Job summary
Are you a proactive, social and engaged Psychologist in need of a new challenge? We are looking for an experienced, enthusiastic and compassionate Clinical or Counselling Psychologist or Psychotherapist to join the UCLH Staff Psychology & Welfare Service (SPWS)and support The Emergency Services Division at UCLH. SPWS is well-established within the Trust and the post-holder will join a friendly multi-disciplinary team of clinical and counselling psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors and mediators. This is an exciting and critically important time to work in this area as part of an extensive change / improvement programme across all services within the division. The post-holder will become a key member of these broader innovative projects including opportunities to work with teams and to help develop division-wide interventions, run groups, workshops and training programmes alongside a small individual triage & treatment caseload. The current post holder is taking a career break for 12 months from January 2025 and the successful candidate will be supported by the ESD leadership team and Workforce colleagues to take over the work they have undertaken and embed further support pathways, process and systems for staff to enable them to thrive at work.
Main duties of the job
This is a specialist role within the service that requires the post-holder to be confident to work independently within EDS and the multiple services and teams within it. The post holder will also be required to provide training and supervision for clinical staff. While there is some flexibility in the role to work remotely, the main responsibilities are covering onsite support provision within ESD and some of the the clinical areas of the different hospitals, and acting as part of our ward based surge response to support staff. Systemic training and trauma informed therapeutic skills will be crucial to the role's work.
Supervision will be provided by an experienced Clinical Psychologist with line management by the Clinical Lead Consultant Clinical Psychologist.
Candidates must have completed post-graduate level training in Clinical or Counselling Psychology as accredited by the British Psychological Society, or British Psychological Society Statement of Equivalence, and be registered as practitioner psychologists with the HCPC.
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:
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.
We are committed to sustainability and have pledged to become a carbon net zero health service, embedding sustainable practice throughout UCLH. We have set an ambitious target of net zero for our direct emissions by 2031 and indirect emissions by 2040.
Job description
Job responsibilities
For the full Person Specification and more information regarding the main responsibilities of this role, please refer to the attached Job Description.
Come and be a part of the best NHS trust in England to work for, according to our staff*
UCLH top trust to work at in England for the second year running! : University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
*In the most recent NHS staff survey UCLH had the highest percentage of staff who said they would recommend us as a place to work, out of all general acute or acute/community NHS trusts in England for the second year in a row.
UCLH top trust to work at in England for the second year running! University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Once again, UCLH has received the highest score of all general acute and acute/community NHS trusts in England for staff that would recommend us as a place to work.
To discover more about what makes UCLH a great place to work, visit: Why Choose UCLH?
Job description
Job responsibilities
For the full Person Specification and more information regarding the main responsibilities of this role, please refer to the attached Job Description.
Come and be a part of the best NHS trust in England to work for, according to our staff*
UCLH top trust to work at in England for the second year running! : University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
*In the most recent NHS staff survey UCLH had the highest percentage of staff who said they would recommend us as a place to work, out of all general acute or acute/community NHS trusts in England for the second year in a row.
UCLH top trust to work at in England for the second year running! University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Once again, UCLH has received the highest score of all general acute and acute/community NHS trusts in England for staff that would recommend us as a place to work.
To discover more about what makes UCLH a great place to work, visit: Why Choose UCLH?
Person Specification
Knowledge and Qualifications
Essential
- Honours degree in psychology or related disciplines, and a doctoral degree in clinical psychology (or its equivalent occupational health qualification and experience) leading to eligibility for Chartership by the BPS and Registered Practitioner Psychologist by the HCPC.
- High-level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies and group work. Systemic training is desirable
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management.
- Knowledge of psychology as applied to mental health.
- Ability to make diagnostic decisions, give second opinions and make differential diagnoses as part of multidisciplinary assessments.
- Additional training in a specialised area of psychological practice through formal post-qualification training (PG Diploma or equivalent), OR a combination of specialist short courses, or an evidenced portfolio of supervised practice-based learning in a specialist area of clinical practice, assessed by an experienced clinical supervisor.
Desirable
- Qualification in EMDR.
- Knowledge of Organisational / Occupational Psychology
Experience
Essential
- Substantial post-qualification experience (at least four full-time equivalent years) of working as a practitioner psychologist, some of which time has been with clients having psychological problems related to traumatic stress, chronic fatigue and chronic mental health problems.
