Senior Clinical Psychologist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key Responsibilities:

KR 1 Clinical and Client Care

To provide specialist psychological assessments, formulations and interventions for clients with learning disabilities, challenging behaviour and mental health needs.

To select, administer and interpret psychometric and neuropsychological tests, requiring skilled manipulation of test materials, and interpretation and integration of complex data.

To provide culturally appropriate psychological interventions with carers or families of referred clients with learning disabilities.

To assess and monitor risk and draw up appropriate risk management plans.

To provide psychological reports, including relevant formulation, opinion and interventions, in order to inform referrers, service users, their families and professional network.

To select and deliver specialist evidence based therapeutic interventions, drawing on a range of theoretical models, monitoring outcome and modifying and adapting interventions as necessary, based on the highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual and their network.

To promote psychological support for carers (or families as appropriate) of referred clients.

To work as an autonomous professional within professional guidelines and the policies and procedures of the service, taking full responsibility for own work including treatment and discharge decisions.

To communicate skilfully and sensitively highly complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues taking account of sensory and cultural barriers to communication.

To act as care coordinator for identified clients taking responsibility for CPA coordination and meetings.

KR 2 Contributing to team or service clinical functioning

To contribute to the effective working of the team or service and to a psychologically informed framework for the service.

To contribute to the team or services delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.

To be proactive in challenging discrimination and support the development of culturally competent services.

To advise other members of the service on specialist psychological/psychotherapeutic care of clients.

To liaise with referrers, GPs and other professionals concerned with clients in order to develop and review care plans.

To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other team members.

To liaise with the service/s MDT and other professionals.

KR 3 Policy and service development

To implement policies and procedures in own area of work, and to propose improvements or beneficial changes.

To contribute to service development through undertaking and participating in appropriate projects.

To contribute to the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.

KR 4 Care or management of resources

To take care of, and use carefully, the Trusts equipment and physical resources.

To ensure that the post-holder has sufficient resources by estimating future needs and requesting or ordering supplies as needed.

To ensure the cleanliness and safe functioning and use of equipment that will be used by clients or other persons.

KR 5 Management and supervision

To be responsible for the allocation and/or clinical supervision of the work of more junior psychological practitioners with support from a more senior practitioner.

To supervise trainee applied psychological practitioners, behavioural support specialists and psychological practitioners, within own area of specialism.

To contribute to the appraisal of more junior psychological practitioners, as appropriate.

To contribute to the recruitment of more junior psychological practitioners, as appropriate.

To provide supervision for the psychological and/or psychotherapeutic work of other multi-disciplinary staff as appropriate.

KR 6 Teaching and Training

To undertake occasional teaching and training of pre- and post- qualification psychological practitioners and specialised training to other professions and staff in local services as appropriate.

To contribute to the development of the knowledge and skills base within the service by maintaining an active awareness of current developments in psychological therapy and learning disabilities and by implementing knowledge gained in practice.

To disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations and published articles.

KR 7 Record-keeping and Information Governance

To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by Trust policies and local procedures.

To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry.

KR 8 Research and development

To initiate, undertake, support and supervise regular complex service evaluation and audits.

To initiate and carry out appropriate research as agreed.

To provide research advice to other staff undertaking research within the service.

To initiate and implement the development of outcome measurement and assessment and assist other staff in the implementation of same.

To identify any aspects of own service which could be improved and initiate and contribute to the service development through participating in and leading on appropriate projects

KR 9 Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development

To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior psychological therapist according to professional body and Trust guidelines.

To maintain own Continuing Professional Development in line with professional body and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements and professional Standards for Continuing Professional Development.

To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current developments in professional and clinical practice and of relevant legislation and policies.

To comply professional body Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics/Standards of Proficiency and ensure professional development in line with these.

KR10 General

To travel to home visits, community placements and various departmental and Trust meetings as appropriate and across the Trust when required.

To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group and follow trust policies relating to its management.

To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations (such as challenging behaviour, abuse etc.) and to support others involved in such situations through Trust-wide approaches including Critical Incident Staff Support and Reflect-Support-Resolve.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Entry-level qualification in applied psychological therapy/mental health/social welfare profession and demonstrable practice in this field (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level/supervised practice/additional training) that has been accepted for the purposes of professional registration.
• Additional training beyond entry-level qualification in a specialised area of psychological practice (specify options required by the post) through formal post-qualification training (PG Diploma or equivalent), OR a combination of specialist short courses and/an evidenced portfolio of supervised practice-based learning in a specialist area of clinical practice, assessed by a registered body and/or an experienced clinical supervisor to be of equal level to a Postgraduate Diploma or higher.
• Completed training course in clinical supervision and/or accredited to supervised qualified psychological practitioners in relevant discipline.
• Registered with professional body as appropriate to discipline HCPC/APC/BPC/UKCP/BACP/BABCP/ADMP-UK.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the professional body.

Experience

Essential

• Evidence of having worked as a clinical specialist under supervision in services for people with learning disabilities.
• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients with learning disabilities with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature.
• Experience of supervising assistant and trainees having completed the relevant training.
• Experience of providing teaching and training to psychologists or other professional groups.
• Post-qualification experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities.

Desirable

• The Trust encourages and welcomes applications from people with lived experience of mental health challenges. We see this as valuable and recognise the positive impact this experience can have on the work we do.

Knowledge

Essential

• Theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment for people with learning disabilities.
• Advanced knowledge of psychological assessment, therapy and clinical psychometrics.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities.
• Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care.
• To deliver psychological/psychotherapeutic therapy across cultural and other differences.

Skills

Essential

• To communicate skilfully and sensitively complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication including sensory, and emotional difficulties, cultural differences and hostility to or rejection of information.
• To plan and schedule assessment and interventions for individual clients and groups and carers (and for meetings such as CPA and case reviews where appropriate).
• To be skilled in the administration of psychometric and neuropsychological tests, including those that require complex manipulation of test materials.
• To plan allocation of tasks to assistants/trainees as appropriates.
• Skills in providing teaching and training to other professional groups

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).

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

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Clinical Treatment Centre, Maudsley Hospital

Denmark Hill

London

SE5 8AZ

Employer's website

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