Job responsibilities
Communication and working relationships
o Maintain effective communication in a highly skilled and sensitive manner, and build effective working relationships with a range of health and social care staff across all levels, both within and outside of the organisation.
o Excellent written and verbal communication skills to ensure that any correspondence is of a high standard.
o Provide excellent, professional communication and customer service when representing our service.
o To liaise and work collaboratively with colleagues within the department. To be respectful and value the people you work with.
o To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, highly complex, sensitive or contentious condition specific information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients, where there may be barriers to acceptance and within highly emotive environments.
o To monitor and evaluate progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.
o To maintain and build good working relationships with senior professional staff and managers.
o To observe the requirements of government legislation, local and national policies and associated initiatives.
Planning and organisation
o You will be able to plan and organise your own daily workload and co-ordinate that of more junior colleagues in the team. This will include a mix of straightforward and complex activities.
o To advise the Head of Service about service priorities and potential developments which allows you to co-ordinate a specialist area of working and contributes to the planning and implementation of service developments.
o Provide psychology leadership skills
o To participate and lead meetings and service development projects as delegated by the Head of Service.
o Excellent organisation and prioritisation skills to meet an ever-changing workload.
o Be responsive to change and able to work in an environment which has constant interruptions.
o Help to plan and organise any teaching/training, seminars, workshops
Analytical and judgement
o To monitor and evaluate progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.
o To make highly skilled and highly complex assessments, formulations and decisions about treatment options taking into account a range of options which draw on both theoretical and therapeutic models.
o To undertake risk assessment and risk management for relevant individual clients and to provide both general and specialist advice for psychologists and other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management.
o To provide clinical and service development consultation to other health and social care staff and foster reflective practice in teams.
Responsibility and accountability
o To be accountable for own professional actions and to fully observe the BPS (2009) Code of Conduct and the DCP Generic Professional Practice Guidelines (2008).
o To participate in Clinical Health Psychology business and professional meetings.
o To make highly skilled assessments and decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models. These will involve highly specialised advice concerning care in your specialist area.
o To maintain and further develop high standards of Clinical Psychology practice, through co-operative work with other Clinical Psychologists / Psychological therapists and peer supervision.
o To be aware of, interpret and be guided by overall health service policies with regard to area of working. To interpret and be guided by organisational policies in the course of work.
o Act with integrity and professionalism, ensuring that you are demonstrating responsible behaviours at all times, in accordance with our Trust values.
o Be accountable for your actions and learn from mistakes. Be honest and share experiences, encouraging learning in others.
o Be responsible for your dedicated workload.
o To formulate and implement plans for the psychological treatment and/or management of a clients health problem, employing methods of proven efficacy, across the full range of care settings. Psychological interventions may be for individuals, carers, families and groups.
o To formulate and implement plans for the management of a clients care taking into account their psychological health needs.
o To provide expert and specialist psychological consultation to staff working with our client group within health, education and social services, both at a policy and individual client level.
o To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients.
o To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
o To offer an entirely autonomous highly specialist clinical psychology assessment and treatment service through the psychology service.
o To provide supervision and consultancy to service staff with regard to problem assessment and formulation, and therapy interventions.
o To participate in clinical supervision and caseload supervision arrangements provided by the psychology service.
o To provide an advanced and specialist lead role in the service as agreed with the service manager.
o To observe the requirements of government legislation, local and national policies and associated initiatives.
Responsibility for patients and client care
o To make highly skilled assessments, formulations and decisions about treatment options/ individualised packages of care taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models. These will involve highly specialised advice concerning care in your specialist area.
o To undertake risk assessment and risk management for relevant individual clients and to provide both general and specialist advice for psychologists and other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management.
Policy and service responsibility
o Implement policies and propose changes to practices, procedures for own area
o Proposes changes for policy, service development/ may impact on other professions, service areas.
o Ensure that all work is of a high standard and meets regulatory compliance.
o To initiate research as required by the needs of the local service.
o To offer advice and support to other members of relevant teams undertaking research projects.
o To participate in Clinical audit projects in the Psychology service.
o To encourage a culture of evidence-based practice in all parts of the service
o To participate in developments within the services, the wider organisation and community to facilitate the appropriate provision of services.
o To contribute as appropriate to service evaluation, research and audit.
o All staff have a responsibility to ensure that the needs of the service are met in a timely and efficient manner.
o Encourage and welcome feedback to ensure that we as individuals, and as a collective team, learn and continually improve.
o To support the Manager/ professional lead in the development and implementation of effective Clinical Governance across the Psychology Service.
o To lead, support and participate in multidisciplinary clinical audit in the service.
o To promote the use of effective interventions in the service.
Responsibility for finance, equipment and other resources
o Everyone has a responsibility to ensure effective and conservative use of resources.
o Maintain paperless filing wherever possible (excluding where any statutory duty may exist). Do not print/ photocopy unless necessary.
o Ensure conservative use of stationery, not using equipment to excess.
o Ensure that any stationery or resource needs are reported to the appropriate person for future orders.
Responsibility for supervision, leadership and management
o To offer regular caseload and professional supervision to a cohort of staff from psychology/psychological therapies as delegated by Head of Service.
o To assist the Head of Service with the appraisals process with staff from psychology/psychological therapies.
o To carry out operational/ management tasks as delegated by the Head of Service e.g. attending meetings to represent the service.
o To assist in assessing and evaluating trainees skills and competences.
o To provide advice, consultation, training and clinical supervision to other members of the team for their provision of psychological care.
o To receive supervision from an experienced Clinical Psychologist.
o To provide teaching to the local Clinical Psychology/ IAPT training courses as appropriate.
o To provide teaching and training to other healthcare professionals
o Work flexibly to ensure the department collectively achieves its goals. Work with colleagues, seeking or offering support as required.
o To further develop leadership skills through the organisation training.
Information technology and administrative duties
o To ensure information governance is adhered to in all aspects of your work.
o To ensure you are adhering to GDPR regulations/Data Protection Act 2018.
o To be proficient in use of trust IT systems
o To keep up to date with patient related admin and be able to co-ordinate and communicate well with the admin team
Responsibility for research and development
o To initiate service level / applied research methods to aid service developments.
o To offer advice and support to other members of relevant teams undertaking research projects.
o To regularly participate in Clinical audit projects in the Psychology service.
o To contribute on an ongoing basis to service evaluation, research and audit.
