Band 8A Senior Clinical Psychologist/Psychological Therapist

Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

Information:

This job is now closed

Job summary

This is an exciting opportunity to join the well-respected South Glos. Psychological Therapies Service (PTS) as Band 8a Senior Clinical Psychologist or Psychological Therapist.

We are a well-established multidisciplinary team comprising medical and adult psychotherapists, clinical psychologists, art psychotherapists, nurses and social workers. We provide a range of psychological therapies including psychodynamic psychotherapy, art psychotherapy, CBT, DBT, MBT, family and couples therapy, EMDR, meditation and mindfulness. We also work closely with other teams in the locality to support their work through supervision, reflective practice, etc and support psychological thinking within South Glos. and beyond. We contribute significantly to the Structured Clinical Management (SCM) pathway.

We are a friendly and supportive team of practitioners from a range of different professional backgrounds who bring different interests, skills and specialisms to the team whilst sharing a passion for offering high quality, safe and effective therapy. We work with values of promoting agency, dignity, and respect and are committed to trying to address power and structural inequalities in our work. We are committed to developing our staff and have developed a good reputation across the trust. We attract a range of trainees at any one time from a range of professional backgrounds and have close ties with various training courses across the region.

Main duties of the job

To provide highly specialist psychological assessment and therapy to patients and carers as appropriate to the service.

To provide highly specialist advice and consultation on clients' formulation and psychological management to multi-disciplinary colleagues.

To use highly specialist psychological knowledge and skills to contribute to the more effective management of patients by the various teams in the locality and where appropriate outside of the locality.

To clinically supervise trainees, less experienced PTS staff, and other professionals.

To contribute to audit, research, policy and service development within the locality served by the Psychological Therapies Service.

To develop and deliver training in psychological therapies for multidisciplinary staff.

About us

We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust)a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care.

We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire and in parts of Dorset.

Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person-centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.

At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.

Date posted

13 June 2022

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£47,126 to £53,219 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

342-SGLOS062-0622

Job locations

South Glos. PTS, Kingswood Civic Centre

High Street

Kingswood, Bristol

BS15 9TR


Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical

To provide a high quality and largely autonomous and systematic psychological therapy service.

To undertake highly specialist assessments, including risk assessment and assessment for suitability for specialist psychological therapies with clients and their carers (as appropriate to the role).

To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of clients mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the clients problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.

To be responsible for providing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.

To provide at least one specialist evidence based psychological intervention as dictated by the needs of the service

To provide highly specialist consultation to members of the various teams in the Locality (e.g. PCLS) and beyond regarding formulation and psychological management of clients of those teams.

To use highly specialist psychological knowledge and skills to contribute to the more effective management of patients by teams.

To be involved in the development and delivery of training within the Trust

To participate in clinical and caseload supervision arrangements provided by the Service, including reflective practice and post-event de-briefs.

To maintain accurate records and to monitor clinical workload using agreed systems.

To support the full implementation of CPA or equivalent including acting as care co-ordinator as appropriate to the needs of the service.

To enter data as requested by the Trust in a timely manner

Management

Delegated day to day operational management of more junior staff

Delegated caseload supervision

Represent the service at specialist meetings as requested

The co-ordination of small scale projects as requested

Professional

Ensure the maintenance of standards of practice according to the employer and any regulating, professional and accrediting bodies (e.g. NMC, BPS, UKCP, BABCP), and keep up to date on new recommendations/guidelines set by the department of health (e.g. NHS plan, National Service Framework, National Institute for Clinical Excellence).

To be aware of, adhere to, and where appropriate, contribute to the formulation and review of Trust, Area, Psychological Therapy policies and procedures. Copies of Trust Policies can be accessed via the staff intranet or from your manager.

To participate in local psychological therapy and psychology meetings and trust wide meetings as appropriate.

To maintain and develop high standards of psychological therapy practice by engaging in continuing professional development and co-operative working/networking with other clinicians.

To participate in an annual performance appraisal

To participate in management and clinical supervision

Service Governance

To participate in service governance processes in the profession and in the LDU to maintain a safe, effective service which responds to Service User feedback.

To support and participate in multidisciplinary clinical audit.

To liaise with other disciplines and agencies to ensure that best practice is shared.

To promote the use of effective interventions in the service.

Training and Staff Development

To provide supervision for clinical psychology trainees from regional training courses and elsewhere as/if appropriate.

To provide training, supervision and consultation in psychological approaches to other staff in multidisciplinary teams. This is to include joint assessment, formulation of psychological problems and planning of interventions to be implemented by other team members with service users.

To contribute to the development of a psychologically based framework of understanding and care across service settings through providing teaching, training, consultation and supervision.

