Rheumatology Clinical Psychologist

Job summary

We are looking for a Psychologist to come and join the Rheumatology team at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, a centre of excellence within the Royal United Hospital, in the beautiful city of Bath.

The Rheumatology Service manages patients with a wide range of rheumatological conditions. The team consists of 12 Consultants, 9 nurses, 3 administrators, the Rheumatology day unit and a busy outpatients department. We work alongside our therapies team.

As a specialist centre, we take referrals locally and from across the country in all Rheumatological conditions including but not exclusively Axial Spondyloarthropathies, Psoriatic and Rheumatoid Arthritis, Vasculitits, Lupus and Scleroderma.

This role is an ideal opportunity to work in this exciting field. You will have the support of the MDT and a developmental and clinical support plan tailored to your needs, this will include running your own Psychologist led clinics.

We are looking for someone who fits in to our friendly team, you should be a team player, a skilled communicator, with a willingness to learn. You do not necessarily need Rheumatology experience but ideally will already have worked with people that have long term health conditions.

If you would like to discuss this post further or arrange an informal visit, then please contact Janet Ball, Lead Rheumatology Specialist Nurse janetball@nhs.net

Main duties of the job

• To provide assessment and intervention to people with Rheumatological diagnoses and the dose optimising program.
• To identify any needs andprovide support to patients who are engaging with the dose optimising programme.
• To be a senior member of the Interdisciplinary team providing treatment to groups and individual patients.
• To assess an individual's current mental health status and identify any risks/needs that could impact on their ability to engage in Rheumatological therapies and treatments and the dose optimising program.
• Deliver highly specialist clinical psychology, within a research focused interdisciplinary team (IDT). To ensure that psychosocial factors are understood, and that there is a clear psychological formulation for patients on the dose optimising program, and ongoing risk assessment and management.
• To ensure that all patients receive evidence based psychological assessment and intervention appropriate to their clinical needs.
• To work with the Services Lead to ensure the Interdisciplinary Team provides a coherent, compassionate, safe and effective treatment informed by Psychology.
• To participate in other activities that support the Rheumatology Speciality purposes, such as supporting research and audit, providing education, training and supervision.

About us

At the RUH we're proud to put people at the heart of what we do, working together as one team to make a difference for our patients, each other, and our community. No matter what your role is, we value everyone's contribution in supporting the exceptional, person-centred care we pride ourselves on.

We are committed to creating a compassionate and inclusive environment. This can be seen in our growing community of staff networks - celebrating successes and creating opportunities to listen and learn. We value our differences, champion kindness and civility, and truly believe that diversity makes us stronger.

A culture of learning, developing and innovating is the thread that runs throughout our whole organisation. We want to support you to thrive, taking your career to its full potential.

We value staff wellbeing, with a well-established programme of support. We believe in a holistic approach spanning all aspects of living a healthy life, including physical, emotional, spiritual and financial wellbeing. We've even got a pool!

We are committed to supporting you and hope you want to join our team. In the meantime, find out more about living and working the beautiful historic city of Bath, learn about our extensive package of staff benefits, and read about how we're providing healthcare fit for the future with the landmark Dyson Cancer Centre and our passion for research.