Clinical/Counselling Psychologist in Paediatric Psychology
South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust
Come and join our well-established and supportive Clinical Health Psychology service, providing a psychology service to the Paediatric Diabetes team (with some time allocated for the Paediatric Feeding Clinic). We are looking for a compassionate and experienced Practitioner Psychologist with prior experience working with children and families and an interest in working within a physical health setting.
This post will involve face-to-face work with children and families, offered at our Warwick Hospital and Stratford Healthcare bases. There are also opportunities for audit, research, teaching and consultation with the wider Paediatric Diabetes team. This post has recently increased in banding from Band 8A to Band 8B, reflecting both a recognition of the value of the role and the desire to improve services for children and families in this area - it will be part of the work to engage with other services. Supervision and support will be provided by a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and as part of the wider Clinical Health Psychology service, there are further opportunities for specialist supervision. We also offer peer support and continuing professional development and we have strong links to local doctoral training courses in Clinical Psychology, offering specialist placements across a range of clinical health psychology areas.
Main duties of the job
To lead on the development of the paediatric psychology provision for children and young people and their families within the speciality.
To provide highly specialised and evidence-based psychological assessment, formulation and intervention (to include provision of psychological therapy as well as programmes of care and advice such as groups and workshops etc.) to children and young people and their families or carers within the speciality.
To evaluate the psychological work and produce service reviews.
To provide highly specialised advice to other medical professions including psychiatrists, paediatricians, GP's and healthcare staff.
To provide specialist advice and consultation, as appropriate on the children and young people's' psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues (e.g. education and social care) and to other, non-professional carers.
To provide clinical supervision and line management to psychologist colleagues as needed.
To work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the team's policies and procedures.
To act as a specialist psychological resource to this particular group of paediatric community, and to develop and implement audit and research programmes.
To propose, implement and evaluate policy and service development changes which will impact across the whole range of professions and services to which clinical psychology consults.
About us
Come and join a Trust rated Outstanding by the CQC. South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust have been rated as outstanding following our latest inspection by the CQC and we are recruiting new staff to come and help us improve even further. In addition our staff survey results have placed us 4th in the country for recommended place to work.
We provide services across Warwickshire and beyond ranging from Hospitals in Warwick, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Royal Leamington Spa and Shipston-on Stour to Community Services across the county. We are a progressive, expanding organisation with great ambition around improving quality, integrating pathways and delivering high levels of productivity.Our values can be summed up in one sentence. We are 'Trusted to provide safe, inclusive, effective and compassionate care'. Throughout the recruitment process you will be asked to think about how you demonstrate these values and how they impact on your work. It doesn't matter what role you do, whether it is patient facing or not, we are all working in the same way with our values at the core.
Job responsibilities
Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required
Clinical accountability, analytical and judgement skills, communication and working relationships:
To provide highly specialist psychological assessments of children and young people, based on the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological data from a variety of sources including psychological tests, neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with children, family members and others involved in the child or young persons care.
To formulate, implement and regularly evaluate highly specialist psychological intervention plans for the formal treatment and/or management of the child or young persons physical and psychological health problems (including management of treatment regimens) across the full range of health-care settings by providing psychological support to the staff and evidence-based therapies to children and families or other carers, which have been based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the childs difficulties.
To be responsible for coordinating and implementing a range of highly specialised psychological interventions for specialist services, individuals and staff groups within and across teams, adjusting and refining psychological formulations, drawing upon a range of different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
To evaluate and decide on highly specialist treatment options utilising physical and psychological theoretical and therapeutic models (e.g. family therapy, theories of child development, cognitive-behavioural therapy) and highly complex factors, based on past psychological and mental health history and ongoing psychological developmental processes that have shaped the individual or group.
To decide upon appropriate courses of action (consulting as appropriate with supervisor / peers) and exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of children and young people whose problems are managed by psychologically based treatment plans according to a professional code of conduct.
To facilitate a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all children, young people and their families (or carers) across all settings, including providing consultation and advice to other professionals.
To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual children and young people and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
To communicate highly complex, sensitive or contentious information in a highly developed, skilled and sensitive manner (respectful of patient confidentiality) concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of children and young people. This is to include situations that may present with aggression, hostility and high emotion or that involve overcoming major barriers to acceptance, and to monitor and review progress during the course of both uniand multi-disciplinary care.
To provide clinical assessment and therapy which will involve sitting still for substantial periods of time requiring intense concentration and which may involve exposure to and managing aggression and highly emotive or distressing situations.
To plan and prioritise own clinical workload and attend referral meetings, planning meetings, ward rounds and case conferences as appropriate.
To have an advanced theoretical and practical knowledge of clinical health psychology services provided by the NHS.
Close working and liaison with all members of the Department of Clinical Health Psychology, the acute and community teams, social care, safeguarding teams and other professionals as necessary.
Teaching, Training, and Supervision
In common with all clinical psychologists, to receive regular clinical professional supervision in accordance with good practice guidelines from a more senior clinical psychologist.
