Job summary
This is an exciting opportunity for a 0.4wte Band 8b Clinical/Specialist Psychologist to join the headache psychology team within the Headache team at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.
The headache teams provide a national tertiary service to patients with complex and chronic headache presentations (including chronic migraine and cluster headache). The teams take referrals from all over the UK, and patients often have complex needs.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will work alongside clinical psychologist, consultants, nurses and other medical colleagues. The post involves specialist assessment and intervention for patients with complex headache presentations, providing evidence based psychological interventions to help them reduce the impact of their headaches on them and their lives and adapt to living with their conditions. Part of the work will include assessing patients for suitability on the Occipital Nerve Stimulator surgery pathway. Interventions will be carried out on an individual and group basis. There will also be opportunity to support service development.
About us
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is one of the most complex NHS trusts in the UK, serving a large and diverse population. We provide academically led acute and specialist services, to people from the local area, from throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. Our vision is to deliver top-quality patient care, excellent education, and world-class research.
We provide first-class acute and specialist services across eight sites:
- University College Hospital (incorporating the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Wing)
- National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
- Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals
- University College Hospital Grafton Way Building
- Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine
- University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre
- The Hospital for Tropical Diseases
- University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street
We are dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of many complex illnesses. UCLH specialises in women's health and the treatment of cancer, infection, neurological, gastrointestinal and oral disease. It has world class support services including critical care, imaging, nuclear medicine and pathology.
At UCLH, we have a real 'One Team' ethos, and our values - safety, kindness, teamwork and improving, are central to the way we work. This is supported by our staff, who voted us as the #1 NHS Acute Trust to work for in the whole of England.
Job description
Job responsibilities
For more information regarding the main responsibilities of the role, please refer to the attached Job Description.
Job description
Job responsibilities
For more information regarding the main responsibilities of the role, please refer to the attached Job Description.
Person Specification
Knowledge & Qualifications
Essential
- Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or its equivalent) as recognised by the Health and Care Professions Council
- BA Hons or BSc Hons in Clinical Psychology recognised by the BPS and HCPC
- Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies as applied in a health setting (e.g. CBT as applied to physical health problems).
Desirable
- Post-doctoral training in model of psychological theory (e.g. CBT, systemic)
Experience
Essential
- Multi-professional team working
- Working with people with physical health problems
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including community, primary care, outpatient and inpatient settings.
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity.
- Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts e.g. working with clients from different cultural backgrounds.
- Experience in preparing work for dissemination (e.g. paper for publication, conference poster presentation, oral conference presentation)
- Experience of teaching and training non-psychologists
Desirable
- Working with people with persistent pain and/or headache
- Experience of working in a multidisciplinary team in a physical health setting
- Experience of leading service design and evaluation projects.
- Experience of supervising psychologists
- Experience of leading service developments
Skills & Abilities
Essential
- Skilled in adapting psychological interventions to the patients' needs and yet remaining evidence based
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management.
- Skills in motivating a clinical team
- Ability to identify needs for development in a service and to be proactive in taking this forward
- Must demonstrate highly developed negotiation and problem-solving skills in complex situations and ability to facilitate these skills in others
Communication
Essential
- Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
- Communicates with people in a form and manner which is consistent with their level of understanding, culture and background
- Is able to approach and communicate difficult issues with colleagues in a sensitive and effective manner
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
Personal Qualities
Essential
- Ability to form good working relationships with others in a multidisciplinary setting.
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of multi- media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
- Demonstrates self-motivation and commitment to personal development and acquisition of further skills and knowledge
- Must be able to reflect on practice both individually and with peers/mentors/colleagues to identify own strengths and develop needs
- Must demonstrate willingness to working flexibly and have the ability to develop clinical practice to enable a balance to be achieved between quality, effectiveness and efficiency
- Ability to take into account the wider NHS and Trust developments/constraints and to understand the impact on local services and teams
Other requirements
Essential
- Must have knowledge of the strategic direction of the Trust
Person Specification
Knowledge & Qualifications
Essential
- Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or its equivalent) as recognised by the Health and Care Professions Council
- BA Hons or BSc Hons in Clinical Psychology recognised by the BPS and HCPC
- Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies as applied in a health setting (e.g. CBT as applied to physical health problems).
Desirable
- Post-doctoral training in model of psychological theory (e.g. CBT, systemic)
Experience
Essential
- Multi-professional team working
- Working with people with physical health problems
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including community, primary care, outpatient and inpatient settings.
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity.
- Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts e.g. working with clients from different cultural backgrounds.
- Experience in preparing work for dissemination (e.g. paper for publication, conference poster presentation, oral conference presentation)
- Experience of teaching and training non-psychologists
Desirable
- Working with people with persistent pain and/or headache
- Experience of working in a multidisciplinary team in a physical health setting
- Experience of leading service design and evaluation projects.
- Experience of supervising psychologists
- Experience of leading service developments
Skills & Abilities
Essential
- Skilled in adapting psychological interventions to the patients' needs and yet remaining evidence based
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management.
- Skills in motivating a clinical team
- Ability to identify needs for development in a service and to be proactive in taking this forward
- Must demonstrate highly developed negotiation and problem-solving skills in complex situations and ability to facilitate these skills in others
Communication
Essential
- Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
- Communicates with people in a form and manner which is consistent with their level of understanding, culture and background
- Is able to approach and communicate difficult issues with colleagues in a sensitive and effective manner
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
Personal Qualities
Essential
- Ability to form good working relationships with others in a multidisciplinary setting.
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of multi- media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
- Demonstrates self-motivation and commitment to personal development and acquisition of further skills and knowledge
- Must be able to reflect on practice both individually and with peers/mentors/colleagues to identify own strengths and develop needs
- Must demonstrate willingness to working flexibly and have the ability to develop clinical practice to enable a balance to be achieved between quality, effectiveness and efficiency
- Ability to take into account the wider NHS and Trust developments/constraints and to understand the impact on local services and teams
Other requirements
Essential
- Must have knowledge of the strategic direction of the Trust
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).
