Professional Lead, Clinical Health & Neuropsychology (CHNP)

Job responsibilities

Communication and Working Relationships - Clients, Families and Carers

• The post holder will communicate in a highly skilled, sensitive and compassionate manner with clients who may present with complex psychological needs, including difficulties in understanding, communication, cognition, emotional regulation and behaviour. This will include working with individuals who may be distressed, hostile, antagonistic or highly emotionally disturbed, and adapting communication approaches accordingly to promote engagement, safety and therapeutic alliance.
• The post holder will communicate complex, highly technical and clinically sensitive information both orally and in writing to clients, their families and carers, ensuring information is accessible, appropriately paced and tailored to individual need. This will include explaining psychological formulations, assessments, treatment options, risk issues and care planning in a manner that supports informed decision-making and collaborative working.

Multidisciplinary Team Colleagues

• The post holder will work closely with colleagues within the integrated, multi-professional mental health and wellbeing service on a day-to-day basis, contributing psychological expertise to joint working, care planning and service delivery.
• They will motivate, support and provide leadership to staff during periods of service development and change, clearly communicating complex information and responding sensitively to staff who may feel anxious, uncertain or resistant to changes in systems, processes or models of care.
• The post holder will ensure the psychology team maintains effective communication pathways with key local services and partner agencies, promoting integrated and coordinated care across organisational boundaries.

Health and Social Care Staff

• The post holder will communicate with a wide range of health and social care professionals across hospital and community settings, sharing complex and sensitive information relating to assessment, formulation, diagnosis and treatment planning.
• They will provide consultation, guidance and support in the application of psychological principles and interventions, fostering psychologically informed practice and reflective working across professional groups.

Senior Managers and Professional Staff

• The post holder will maintain and develop effective working relationships with senior managers and professional leads across the specialist integrated team, the Clinical Directorates and the wider organisation. They will contribute to a positive and collaborative culture and support effective negotiation and problem-solving.
• The post holder will demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively across organisational levels, staff groups and external agencies, supporting strategic objectives and service integration.

Planning and Organisation

The Psychology Service

• The post holder will plan, organise and prioritise the work of the psychology service within the locality, ensuring effective delivery of high-quality psychological services aligned with organisational strategy, commissioning requirements and service priorities.
• They will contribute to the development, review and continuous improvement of psychological service provision within the integrated mental health and wellbeing service.

The Multidisciplinary Service

• The post holder will provide psychology leadership to the planning, development and promotion of mental health and wellbeing services, contributing psychological perspectives to service design and delivery.

The Directorate

• The post holder will support Clinical Health Psychology and Neuropsychology management structures and contribute to planning and implementing service developments across the Specialist Services Clinical Directorate.

Responsibility for Judgement and Analysis

• The post holder will act as one of a team of Professional Leads with responsibility for the day-to-day management and coordination of psychology staff within the locality, ensuring safe, effective and equitable service delivery.
• They will provide specialist clinical psychology expertise, advice and consultation to the service and wider system.
• The post holder will deliver specialist psychological therapies, undertaking complex assessments, developing advanced psychological formulations, and implementing evidence-based psychological interventions for individuals, families, carers and groups.
• They will support Practice and Strategic Development Leads by undertaking service development and redesign projects, coordinating implementation within the team, and contributing to locality-based service transformation.
• The post holder will propose, influence and implement policy and service changes within their professional domain and take a lead role in locality service redesign.

Responsibility for Patient / Client Care, Treatment and Therapy

• The post holder will undertake specialist psychological assessments using advanced clinical skills and the integration of complex information from multiple sources. This will include developing, reviewing and refining psychological formulations using multiple theoretical models and maintaining provisional hypotheses.
• They will formulate, implement and evaluate psychological treatment plans based on the best available evidence, adapting interventions to meet the needs of individuals, families and groups.
• The post holder will administer psychometric and neuropsychological assessments requiring high levels of accuracy, skill and observational competence.
• They will work autonomously within professional and service protocols, taking responsibility for assessment, treatment, risk management and discharge planning.
• The post holder will provide specialist psychological advice and consultation to other professionals and contribute to psychologically informed systems of care across all settings and agencies.
• They will undertake and advise on psychological risk assessment and risk management.

