Clinical Practitioner

Job responsibilities

The postholder will work as a Clinical Practitioner and have experience and expertise working with individuals with substance misuse

KEY TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Clinical/Professional

• To provide specialist psychosocial interventions, risk management and advice for highly complex service users with significant psychological difficulties following their release from prison; integrating highly complex information from a variety of sources addressing both risk and personality difficulties, and requiring analysis, interpretation and comparison of a range of options.
• To provide enhanced substance misuse support to people screened in to the OPD Pathway. This should be delivered in conjunction with, and avoiding duplication with, mainstream support available to people on probation, e.g., through the Dependency and recovery service for people on probation (London) - Forward Trust.
• To identify services and play a key role in building relationships with substance misuse services across East London
• To ensure that case formulations consider the function and role of substances in individuals offending behaviour and personality difficulties.
• To formulate and implement plans for service users effective support and management, based upon an appropriate theoretical and evidence-based framework of the clients problems, and employing methods based upon evidence and practice and professional guidelines.
• To provide specialist substance misuse advice and consultation on resettlement to probation and prison staff, mental health services, and other relevant criminal justice, health and third sector agencies.
• To plan, organize and implement a range of specialist psychosocial interventions and activities requiring formulation and adjustment in response to service users, and where appropriate carers and involved professionals; co-working with clinical and non-clinical colleagues as appropriate.
• To evaluate and make decisions about interventions and support, taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
• To communicate highly sensitive information and decisions in situations where there may be barriers to acceptance and a hostile, antagonistic or highly emotive atmosphere.
• To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for assessment and interventions with service users whose problems are managed by psychosocially informed care/pathway plans within the OPD Pathway.
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual service users in community settings, and to provide advice to other professions on psychosocial aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
• To take responsibility for initiating planning and review of psychosocial interventions and care/pathway plans including service users, their carers, referring agents and others involved the network of care.
• To provide specialist psychosocial advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to service users formulations and pathway plans.
• To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychosocially-based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all users of the service, across all settings and agencies.
• To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner information concerning the assessment, formulation, intervention and support plans of service users within the OPD Pathway and to monitor progress during the course of multi-agency pathway delivery.
• Teaching, training, and supervision 1. To offer consultation and training to substance misuse providers in order to reduce exclusion on the grounds of organisational anxiety. 2. Support and training for OPD Pathway staff to increase confidence and competence in working with people with substance misuse problems 3. To receive regular supervision from a senior clinical psychologist and/or relevant senior professional colleague, and line management from the identified line manager. 4. To continue to gain post-qualification experience in psychosocial interventions and management, within and beyond the principal service area where the post-holder is employed. 5. To develop skills in teaching, training and supervision. 6. To contribute to external and internal training programmes.
• Policy and service development
  1. To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the teams operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.
  2. To adhere and contribute to the development of the services governance and strategy, and to implement and monitor policy and practice initiatives as required.
  3. To work closely with partner agencies to ensure treatment planning and review is in line with sentence and risk planning, and clinical interventions are integrated with psychosocial interventions.
  4. To signpost individuals into a range of health, social care and wrap-around services to support treatment and recovery goals, ensuring mapping of a wide range of internal and external referral partners.
  5. To support information sharing and shared processes with key partners.
  6. To regularly undertake research and development projects to continually improve service delivery.

• IT responsibilities

  1. To be proficient in the use of IT for email, intranet and clinical record purposes. To be familiar with word processing and database packages; to use appropriate computer software to develop and create clinical or other service-related reports or documents.
  2. To ensure all service activity and service user information is recorded to a high standard using the required case management platforms, and within agreed timeframes.

• Research and service evaluation

  1. To use theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
  2. To contribute to the evaluation, monitoring and development of the service, including audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within and across the service, to help develop and improve services to all service users.
  3. To contribute to the evaluation, monitoring and development of the multi-disciplinary team.
  4. To contribute to the development, implementation, evaluation and monitoring of the Directorates and Trusts operational policies and services.
• General Duties:
  1. 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 post holders professional and service manager(s).
  2. To contribute to the development and articulation of best practice across the service, by continuing to develop relevant professional skills taking part in regular professional supervision and appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the relevant disciplines.
  3. To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with professional codes of practice of the British Psychological Society and Trust policies and procedures.
  4. To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the specific client group and mental health.

Training and Qualification

Essential

• oDegree in a relevant subject or equivalent experience
• oNVQ level 4 in Health and Social Care, and/or equivalent professional qualification (e.g. Health Care, Social Work, equivalent overseas qualification).
• oTraining in a model or approach relevant to drug and alcohol intervention, e.g. Motivational Interviewing, or CBT, or other psychosocial interventions.

Desirable

• oTraining in psychological formulation
• oTraining/courses in substance use and related issues
• oTraining/courses in management or supervisory practice
• oEvidence of continuing professional development post-qualification

Experience

Essential

• oMinimum of 1 year's clinical employment within a forensic service, substance misuse team or dual diagnosis team.
• oClinical risk assessment and management of vulnerable service user groups
• oExperience of working within a multi-disciplinary team
• oExperience of delivering individual and group interventions
• oWorking with service users with co-existing mental health and substance use problems

Desirable

• oExperience of working with service users with complex personality difficulties.
• oExperience of inter-agency working.
• oExperience of working with offending behaviour and with criminal justice agencies

Knowledge, Skills and abiliy

Essential

• oKnowledge of the theoretical frameworks of care of forensic service users with substance use problems and mental health problems
• oKnowledge of current legislation and initiatives within substance misuse and mental health
• oKnowledge of the legal and ethical issues relating to issues around substance misuse in a forensic setting
• oCompetence in the assessment of risk
• oAbility to establish rapport and appropriate therapeutic relationships with service users
• oAbility to ensure comprehensive assessments, formulations and reviews.
• oAbility to appropriately share information with professionals in pursuance of shared goals.
• oAbility deliver and monitor structured interventions to service users with a range of needs
• oAbility to organise, coordinate and prioritise caseloads.
• oAbility to ensure own and others' high quality and defensible case records and documents
• oAbility to communicate effectively, with colleagues and partner organisations
• oResilience to work in an often hostile environment
• oAbility to make effective decisions, and escalate, applicable to the level of the role.
• oAbility to work independently and flexibly, to manage workload and meet service needs.
• oAbility to manage emotionally challenging situations or discussions appropriately.
• oAbility to deal with emergency situations/crises safely and effectively; frequent exposure to highly distressing/emotional situations; exposure to verbal aggression and risk of physical aggression.
• oAbility to work with diverse populations including high-risk and complex offenders.
• oAbility to communicate effectively verbally and in writing in complex, contentious and sensitive situations.
• oCommitment to confidentiality, professional boundaries, and safeguarding procedures.

Desirable

• oSpecialist knowledge of the theory and practice of desistance with offenders

EQUAL OPPORTUNITES

Essential

• oAn understanding of Equality and Diversity.

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).