Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please also see detailed job description

Principal Responsibilities: Clinical:

1. To provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuro-psychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semistructured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the clients care.
2. To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a clients psychological problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the clients problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy.
3. To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families 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.
4. To evaluate, monitor progress and make highly skilled evaluations and decisions about treatment options 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.
5. To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.
6. To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment and treatment of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based enhanced care plans.
7. To provide specialist psychological advice guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients formulation, diagnosis and treatment plans.
8. To ensure that all members of the clinical team have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding and care of clients of the service, through the provision of advice and consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory.
9. To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide both general and specialist advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
10. To act as care coordinator, where appropriate, ensuring the provision of a care package appropriate for the clients needs, coordinating the work of others involved with care, taking responsibility for arranging CPA reviews as required and communicating effectively with the client, his/her family and all others involved in the network of care, and to monitor progress during the course of multi-disciplinary interventions.
11. To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, highly complex information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care where there may be conflicting views, high emotion and significant barriers to understanding and change, and to monitor and evaluate progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.
12. To provide expertise, advice and support to facilitate the effective and appropriate provision of psychological care by all members of the treatment team.

1. To receive regular clinical professional supervision from a senior clinical psychologist and, where appropriate, other senior professional colleagues.
2. To provide clinical placements for trainee clinical and/or counselling psychologists, ensuring that trainees acquire the necessary skills, competencies and experience to contribute effectively to good mental health care and to contribute to the assessment and evaluation of such competencies.
3. To provide post-qualification training (CPD) and clinical professional supervision to qualified clinical psychologists and other psychological services staff.
4. To provide advice, consultation and training and clinical supervision to other members of the team for their provision of psychologically based interventions to help improve clients functioning.
5. To provide pre- and post-qualification teaching of clinical psychologists and/or other psychological services staff as appropriate.
6. To maintain and develop skills in the area of professional pre- and post-graduate training and clinical supervision.
7. To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate.

1. To manage the workloads of Assistants, Trainees and recently qualified psychological services staff, where appropriate, within the framework of the Directorates and teams/services service policies and procedures.
2. To participate as a senior clinician in the development of a high quality, responsive and accessible service including advising both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
3. To exercise delegated responsibility for managing the psychological resources available to a team, whether in the form of additional qualified and unqualified graduate psychology staff, or in the form of psychological materials employed in the assessment and treatment of patients.
4. To exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the service/team.
5. To participate as appropriate in staff recruitment, both in the short-listing process and as a member of interview panels, for assistants, trainees and recently qualified psychological services staff.
6. To act up for line manager as appropriate.
7. The post holder will be expected to make full use of IT packages available within the work area, for example, microsoft office, email, internet and statistical packages. Reasonable adjustments will be made for employees who ate unable to comply due to sensory impairment.

1. To take the psychology lead, as a senior clinician, in the evaluation, monitoring and development of the teams operational policies, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit and ensuring incorporation of psychological frameworks for understanding and provision of high quality care.
2. To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
3. To undertake appropriate research as agreed with the Head of Service and provide research advice to team colleagues undertaking research. Version 01/02/2017
4. To initiate project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within and across the service to help develop and improve services to clients and their families.
5. To undertake a defined role in Directorate Service Governance structures as agreed.

1. To ensure the development, maintenance and dissemination of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external and external CPD training and development programmes and to provide evidence of CPD undertaken, eg in the form of CPD log book.
2. To ensure the development and articulation of best practice in psychology within the service area and contribute across the service by exercising the skills of a reflective scientist practitioner, taking part in regular professional supervision and appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the field of clinical psychology and related disciplines.
3. To maintain and promulgate 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, Directorate 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.
5. To perform other duties of a similar kind appropriate to the grade, which may be required by their Psychological Services manager.

Person Specification

Standard

Essential

• Band 8A 2 years experience post qualified
• Band 7 Preceptorship

Desirable

• 2 years post qualifying experience 8A

2 years experience

Essential

• 2 years expereince

Desirable

• 2 years

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

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Baird House

Liverpool Innovation Park

Liverpool

L7 9NJ

Employer's website

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