Senior Assistant Psychologist

Job summary

Staff Health and Wellbeing Service

This is an exciting opportunity to join a new psychology-led service offering support to health and social care staff in Northamptonshire in response to the pressures of the pandemic and beyond. Stronger Together embraces the reflective-scientist-practitioner model, and we encourage innovation, research activity and ongoing professional development in our team.

We offer one-to-one consultations to colleagues, in which we explore an area of concern and help make sense of what is going on; we also offer support to teams and team leaders, consulting when there are difficulties and providing input to teams through structured activities and reflective practice. The service is system-wide, encompassing statutory services and a wide range of providers, and outreach and training across organisations and professional groups to encourage use of the service and develop practice accordingly is an important part of what we do.

When applying for this post in the "Supporting Information" section, in addition to your personal statement, please write a paragraph on "What an assistant psychologist can contribute to the development and delivery of a staff wellbeing service". You may find it helpful to refer to the attached document "Guidance for staff mental health and wellbeing hubs" when preparing your answer.

Main duties of the job

We are looking for a motivated and innovative graduate psychologist with a proven interest in psychological staff support and a combination of practical and research skills. The postholder will need the ability to undertake psychoeducational work with individuals and groups, and research evaluation within the service, analysing feedback data and producing literature reviews in a timely manner to support service developments. They will need to be flexible in their style and approach, since the job involves working with colleagues in a wide range of services and settings, including the host mental health trust, acute hospitals, primary care and social care. Highly developed interpersonal skills are essential

We very much welcome applications from people from diverse backgrounds who are under-represented in service delivery. In particular we recognise the needs of colleagues from minority ethnic backgrounds during the current crisis and want to ensure that we are offering a service that celebrates difference and diversity, and which is culturally sensitive. We also do not yet have a male psychologist on the team.

We are currently working from home 3-4 days a week, going into our base at Lotus House on Tuesdays and working in-person with staff at 1-2 points in the week. This hybrid working pattern is likely to continue.

About us

Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation NHS Trust was rated as "Outstanding" by CQC in 2018 and is a great place to work. We are proud of the Psychology provision within the Trust, and feedback has consistently been that we have a well-developed Psychology network in the Trust which offers a strong sense of professional identity, support and strategic influence. Psychology and psychological approaches are highly valued in the Trust, and Psychologists have the opportunity to shape clinical and organisational strategy as well as provide clinical services. We believe that supporting and involving our staff means that they enjoy their work more, and that our clinical services are better as a result.

The successful applicant(s) would receive professional support and be professionally and clinically accountable to and managed by the Consultant Clinical Psychologist Service Lead for Stronger Together.

There are also good opportunities in the Trust for people wishing to work part-time or across a couple of different specialties. There are a significant number of psychologists employed within the Trust working across services and there are excellent opportunities for professional development through regular monthly psychology meetings and active peer supervision networks. The Trust enjoys good links with both Oxford and Leicester Doctoral training courses.

Employer details

Employer name

Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust

Address

Lotus House

Campbell Square

Northampton

NN1 3EB

Employer's website

https://www.nhft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

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Employer details

Employer name

Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust

Address

Lotus House

Campbell Square

Northampton

NN1 3EB

Employer's website

https://www.nhft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

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