About this role
Job summary
We are seeking an enthusiastic and motivated Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to join the London Spinal Cord Injury Centre (LSCIC) at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore.
LSCIC provides acute care, specialist rehabilitation and lifelong follow up for adults with complete and incomplete spinal cord injuries. You will support patients and their families as they adjust to life changing injuries, working within an established multidisciplinary team across inpatient and outpatient services.
This role offers opportunities to develop specialist skills in spinal cord injury rehabilitation within a supportive environment. You will receive regular clinical supervision, professional support and line management from senior psychologists, alongside opportunities for teaching, research, audit and service development.
You will also be encouraged to gain experience with psychology and Liaison Psychiatry colleagues in other specialist services, including complex pain, amputee rehabilitation and surgical care. Collaboration with spinal injury charities and opportunities to contribute to conferences further support professional development.
Main duties of the job
You will provide specialist psychological assessment and intervention for LSCIC inpatients and outpatients, offering individual, group, couple and family sessions tailored to patients' needs.
The main responsibilities include
- Delivering psychological interventions drawing on person centred approaches, CBT, ACT or CFT.
- Working closely with rehabilitation medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, case management and Liaison Psychiatry to support coordinated patient care.
- Contributing psychological expertise to rehabilitation planning and multidisciplinary discussions.
- Supporting patients and families with adjustment to spinal cord injury and the ongoing challenges experienced after discharge.
- Working with spinal injury organisations to strengthen access to peer support and voluntary sector services.
- Contributing to teaching and training for healthcare professionals.
- Undertaking research, audit and service evaluation to inform improvements in psychological care.
You will need strong assessment skills, an interest in working within a medical setting and the ability to work effectively with colleagues across professions and services.
About us
At the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH), we are committed to achieving the best staff experience in the NHS. In the 2023 NHS Staff Survey, we proudly:
- Scored above the national average for the People Promises: "We are recognised and rewarded," "We are always learning," "We work flexibly," "We are a team," and for staff engagement.
- Ranked #1 among all Trusts in North and Central London for all People Promises and themes.
- Ranked #1 among all Acute Specialist Trusts for "We work flexibly."
At RNOH, we're committed to being actively anti-discriminatory and actively inclusive. We recognise our brilliant people do brilliant work, and we offer rewarding careers, no matter what their background. We continue to strive to break down barriers to be the Trust where people come together because what they do matters, makes a difference and where they can thrive.
Joining our organisation means enjoying a wide range of staff benefits, including:
- 24/7 access to wellbeing support through our Employee Assistance Programme.
- A Rewards & Recognition platform, offering opportunities to thank colleagues, send gifts, and access exclusive discounts.
- A dedicated Staff Wellbeing Hub, providing a space to relax and recharge away from the work environment.
- Salary sacrifice schemes for transport (season ticket loans, car and bike), electrical goods, and childcare
At RNOH, we are more than a workplace--we are committed to patients, to excellence and the wellbeing of our staff.
Job description
Job responsibilities
See attached Job description and Person Specification.
For further information, please contact Helen Smith, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, on 0208 909 5767 or [email protected].
Person Specification
TRAINING & QUALIFICATIONS
Essential
- Doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology and clinical psychometrics, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS or registered for, and actively pursuing, the Statement of Equivalence in Clinical Psychology.
- Registered with HCPC
Desirable
- Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, systemic/ family interventions, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.
EXPERIENCE
Essential
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of service users across the full range of care settings, including medical/ acute hospital, outpatient, community, primary care and inpatient settings.
- Experience of psychological assessment or intervention with clients with acquired physical disability.
- Experience of working with a wide variety of service user 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 highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
Desirable
- Experience of work in a spinal cord injury centre and other physical health settings.
- Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
- Experience of the application of clinical / counselling psychology in family, group and individual settings, and different cultural contexts.
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
Essential
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to service users, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
- Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex multivariate data analysis as practised within the clinical fields of psychology.
- Knowledge and skills for psychological intervention with couples and/or families.
- Ability to contain, explore and formulate an understanding of high levels of distress both directly with service users and indirectly via supervision of other staff.
Desirable
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in physical health rehabilitation.
- High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to the service user group and mental health.
- Experience of representing psychology within the context of multidisciplinary care.
- Completion of a clinical supervision training (short course) sufficient to be able to supervise doctoral trainees.
Other
Essential
- 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.
- Willing to undertake a clinical supervision training (short course) sufficient to be able to supervise doctoral trainees.
- Demonstrable commitment to anti-discriminatory and inclusive behaviours and practices
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
Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust
Address
RNOH Stanmore
Stanmore
HA7 4LP
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.rnoh.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)