided.
- Awareness of boundary issues between professionals and between service users and psychologists.
- An understanding of statistical analysis commensurate with an honours degree in psychology.
- Experience using Microsoft and associated software for purposes of data analysis and reporting, including databases and statistical programmes such as SPSS.
- An ability to write articulate and comprehensible reports, letters and other correspondence.
- Experience of collecting research data, including questionnaire design and interviewing.
Desirable
- Knowledge of health inequalities and culturally adapted psychological interventions
- Familiarity with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), or other psychological approaches used in pain management
- Experience conducting and analysing outcome measures or contributing to service evaluation within healthcare settings
- Ability to travel independently.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- An upper second class honours degree or higher in psychology
- Eligibility for Graduate registration with BPS
Desirable
- Further post-graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis
Experience
Essential
- Experience of work with people presenting with long-term physical and/or mental health challenges or other relevant problems (e.g., persistent pain, depression, anxiety)
- Experience facilitating or co-facilitating group interventions (e.g., psychoeducation, skills-based or therapeutic groups.
- Experience working effectively with patients from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds in a healthcare or community setting
Desirable
- Paid work in a setting providing direct care.
- Experience of working with people who may be deemed at risk with regards safeguarding.
- Experience carrying out risk assessments under the supervision of a qualified psychologist.
- Experience supporting individuals with persistent pain
- Experience working in a multidisciplinary team.
- Experience of publication in a peer reviewed journal
Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- Fluency in Bengali and/or Sylheti to support engagement with the diverse Tower Hamlets community
- High level of interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to work and effectively communicate complex or sensitive information in emotionally charged settings potentially involving conflict and significant personal distress.
- Effective communication when interacting with service users and colleagues, especially when information is sensitive.
- An awareness and understanding of needs and difficulties of people with mental health problems and disabilities and of contemporary issues in the field.
- An ability to link and apply psychological theory - principles, understanding and knowledge - to applied practice.
- An awareness and understanding of working with a diverse population of service users and colleagues. Particularly, the differential needs of people from black and minority ethnic communities and from other groups with protected characteristics.
- An awareness of the service issues arising within a multi-cultural urban area.
- Ability to respond safely to physical and verbal aggression, drawing on training in de-escalation and breakaway where provided.
- Awareness of boundary issues between professionals and between service users and psychologists.
- An understanding of statistical analysis commensurate with an honours degree in psychology.
- Experience using Microsoft and associated software for purposes of data analysis and reporting, including databases and statistical programmes such as SPSS.
- An ability to write articulate and comprehensible reports, letters and other correspondence.
- Experience of collecting research data, including questionnaire design and interviewing.
Desirable
- Knowledge of health inequalities and culturally adapted psychological interventions
- Familiarity with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), or other psychological approaches used in pain management
- Experience conducting and analysing outcome measures or contributing to service evaluation within healthcare settings
- Ability to travel independently.
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).
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).