To participate in peer supervision arrangements for psychological therapists in the locality.

To collaborate with colleagues to develop and offer training courses, workshops and supervision groups to develop psychological skills for staff in the locality.

To contribute to the teaching of students and trainees in psychology, medicine, nursing and other health care disciplines.

To agree a plan of personal development with the line manager and professional lead for the service.

Service/Policy Development

To collaborate with specialist staff and other agencies in the LDU to extend the range of specialist psychological individual, family and group interventions available across the locality.

To propose changes to policies and procedures in multidisciplinary teams as appropriate.

To advise managers of service developments

Research and Development

To engage in research relevant to service priorities as appropriate.

To participate in audit and service evaluation activities examining the effectiveness of current service delivery and informing the development of services relevant to client needs.

To provide advice, support and consultation to colleagues from other disciplines undertaking research in the area.

Key Working Relationships

With fellow Psychological Therapy staff within PTS & other teams in the locality

With Team Managers and Multi-disciplinary staff in various teams in the locality

Most Challenging parts of the Role

Balancing the roles of therapist, consultant, supervisor and trainer.

Managing the demand for psychological therapy.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical

To provide a high quality and largely autonomous and systematic psychological therapy service.

To undertake highly specialist assessments, including risk assessment and assessment for suitability for specialist psychological therapies with clients and their carers (as appropriate to the role).

To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of clients mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the clients problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.

To be responsible for providing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.

To provide at least one specialist evidence based psychological intervention as dictated by the needs of the service

To provide highly specialist consultation to members of the various teams in the Locality (e.g. PCLS) and beyond regarding formulation and psychological management of clients of those teams.

To use highly specialist psychological knowledge and skills to contribute to the more effective management of patients by teams.

To be involved in the development and delivery of training within the Trust

To participate in clinical and caseload supervision arrangements provided by the Service, including reflective practice and post-event de-briefs.

To maintain accurate records and to monitor clinical workload using agreed systems.

To support the full implementation of CPA or equivalent including acting as care co-ordinator as appropriate to the needs of the service.

To enter data as requested by the Trust in a timely manner

Management

Delegated day to day operational management of more junior staff

Delegated caseload supervision

Represent the service at specialist meetings as requested

The co-ordination of small scale projects as requested

Professional

Ensure the maintenance of standards of practice according to the employer and any regulating, professional and accrediting bodies (e.g. NMC, BPS, UKCP, BABCP), and keep up to date on new recommendations/guidelines set by the department of health (e.g. NHS plan, National Service Framework, National Institute for Clinical Excellence).

To be aware of, adhere to, and where appropriate, contribute to the formulation and review of Trust, Area, Psychological Therapy policies and procedures. Copies of Trust Policies can be accessed via the staff intranet or from your manager.

To participate in local psychological therapy and psychology meetings and trust wide meetings as appropriate.

To maintain and develop high standards of psychological therapy practice by engaging in continuing professional development and co-operative working/networking with other clinicians.

To participate in an annual performance appraisal

To participate in management and clinical supervision

Service Governance

To participate in service governance processes in the profession and in the LDU to maintain a safe, effective service which responds to Service User feedback.

To support and participate in multidisciplinary clinical audit.

To liaise with other disciplines and agencies to ensure that best practice is shared.

To promote the use of effective interventions in the service.

Training and Staff Development

To provide supervision for clinical psychology trainees from regional training courses and elsewhere as/if appropriate.

To provide training, supervision and consultation in psychological approaches to other staff in multidisciplinary teams. This is to include joint assessment, formulation of psychological problems and planning of interventions to be implemented by other team members with service users.

To contribute to the development of a psychologically based framework of understanding and care across service settings through providing teaching, training, consultation and supervision.

To participate in peer supervision arrangements for psychological therapists in the locality.

To collaborate with colleagues to develop and offer training courses, workshops and supervision groups to develop psychological skills for staff in the locality.

To contribute to the teaching of students and trainees in psychology, medicine, nursing and other health care disciplines.

To agree a plan of personal development with the line manager and professional lead for the service.

Service/Policy Development

To collaborate with specialist staff and other agencies in the LDU to extend the range of specialist psychological individual, family and group interventions available across the locality.

To propose changes to policies and procedures in multidisciplinary teams as appropriate.

To advise managers of service developments

Research and Development

To engage in research relevant to service priorities as appropriate.

To participate in audit and service evaluation activities examining the effectiveness of current service delivery and informing the development of services relevant to client needs.

To provide advice, support and consultation to colleagues from other disciplines undertaking research in the area.

Key Working Relationships

With fellow Psychological Therapy staff within PTS & other teams in the locality

With Team Managers and Multi-disciplinary staff in various teams in the locality

Most Challenging parts of the Role

Balancing the roles of therapist, consultant, supervisor and trainer.