Policy, Service, Research, Innovation and Improvement

• The post holder is accountable for their professional practice, working within Trust policies, procedures and professional standards.
• They will contribute to the development, implementation and governance of psychology policies and procedures within integrated services.
• They will support service evaluation, audit, quality improvement and governance processes, ensuring safe and effective practice.

Research and Development

• The post holder will utilise theory, research and evidence-based literature to support high-quality clinical practice and service development.
• They will lead and participate in audit, research and service evaluation projects and ensure the collection and use of outcome data to inform service improvement.

Innovation and Improvement

• The post holder will support and coordinate service improvement initiatives, working closely with Practice and Strategic Development Leads to deliver agreed priorities.

Responsibility for Finance, Equipment and Resources

• The post holder will be responsible for authorising travel claims, timesheets and invoices in line with delegated authority.
• They will manage physical and financial resources necessary for service delivery and contribute to recruitment and selection processes.

Responsibility for Supervision, Leadership and Management

• The post holder will lead and manage psychology staff within the locality, providing clear professional leadership.
• They will provide clinical, professional and managerial supervision to psychology staff, trainees and volunteers and promote a strong supervision culture.
• They will ensure appropriate therapy supervision for non-psychology staff delivering psychological interventions.
• The post holder will contribute to workforce development, change management and leadership across integrated services and will maintain their own professional development and supervision.

Training and Development

• The post holder will teach, train and supervise staff and trainees using a range of educational approaches.
• They will support postgraduate and doctoral-level training placements, ensuring high-quality learning experiences and competency development.
• They will contribute to multidisciplinary training programmes and professional education within the Trust.

Information Resources and Administrative Duties

• The post holder will maintain accurate clinical and service records in line with Trust and professional standards.
• They will manage electronic communication systems, share confidential information appropriately and produce service reports using data analysis systems.

Knowledge and skills

Essential

• Broad knowledge of specialist services and of the services in the NHS where clinical health psychology is commonly applied.
• Extensive knowledge of the skills, practice and knowledge base of Clinical Psychology and Psychological Therapies.
• Knowledge of the policy context of specialist psychological services within the organisation and of clinical leadership arrangements in this setting.
• Knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex data analysis
• A good knowledge of and ability to work with current NHS drivers in mental health including the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies agenda
• Highly skilled in specialist interventions with the client group.
• Advanced psychological assessment and formulation skills including risk assessment.
• Excellent verbal, nonverbal and written communication skills
• Strong leadership qualities, resilience and ability to handle ambiguity and uncertainty.
• Skills in managing conflict, negotiation and achieving consensus in complex situations in the pursuit of agreed strategic aims
• Ability to integrate and manipulate complex data, interpret this information and write comprehensive reports.
• Ability to make highly skilled evaluations and decisions; and take a long term perspective.
• Proven organisational, planning and time management skills
• Ability to work under pressure and cope with deadlines

Desirable

• Project management skills / experience

Qualifications

Essential

• Qualified Clinical or Counselling Psychologist (D.Clin.Psychol. or equivalent), eligible for Chartered Clinical Psychologist Status in the British Psychological Society
• Or
• Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology as accredited by the HPC (or equivalent qualifications as assessed by the HPC).
• Or
• Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology (or equivalent as assessed by the HPC).
• Or
• Equivalent Qualification and Experience in another area of therapy. ie- Psychotherapy, Arts Therapies with accreditation with relevant regulatory body
• Registration with HCPC/UKCP/Other Specialist regulatory body

Desirable

• Further training or equivalent experience in either Clinical Health Psychology and / or Adult Psychological Therapies.
• Further training in at least one psychological therapy
• Further training or experience in delivering training programmes

Experience

Essential

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community and in patient settings.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity
• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
• Experience in undertaking leadership roles within clinical psychology/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.
• Experience, and/or training in diversity awareness and social inequality.

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).