Job overview
This Assistant Psychologist role has been created as part of a new Cancer Psychological Service for Kent and Medway, which has been funded for two years initially by Kent and Medway Cancer Alliance and Macmillan. The role provides a fantastic opportunity for an enthusiastic, motivated and experienced Assistant Psychologist to take part in the development of a new service within a small friendly and supportive team of two experienced Clinical Psychologists and a Counsellor (led by a Consultant Clinical Psychologist). The new service will provide psychological assessment and interventions to patients receiving treatment for a cancer diagnosis, and their relatives, throughout Kent and Medway; training and supervision for the cancer workforce; and consultation to cancer multi-disciplinary teams. The service will work closely with existing cancer Counselling and Psychosocial services across the region.
The post-holder will be based at Maidstone Hospital, but the service covers four Trusts across Kent and Medway and the Assistant Psychologist will need to travel between sites. Job share requests will be considered.
Please note that this role may often attract a high level of applications. Please note this role may close earlier than the original closing date so please ensure you submit your application as soon as possible.
Main duties of the job
This is a new and developing role, in which the Assistant Psychologist will conduct clinical triages with newly referred patients, support in the delivery of group work for patients and training for staff, undertake clinical administrative duties, including database management and collection of outcome data, and take part in the development and implementation of audit and research projects. The post-holder will be supervised by a Clinical Psychologist.
Working for our organisation
MTW is a large acute hospital trust in the south-east of England.
We provide a full range of general hospital services and some aspects of specialist and complex care to around 600,000 people living in west Kent and East Sussex. We have a team of over 8,000 full and part-time staff. We also provide specialist cancer services to around 2 million people across Kent and East Sussex via the Kent Oncology Centre.
In the 2024 NHS staff survey, our employees ranked MTW among the top 10 NHS Trusts nationwide and the second-best Trust to work for in the South East.
Would you like to work flexibly? In the NHS, we are reminded every day of how important life is. As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us, for our patients and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Once your pre-employment checks have been completed you will be contacted by Recruitment to arrange your start date which will be in line with one of our Corporate Inductions.
Please note that appointment to this post will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure & Barring Service Check at Enhanced Level. (Enhanced level now includes regulated checks against vulnerable adults and children).
At MTW, we seek to develop a culture where everyone can reach their full potential with opportunities to grow and develop their career. We recognise and value the unique contributions that each of our staff bring, delivering the best quality care and service to our patients. We are committed to being a diverse employer and strive to reflect everyone in our local communities. We welcome applications from people of diverse backgrounds, perspectives and experiences and celebrate the diversity of thought, viewpoints and ideas that will make our Trust the best place to work.
We support our staff with disabilities to ensure they have the adjustments they need to be the best they can be in the workplace. Collaborating with Access to Work means that our staff are assessed by experts in the workplace and we ensure that their recommendations are implemented as quickly as possible. You can find out more here: Access to Work: get support if you have a disability or health condition: What Access to Work is - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Interview Date: To be confirmed.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
1. BA or BSc (Hons) in Psychology or equivalent
2. Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society.
Experience
Essential criteria
3. Experience of working in a psychological or mental health setting with people with mental or physical health problems or disabilities
4. Graduate level knowledge of psychological research methodology and statistical analyses.
5. Good theoretical knowledge of psychological theories and concepts and their relevance to people with mental health problems and/or physical health problems/disabilities.
6. Awareness of racial and diversity issues
7. Understanding of relevant NICE Guidance.
Desirable criteria
8. Experience of working with people with cancer
9. Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment with people with cancer
10. Knowledge of psychological assessment and clinical psychometrics.
Skills
Essential criteria
11. Excellent interpersonal skills including an ability to interact with people with mental health and/or related problems
12. Good research skills including knowledge of Excel and SPSS
13. Well developed IT skills including ability to use Microsoft Office
14. Ability to work independently, reliably and consistently with work agreed and managed at regular intervals
15. Ability to use supervision effectively to develop clinical skills
16. Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team.
17. Ability to interact with people with mental health problems/disabilities/chronic physical health problems
18. High standard of report writing
19. Good communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive
20. Ability to interact effectively with staff from all disciplines
21. Ability to contribute to the teaching and training of others.
22. Excellent organisational skills