Managing the demand for psychological therapy.

Person Specification

Education & Qualifications

Essential

  • A Qualified Clinical Psychologist (D. Clin. Psychol. or equivalent) or Qualified and Registered Mental Health Professional (Nurse, Social Worker, Arts Psychotherapist, OT).
  • Post qualification and further specialist training in specialist interventions relating to SMI, Complex Emotional Needs (CEN) & Trauma.

Desirable

  • Training or knowledge of Structured Clinical Management or experience of working within this model.

Experience & Knowledge

Essential

  • Care Co-ordination or equivalent role.
  • Extensive post qualification experience within a variety of mental health settings.
  • Ability to integrate complex data, make highly skilled evaluations and decisions and take a long term view.
  • Experience of collaborative working with multidisciplinary colleagues.
  • Trained and experienced in offering clinical supervision/consultation with other professionals, including reflective practice and post-event de-briefs.
  • Experienced in providing evidence based therapeutic interventions with client group.
  • Advanced theoretical and practical knowledge in the specialism. Ability to use this knowledge to think systemically/organizationally.
  • Experience of risk assessment and management.
  • Knowledge of relevant Legislation eg MH Act.

Desirable

  • Relevant R&D or clinical audit work post qualification.
  • Experience of undertaking leadership roles within psychological therapy services in the NHS and in contributing to the development, implementation and evaluation of strategies and clinical policies in multi disciplinary, multi agency contexts.
  • Experienced in assessing, planning, implementing and evaluating psychological therapies particularly with people with CEN.

Skills & abilities

Essential

  • Training others in MH services topics.
  • Psychological assessment skills and knowledge.
  • Ability to work effectively and flexibly as an integral member of a team.
  • Excellent communication and liaison skills.
  • Well organised with good administration skills.
  • Empathy/engagement skills with the client group.
  • Ability to cope with workload pressure & prioritise workload.
  • Ability to work independently.
  • Self awareness and emotional resilience.
Person Specification

Education & Qualifications

Essential

  • A Qualified Clinical Psychologist (D. Clin. Psychol. or equivalent) or Qualified and Registered Mental Health Professional (Nurse, Social Worker, Arts Psychotherapist, OT).
  • Post qualification and further specialist training in specialist interventions relating to SMI, Complex Emotional Needs (CEN) & Trauma.

Desirable

  • Training or knowledge of Structured Clinical Management or experience of working within this model.

Experience & Knowledge

Essential

  • Care Co-ordination or equivalent role.
  • Extensive post qualification experience within a variety of mental health settings.
  • Ability to integrate complex data, make highly skilled evaluations and decisions and take a long term view.
  • Experience of collaborative working with multidisciplinary colleagues.
  • Trained and experienced in offering clinical supervision/consultation with other professionals, including reflective practice and post-event de-briefs.
  • Experienced in providing evidence based therapeutic interventions with client group.
  • Advanced theoretical and practical knowledge in the specialism. Ability to use this knowledge to think systemically/organizationally.
  • Experience of risk assessment and management.
  • Knowledge of relevant Legislation eg MH Act.

Desirable

  • Relevant R&D or clinical audit work post qualification.
  • Experience of undertaking leadership roles within psychological therapy services in the NHS and in contributing to the development, implementation and evaluation of strategies and clinical policies in multi disciplinary, multi agency contexts.
  • Experienced in assessing, planning, implementing and evaluating psychological therapies particularly with people with CEN.

Skills & abilities

Essential

  • Training others in MH services topics.
  • Psychological assessment skills and knowledge.
  • Ability to work effectively and flexibly as an integral member of a team.
  • Excellent communication and liaison skills.
  • Well organised with good administration skills.
  • Empathy/engagement skills with the client group.
  • Ability to cope with workload pressure & prioritise workload.
  • Ability to work independently.
  • Self awareness and emotional resilience.

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Additional information

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

Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

Address

South Glos. PTS, Kingswood Civic Centre

High Street

Kingswood, Bristol

BS15 9TR


Employer's website

http://www.awp.nhs.uk/about-us/working-for-us/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

Address

South Glos. PTS, Kingswood Civic Centre

High Street

Kingswood, Bristol

BS15 9TR


Employer's website

http://www.awp.nhs.uk/about-us/working-for-us/ (Opens in a new tab)

For questions about the job, contact:

Team Manager

Hannah Gentry

hannah.gentry@nhs.net

01174728490

Date posted

13 June 2022

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£47,126 to £53,219 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

342-SGLOS062-0622

Job locations

South Glos. PTS, Kingswood Civic Centre

High Street

Kingswood, Bristol

BS15 9TR


Supporting documents

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