- Evidence of developing or enhancing a psychology service via audit and/or research activity.
- 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 teaching, training and supervision as well as group facilitation.
- Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
Desirable
- Experience of working in staff support role and have an understanding of specific issues that might arise in acute hospital settings.
Skills and Abilities - Academic and research
Essential
- Previous experience of research indicating the ability to conduct research autonomously, with supervision as required.
- Interest in conducting scientific research in topics relevant to the post.
- Ability to critique and evaluate scientific data and best practice clinical guidelines.
Quality and service improvement
Essential
- Evidence of capacity to make quality contributions to multidisciplinary teamwork.
- Evidence of effective clinical reasoning in the assessment and management of complex psychological difficulties.
Information processing (IT skills)
Essential
- Competent IT skills (word processing, spreadsheets, statistical packages)
Communication & Customer Care
Essential
- Demonstrates professional and effective verbal and written communication skills including excellent negotiation skills with patients, carers and other health professional staff in service delivery.
- 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 where information may be highly sensitive and there may be barriers to acceptance.
- Skills in supervising other staff
Personal Qualities
Essential
- A high level of interpersonal and communication skills.
- Must be able to cope with highly emotive and psychologically challenging demands of working with staff in multiple acute areas and with organisational issues
- Must be able to communicate effectively with a wide range of people in a sensitive, caring and non-judgemental manner
Responsibilities towards promoting Equality Diversity and Inclusion
Essential
- Responsibilities towards promoting Equality Diversity and Inclusion Demonstratable understanding of the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion and/or Knowledge of the NHS obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duties
Person Specification
Knowledge and Qualifications
Essential
- Honours degree in psychology or related disciplines, and a doctoral degree in clinical psychology (or its equivalent occupational health qualification and experience) leading to eligibility for Chartership by the BPS and Registered Practitioner Psychologist by the HCPC.
- High-level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies and group work. Systemic training is desirable
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management.
- Knowledge of psychology as applied to mental health.
- Ability to make diagnostic decisions, give second opinions and make differential diagnoses as part of multidisciplinary assessments.
- Additional training in a specialised area of psychological practice through formal post-qualification training (PG Diploma or equivalent), OR a combination of specialist short courses, or an evidenced portfolio of supervised practice-based learning in a specialist area of clinical practice, assessed by an experienced clinical supervisor.
Desirable
- Qualification in EMDR.
- Knowledge of Organisational / Occupational Psychology
Experience
Essential
- Substantial post-qualification experience (at least four full-time equivalent years) of working as a practitioner psychologist, some of which time has been with clients having psychological problems related to traumatic stress, chronic fatigue and chronic mental health problems.
- Evidence of developing or enhancing a psychology service via audit and/or research activity.
- 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 teaching, training and supervision as well as group facilitation.
- Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
Desirable
- Experience of working in staff support role and have an understanding of specific issues that might arise in acute hospital settings.
Skills and Abilities - Academic and research
Essential
- Previous experience of research indicating the ability to conduct research autonomously, with supervision as required.
- Interest in conducting scientific research in topics relevant to the post.
- Ability to critique and evaluate scientific data and best practice clinical guidelines.
Quality and service improvement
Essential
- Evidence of capacity to make quality contributions to multidisciplinary teamwork.
- Evidence of effective clinical reasoning in the assessment and management of complex psychological difficulties.
Information processing (IT skills)
Essential
- Competent IT skills (word processing, spreadsheets, statistical packages)
Communication & Customer Care
Essential
- Demonstrates professional and effective verbal and written communication skills including excellent negotiation skills with patients, carers and other health professional staff in service delivery.
- 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 where information may be highly sensitive and there may be barriers to acceptance.
- Skills in supervising other staff
Personal Qualities
Essential
- A high level of interpersonal and communication skills.
- Must be able to cope with highly emotive and psychologically challenging demands of working with staff in multiple acute areas and with organisational issues
- Must be able to communicate effectively with a wide range of people in a sensitive, caring and non-judgemental manner
Responsibilities towards promoting Equality Diversity and Inclusion
Essential
- Responsibilities towards promoting Equality Diversity and Inclusion Demonstratable understanding of the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion and/or Knowledge of the NHS obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duties
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).
Employer details
Employer name
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Address
University College London Hospital
235 Euston Road
London
NW1 2BU
Employer's website
https://www.uclh.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)