To provide clinical supervision as per Trust policy, to those staff groups identified as most in need of this approach including link psychology roles as well as providing supervision to other clinicians within the Clinical Health Psychology team (including Trainees and Qualified Clinical Psychologists and any other psychological practitioners e.g. counsellors).
To continue with the development (and recording) of advanced theoretical and practical knowledge, acquiring highly specialist experience and skills relevant to areas of interest in clinical psychology and/or the service through protected CPD and other training opportunities (as agreed with the professional psychology manager following BPS/DCP guidelines up to one session per week pro rata).
To undertake and continue developing skills in the teaching/training of specialist psychologically related workshops.
To contribute to the pre- and post-qualification teaching of clinical and/or counselling psychology doctorate students as appropriate.
To participate in the development and preparation of clinical materials such as brochures, handouts, relaxation tapes, scripts, etc. for use in the clinical services.
To contribute to the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of clinical practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the post holders professional and service manager(s).
To contribute to the development and articulation of best practice in psychology within and across the service, by continuing to develop the skills of a reflexive and reflective scientist practitioner, taking part in regular professional supervision and yearly appraisal. To include maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the field of clinical psychology and its related disciplines through identified training needs.
To contribute to evidence based psychological support to staff across SWFT, for example, through supervision, consultation, providing teaching/training for specialist services, alongside the staff support service.
Management, Policy and Service Development
To hold overall responsibility for Child Psychology input to designated paediatric diabetes team and the Feeding Clinic, including consultation and review of the service with staff, and involvement in planning for the longer term development of psychosocial input.
To participate as a clinician in the development, evaluation and monitoring of the psychology teams operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.
To support the working practices of both clinical and non-clinical staff (students and postgraduates) within the framework of the service policies and procedures.
To participate, as appropriate, in the shortlisting and interviewing process as a member of the interview panel for assistant, trainee and qualified clinical psychologists.
Implement and propose changes to practices within the department and in wider specialist services across SWFT. Give psychological perspectives to these services and help to inform their policies across the Trust and wider region.
To lead on service developments in collaboration with other professions, departments, services and/or Trusts where appropriate, e.g., maternity service development and support other members of the department as the lead specialist
Accountable for own professional actions, works within professional ethics and Trust policies and maintaining responsibility for pre-qualification psychological practitioners
Responsibility for Research and Development
To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
To undertake appropriate research and provide research advice to other staff undertaking research.
Regularly undertake R&D / R&D activities as part of the role.
Undertake personal R&D programme and supervise R&D activities of assistants.
To undertake project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service to help develop service provision.
To lead on development of services, pathways and policies in collaboration with other departments, services and/or Trusts where appropriate, e.g., maternity service development.
To attend/chair meetings in order to facilitate service development.
To lead on management of the waiting list, taking an overview and planning initiatives to manage the waiting list, e.g., in response to Covid-19. Responsibilities may include leading a small working group within the department, planning a stepped approach with an overview from the Departmental Director, working closely with the admin and wider CHP team as well as liaising with referrers as appropriate.
Responsibility for Financial, Physical and Information Resources
To undertake responsibility for maintaining the highest standards of clinical record keeping including up to date electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with professional codes of practice of the British Psychological Society and Trust policies and procedures.
To be familiar with, and use as appropriate, equipment in the department. For example, IT and audio-visual equipment. To ensure a personal duty of care in relation to such equipment and resources and careful use of such equipment.
To be aware of personal responsibility under the Data Protection Act 1988 and to abide by the eight principles of that act.
To undertake responsibility for maintaining the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with professional codes of practice of the British Psychological Society, HCPC and Trust policies and procedures.
Person Specification
Experience
* Experience of working as a qualified Clinical OR Counselling Psychologist for a minimum of 5 years post qualification within Children/Young Peoples mental health and/or paediatric services.
* Experience of working as a qualified Clinical OR Counselling Psychologist with severe and complex physical health problems and chronic conditions.
Qualifications
* Post-graduate doctoral level training in Clinical or Counselling Psychology
* HCPC registered as a Practitioner Psychologist
* Eligibility for Membership of Division of Clinical or Counselling Psychology
* The above supplemented by further specialist courses, clinical supervision and further specialist training and experience
* Post qualifying training in two or more distinct psychological therapies.
Skills
* Doctoral level knowledge of clinical psychology including highly developed knowledge of developmental psychology, medical and genetic conditions in childhood.
* Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological intervention with children and families.
Personal Qualities
* Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
* 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.
* To demonstrate the ability to work effectively as a member of a multidisciplinary team and an awareness of the importance of this aspect of the role in producing effective outcomes for patients.
Other
* Demonstrable skills in written and spoken English, adequate to enable the post holder to carry out the role effectively.
* Able to sit for extended periods of time
* Intense concentration.
* Frequently deals with highly distressing or emotional circumstances.
* Risk of exposure to verbal and physical aggression.
* Accountable for own professional actions, working in line with professional ethics and Trust policies.
* Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
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.
South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust
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