About this role
Job summary
Join our expanding Psychology and Psychotherapy team and help shape the future of inpatient mental health care in Croydon. We are recruiting a Band 7 Psychological Practitioner to work across our inpatient services at the Royal Bethlem Hospital. This rewarding role offers a rare blend of direct therapeutic work, service innovation and workforce development. You will provide individual and group interventions, support psychologically informed ward environments, and contribute to staff wellbeing through reflective practice, formulation and training. Working within a diverse and supportive team, you will have opportunities to supervise trainees, lead service improvement initiatives and develop specialist skills in acute and crisis care. Applications are welcomed from newly qualified practitioners as well as those due to qualify this year
Please get in touch for further information. Will be be co-ordinating site visits, where possible, for any shortlisted candidates.
Main duties of the job
Evidence-based assessment, formulation and interventions for individuals and families who experience mental health difficulties
Offer the provision of staff support and case formulation, developing the therapeutic milieu across inpatient wards. Including working part of the MDT and provide indirect support and consultation for colleagues.
Provide supervision for psychological therapists, as needed and would be encouraged to support trainee clinical psychology placements.
Croydon is a diverse borough and the postholder will work to engage with the local community and take their needs into consideration to provide an accessible service.
About us
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK as well as substance misuse services for people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. We work closely with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London and are part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre. There are very few organisations in the world that have such wide-ranging capabilities working with mental illness. Our scope is unique because it is built on three major foundations: care and treatment, science and research, and training.
Job description Job responsibilities
KR 1 Clinical and Client Care
To provide specialist psychological assessments, formulations and interventions for clients (individuals, couples, families and social networks where the identified client has complex mental health needs) according to discipline in the service.
To provide culturally appropriate psychological or psychotherapeutic interventions with carers or families of referred clients when required.
To assess and monitor risk and draw up appropriate risk management plans.
To provide reports, including relevant formulation, opinion and interventions, in order to inform referrers and, where appropriate, service users and their families.
To select and deliver evidence-based specialist therapeutic interventions, drawing from a spectrum of ideas and models, monitoring outcome and modifying and adapting interventions as necessary, based on the highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, couple, family or group.
To promote psychological support for carers (or families as appropriate) of referred clients.
KR 2 Contributing to team or service clinical functioning
To contribute to the effective working of the team or service and to a psychologically/psychotherapeutically informed framework for the service.
To contribute to the team or services delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.
To be proactive in challenging discrimination and support the development of culturally competent services.
To advise other members of the service on specialist psychological/psychotherapeutic care of clients.
To liaise with referrers, GPs and other professionals concerned with clients in order to develop and review care plans.
To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
To liaise with the service/s MDT and other professionals.
KR 3 Policy and service development
To implement policies and procedures in own area of work, and to propose improvements or beneficial changes.
To contribute to service development through undertaking and participating in appropriate projects.
To contribute to the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.
KR 4 Care or management of resources
To take care of, and use carefully, the Trusts equipment and physical resources.
To ensure that the post-holder has sufficient resources by estimating future needs and requesting or ordering supplies as needed.
To ensure the cleanliness and safe functioning and use of equipment that will be used by clients or other persons.
To monitor and advise clients on the safe use of materials and processes.
To ensure adequate confidential and safe storage for artefacts produced during the therapy process in line with professional guidelines.
To be responsible for obtaining, storing and maintaining all materials and equipment for the provision of therapy in work setting within budgetary constraints.
To ensure that the post-holder has sufficient resources by estimating future needs and requesting or ordering supplies as needed.
KR 5 Management and supervision
To be responsible for the allocation and/or clinical supervision of the work of more junior psychological practitioners with support from a more senior practitioner.
To supervise trainee psychological practitioners within own area of specialism having completed the relevant Supervision Training.
To contribute to the appraisal of more junior psychological practitioners as appropriate.
To contribute to the recruitment of more junior psychological practitioners as appropriate.
To provide supervision for the psychological and/or psychotherapeutic work of other multi-disciplinary staff as appropriate.
KR 6 Teaching and Training
To undertake occasional teaching and training of pre and post- qualification psychological practitioners, and specialised training to other professions as appropriate.
To contribute to the development of the knowledge and skills base within the service by maintaining an active awareness of current developments in psychological therapy and by implementing knowledge gained in practice.
To disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations and published articles.
To disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations and published articles.
KR 7 Record-keeping and Information Governance
To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by Trust policies and local procedures.
To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry.
KR 8 Research and development
To initiate/undertake, support and supervise regular complex service evaluation and audits.
To initiate and implement the development of outcome measurement and assessment and assist other staff in the implementation of same.
KR 9 Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development
To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior psychological therapist according to professional body and Trust guidelines.
To maintain own Continuing Professional Development in line with professional body and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements and professional Standards for Continuing Professional Development.
To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current developments in professional and clinical practice and of relevant legislation and policies.
To comply with professional body Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics/Standards of Proficiency.
KR10 General
To travel to (e.g. home visits, community placements, meetings) as appropriate and across the Trust when required.
To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group, and follow trust policies relating to its management.
To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations (such as challenging behaviour, abuse etc) and to support others involved in such situations through Trust-wide approaches including Critical Incident Staff Support and Reflect-Support-Resolve.
To work flexibly within the overall Job Plan.
Person Specification
Knowledge Essential
Entry-level qualification in applied psychological therapy/ psychotherapists profession and demonstrable practice in this field (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level/supervised practice/additional training) that has been accepted for the purposes of professional registration Registered with professional body as appropriate e.g. HCPC/UKCP/BACP/ BPC/BABCP oEvidence of continuing professional development as required by the professional body
Experience Essential
Experience of receiving clinical supervision across a range of client needs Experience of assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature relevant to this post Experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities. This may have been gained through work, research, volunteering and / or lived experience Experience of evaluation such as using outcome measures and developing and carrying out audit/research projects Experience of multi-disciplinary working.
Desirable
Experience of working within acute and crisis NHS services Experience of with repeat users of acute / crisis services Experience of working with those who present with risk to themselves and others
Knowledge Essential
Theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment. Knowledge of the theory of psychological therapy and it's therapeutic application. Associated awareness of assessment and clinical psychometrics Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult safeguarding, and equalities Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care Knowledge to select and administer specialist psychological assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several sources Knowledge of racial and other diversity issues and factors affecting access to mental health care
Desirable
Knowledge of interventions applicable to those experiencing a crisis or inpatient admission
skills Essential
To communicate skilfully and sensitively complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication including sensory, and emotional difficulties, cultural differences and hostility to or rejection of information To plan allocation of tasks to assistants/trainees as appropriates. Well-developed IT skills including entry and analysis of research data. Skills in providing teaching and training to other professional groups Consultation skills to work with the multi-professional team or other professional groups and sensitively managing, a number of people's needs simultaneously within the context of therapeutic work/consultation.
abilities Essential
Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team, contributing to effective team functioning and holding team roles Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate Ability to develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic meetings Ability to maintain concentration and to remain in restricted positions for long periods during observations, assessments and psychological interventions, and to deal with unexpected interruptions or changes during these Ability to manage emotionally stressful situations such as working with victims of abuse or trauma, or with people who engage in severe self-harming or aggressive behaviour Ability to manage verbal aggression and hostility directed at self including use of physical interventions as prescribed by Trust policies
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.
Certificate of Sponsorship 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).
Employer details Employer name South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Address Bethlem Royal Hospital
Monks Orchard Road
Beckenham
BR3 3BX
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.slam.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)