Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced psychologist to work with our Mental Health Liaison team in Barnet General Hospital. You will co-lead on the provision of psychology input to clients referred to the team via A&E and the wards. The role will draw on psychology skills across mental and physical health.You will work closely with a multi-disciplinary staff group and will have responsibility for Clinical Associate Psychologists and/or Assistant Psychologists. You may also be responsible for qualified psychological therapists undertaking work within or linked to the liaison service and trainee clinical psychologists.
Your primary duties will involve assessment, formulation and designing short-term interventions. You also offer structured and regular consultation to colleagues drawing from psychological processes and theories to help consider a client's presentation. You will also lead on service development and developing short-term psychological interventions that may be offered by non-psychology colleagues and implementing outcome measures.
Main duties of the job
To oversee the provision of specialist psychological assessments of service users referred to the Barnet Mental Health Liaison Team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client's care.
To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a client's mental health problems or behavioural difficulties based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client's problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.
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.
To evaluate and make 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.
About us
North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people.
In order to meet the needs of the Trust you may be required from time to time to work at different locations to your normal place of work. This may mean that you are required to work at any location that fall under Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey or Islington. The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.
Job description
Job responsibilities
For detailed information on the job description, main responsibilities and person specification, please refer to the attached documentation.
Job description
Job responsibilities
For detailed information on the job description, main responsibilities and person specification, please refer to the attached documentation.
Person Specification
Qualifications/ Registrations
Essential
- Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS, including specifically models of psychopathology. Clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
- Further training in a specialised area of psychological practice through formal post-doctoral training (diploma or equivalent) OR a combination of specialist short course together with an evidenced based portfolio of supervised practice-based learning in a specialist area of clinical practice with an experienced clinical supervisor, at an equivalent level to a post graduate diploma.
- Completion of a clinical supervision training (short course) sufficient to be able to supervise doctoral trainees
- Registration with the Health Professions Council as a Clinical or Counselling psychologist
Desirable
- Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.
Skills/ Abilities
Essential
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- Skills in the theory and practice of specialized psychological therapies in working with people in crisis or acutely unwell.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
- Ability to contain explore and formulate an understanding of high levels of distress both directly with patients and indirectly via supervision or case reviews with other staff.
- Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the HCPC and any relevant registration body.
Experience/ Knowledge
Essential
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across a range of care settings, which can include outpatient, community, primary care and inpatient settings.
- 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 emotive and distressing problems and where there is a history of violence.
- Substantial experience of working as a psychological therapist in the acute care setting including inpatient care.
- Experience of teaching and training.
- Experience of the supervision of qualified psychology staff.
- Experience of service development.
Desirable
- Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice or specialized psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnosis, people with additional disabilities)
- Experience of representing psychology within the context of multidisciplinary care.
Personal Qualities
Essential
- Flexible, engaging and approachable who can work quickly and responsively with both clients and the multidisciplinary team.
- Creative in approach as well as reflective about their own practice.
- Demonstrable leadership and management qualities.
- Ability to maintain professional boundaries and form positive therapeutic relationship with service users and carers
- Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and ability to "hold" the stress of others
- Ability to demonstrate BEH Trust Values
Desirable
- A commitment to the evaluation of services, enthusiasm for both multi-professional and uni-professional audit
Other Requirements
Essential
- Ability to identify, provide, and promote appropriate means of support to staff exposed to highly distressing situations and severely challenging behaviours
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
Person Specification
Qualifications/ Registrations
Essential
- Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS, including specifically models of psychopathology. Clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
- Further training in a specialised area of psychological practice through formal post-doctoral training (diploma or equivalent) OR a combination of specialist short course together with an evidenced based portfolio of supervised practice-based learning in a specialist area of clinical practice with an experienced clinical supervisor, at an equivalent level to a post graduate diploma.
- Completion of a clinical supervision training (short course) sufficient to be able to supervise doctoral trainees
- Registration with the Health Professions Council as a Clinical or Counselling psychologist
Desirable
- Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.
Skills/ Abilities
Essential
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- Skills in the theory and practice of specialized psychological therapies in working with people in crisis or acutely unwell.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
- Ability to contain explore and formulate an understanding of high levels of distress both directly with patients and indirectly via supervision or case reviews with other staff.
- Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the HCPC and any relevant registration body.
Experience/ Knowledge
Essential
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across a range of care settings, which can include outpatient, community, primary care and inpatient settings.
- 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 emotive and distressing problems and where there is a history of violence.
- Substantial experience of working as a psychological therapist in the acute care setting including inpatient care.
- Experience of teaching and training.
- Experience of the supervision of qualified psychology staff.
- Experience of service development.
Desirable
- Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice or specialized psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnosis, people with additional disabilities)
- Experience of representing psychology within the context of multidisciplinary care.
Personal Qualities
Essential
- Flexible, engaging and approachable who can work quickly and responsively with both clients and the multidisciplinary team.
- Creative in approach as well as reflective about their own practice.
- Demonstrable leadership and management qualities.
- Ability to maintain professional boundaries and form positive therapeutic relationship with service users and carers
- Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and ability to "hold" the stress of others
- Ability to demonstrate BEH Trust Values
Desirable
- A commitment to the evaluation of services, enthusiasm for both multi-professional and uni-professional audit
Other Requirements
Essential
- Ability to identify, provide, and promote appropriate means of support to staff exposed to highly distressing situations and severely challenging behaviours
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
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.
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).
Additional information
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.
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).
