Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Clinical Psychologist

This job is now closed

Job summary

We are looking for a 0.6 WTE band 8a psychologist to cover maternity leave through to the 28th February 2025 commencing March 2024. The post holder will ideally have some experience in paediatric settings/working with young people and be able to contribute a psychological perspective to the delivery of the Children and Young Person's Diabetes team (two days) and the ME/Chronic Fatigue (ME/CFS) service (one day) for children and young people in Brighton & Hove. These services are part of the Paediatric Psychological Support Services (PPSS) which include other Psychologists and therapists working in pediatrics within the RACH (Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital) including the Function First service for children and young people with complex physical symptoms, Long-term health conditions, Cystic Fibrosis and Oncology.

Main duties of the job

We are looking for someone preferably with some experience and skills in working in paediatric settings, even if not experience of directly working with young people with diabetes and/or ME/CFS, and who has experience of working across agencies and organisations, and working with young people and their support networks. The post holder will be expected to support with adjustment and coping strategies for coping with ME/CFS to facilitate improvement. Good consultation, training and group work, as well as bio-psycho-social assessments and a range of intervention skills are essential, good audit and evaluation skills are also important to support the continued development of the service. Well-developed therapy skills delivered within a systemic and attachment-based frameworks, will also be important alongside the ability to make informative formulations and care decisions based on current NICE guidelines around support and intervention for ME/CFS.

About us

The post holder will be a member of the wider Brighton & Hove Psychology team, which is a lively and active team support network of psychologists working within Specialist tier 3 CAMHS, Learning Disability, Community Child Health and Neuro-developmental disorders, Social Services and Education.

Date posted

13 December 2023

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£50,952 to £57,349 a year pro rata

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

12 months

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

354-CS-21405

Job locations

Royal Alexandra Childrens hospital

Eastern Road

Brighton

BN2 5BE

Job description

Job responsibilities

The Children and Young Persons diabetes service is based at the RACH in Brighton. The MDT includes specialist nurses, dieticians and consultants who work with families to support around diabetes (predominantly Type 1). Clinically, the post holder will be providing psychological support to children and young people and their families to manage some of the emotional and behavioural challenges of managing this long-term condition, alongside our Band 7 Psychologist. It will involve direct assessment and intervention with individuals and families as well as group work with children and with parents. It will also involve consultation, teaching and liaison with a range of other agencies. The post holder will also lead in supporting and advising other professionals but also in liaising with other agencies in Brighton & Hove regarding psychological input for CYPs with diabetes, as well as making links with other paediatric support services for diabetes locally and nationally. Skills and experience in and knowledge of working with young people with diabetes would be ideal but is not essential. We are also wanting someone with well-developed skills in CBT, and a sound knowledge of attachment and systemic based models.

The ME/CFS service is based at the Child Development Centre at Seaside View on the Brighton General Hospital site and young people are patients under paediatricians at the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital (RACH) in Brighton. The psychologist and OTs work together closely as a team, including conducting initial joint assessments together, as well as liaising with referring paediatricians and other professionals and agencies within and outside the hospital, as necessary. The service delivers sleep, energy management and mental health and wellbeing support to young people with CFS/ME under 19 years old (in receipt of education) and living within Brighton and Hove. Close links with schools and the home tuition services are particularly important.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Doctoral level training in applied psychology [or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996 or outside the UK], including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology, approved by the HPC.
Professionally registered as a Practitioner Psychologist with the Health Professions Council (HPC)

Desirable

Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.

Experience

Essential

Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in patient settings.
Demonstrate specialist experience gained post-qualification of working as an applied psychologist with evidence of having received a substantial amount of clinical supervision (normally in the region of approximately 50 hours).
Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Doctoral level training in applied psychology [or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996 or outside the UK], including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology, approved by the HPC.
Professionally registered as a Practitioner Psychologist with the Health Professions Council (HPC)

Desirable

Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.

Experience

Essential

Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in patient settings.
Demonstrate specialist experience gained post-qualification of working as an applied psychologist with evidence of having received a substantial amount of clinical supervision (normally in the region of approximately 50 hours).
Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.

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.