The Macmillan Psychology Service stretches across Luton & Bedfordshire to provide psychological care forpeople with cancer and palliative care needs, their families and carers. The post holder will be responsible for providing specialist clinical psychology services as an integral member of the Luton and Bedfordshire Macmillan Psychology Service and the wider Clinical Health Psychology Service (CHPS). The post holder will provide specialist psychological assessment, interventions and therapies for adult Cancer & Palliative Care patients, their families and carers. The role also involves provision of teaching, advice, consultation and supervision on clients' psychological care to non-psychology colleagues. The post holder will utilise research skills for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of individual and group psychological interventions, audit, service development and research.Theservice works in collaboration with a range of voluntary agencies as well as other Trust services
across the Integrated Care System (ICS). The service is provided within a range of settings and modes, including virtual clinics, hospital and hospices, inpatient units, care homes, community clinics and, where necessary, in patients' homes.
The post holder will work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the Trust's policies and procedures., Clinical
1. To provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to the Cancer & Palliative Care Team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological tests, structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client's care.
2. To provide direct clinical interventions to clients and advice, consultation and training to staff working with the clients across a range of agencies and settings, contributing directly to clients' formulations and treatment plans.
3. To establish and maintain good relationships with service users, carers, voluntary sector colleagues and external agencies.
4. To keep abreast of developments in psychological treatment and care of those with cancer & palliative care needs.
5. To attend local and national groups of psychologists working in cancer or palliative care. To keep up to date with developments in the field.
6. To participate in service evaluation and audit activities, examining the effectiveness of current service delivery, as requested by managers and commissioners.
7. To be aware of, and adhere to Trust policies as appropriate.
Responsibility for Patient/Client care
1. To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a client's problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework, and employing methods based on evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings
2. To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups within and across teams.
3. 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
4. To liaise with other professionals and services.
5. To support carers and families.
6. To provide a specialist consultancy service regarding the care of those with specialist cancer & palliative care needs, specifically to members of the Cancer & Palliative care MDTs, mental health professionals and other agencies, statutory and non statutory throughout the Trust.
7. To attend multidisciplinary team meetings and case conferences as necessary and to advise staff on issues around the psychological care of patients, families or carers.
8. To advise patients and carers on options for psychological care, including the provision of inpatient services. This may involve careful negotiation with patients and their carers.
9. To convey unwelcome information to patients that may be rejected or where there are significant barriers to acceptance. To overcome cultural, knowledge-based or cognitive barriers to understanding.
10. To carry out appropriate specialist psychometric and neuropsychological assessment and interpret the results of assessments.
11. To work in both outpatient clinics and into inpatient wards, in care homes, and hospices and where necessary, in clients' homes.
12. To be able and willing to travel to fulfil the demands of the post.
Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.