About this role
Job summary
The Child Health Psychology department at Noah's Ark Children's Hospital for Wales is seeking to appoint a Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical or Counselling) to join their team and work into Paediatric Oncology. This substantive 0.4 wte Band 8b post offers an exciting opportunity to lead on and contribute to the psychological care of children and young people with tertiary Oncology conditions, their families and the staff supporting them.
The successful candidate will deliver highly specialised psychological assessments, formulations, and interventions, and provide consultation to the multidisciplinary Tertiary Paediatric Oncology Team. The role also includes supervision of junior psychologists, MDT colleagues and trainees, service development, research, and teaching.
Applicants must hold HCPC registration and a Doctorate in Clinical or Counselling Psychology, with substantial post-qualification experience in paediatric or medical settings. Strong communication, consultation, and organisational skills are essential.
Key responsibilities include:
Specialist psychological assessment and interventionMultidisciplinary consultation and liaisonSupervision of trainees and assistantsContribution to research, audit, and service developmentTeaching and training at local and national levels
Main duties of the job
The post-holder will provide a highly specialised psychology service to children and young people with tertiary oncology conditions and their families, working within the Child Health Psychology team at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.
This role involves delivering advanced psychological assessments, diagnostics, and interventions, and offering expert consultation to the multidisciplinary Tertiary Paediatric Oncology Team. The post-holder will work alongside a Band 7 Practitioner Psychologist whom they will supervise, and be embedded in the Child Health Psychology team
Key responsibilities include:
Providing individual and group psychological care, including complex assessments, formulation, and treatment. Offering consultation and advice on psychological care to clinical colleagues. Supervising assistant psychologists, doctoral trainees, and other qualified psychologists. Leading on clinical governance and contributing to service development. Designing and implementing service models and policy changes. Engaging in multidisciplinary work, liaison, teaching, training, and research. Planning and managing own caseloads to balance clinical, supervisory, and developmental duties. Acting as lead supervisor for doctoral trainee clinical psychologists.
The post-holder will play a key role in a growing specialist team and contribute to audit, policy development, and research in line with UHB guidance.
About us
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board is one of the largest Integrated Health Boards in the UK, employing over 17,000 staff, providing over 100 specialist services. Working across 6 hospital sites, we have a diverse range of career opportunities to offer. Serving over 500,000 people living in Cardiff and the Vale, we are focussed on the health and care needs of our local population whilst working with our partners to develop regional services. Together we are committed to improving health outcomes for everyone, delivering excellent care and support.
Our mission is "Living Well, Caring Well, Working Together", and our vision is that every person's chance of leading a healthy life should be equal. Our 10-year transformation and improvement strategy, Shaping Our Future Wellbeing, is our chance to work collaboratively with the public and our workforce to make our health board more sustainable for the future.
Job description Job responsibilities
The ability to speak Welsh is desirable for this post; Welsh and/or English speakers are equally welcome to apply.
You will be able to find a full Job description and Person Specification attached within the supporting documents or please click Apply now to view in Trac.
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
Good Honours degree in Psychology with eligibility for Graduate Basis for Chartership (GBC) with the BPS Post-graduate Doctorate in Clinical/Counselling Psychology accredited by the HCPC (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996 as accredited by the BPS). HCPC registered as a practitioner psychologist
Desirable
Post doctoral training/ experience in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice, particularly children, young people and families in a medical settings Evidence of peer reviewed publications, presentations at conferences, or similar contributions.
Experience Essential
Ubstantial and demonstrable post qualification experience of working as a HCPC Registered Practitioner Psychologist Experience of working with children and young people or adults with medical problems in an NHS setting presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including outpatient, education, community, primary care, in-patient and residential care settings and maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems. Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified healthcare professional and also within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan. Experience of teaching, training and professional and clinical supervision. Demonstrable evidence of significant specialist clinical supervision within a scientist practitioner framework, including supervision, group supervision and case presentations.
Desirable
Experience of working with service users as co-producers
Skills Essential
Skills in the use of highly complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management, frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration Ability to use highest level of interpersonal and communication skills to convey and receive highly complex/sensitive information effectively, requiring empathy and reassurance, in a highly emotive atmosphere and the ability to overcome psychological resistance to potentially threatening information, whilst maintaining high degree of professionalism at all times. Able to take responsibility for managing and providing a specialist service, or systematically providing part of a larger service. Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non professional groups. Ability to make clinical and service related judgments involving complex facts requiring analysis, interpretation and comparison of several options. Ability to critically evaluate research evidence relating to clinical effectiveness and service development. Ability to plan and organise a range of clinical or service-related activities and programmes. Ability to implement agreed policies and strategic long-term service developments.
Special Knowledge Essential
Formal Training and supervision of other psychologists. Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology Vidence of significant post qualification continuing professional development as recommended by the HCPC and BPS. Ability to identify and provide support to carers and staff. Ability to develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic presentations. Knowledge of relevant legislation. Well developed specialist knowledge of clinical/counselling psychology theory and practice, assessment, and the application of specialised psychological therapies related to the needs of children and young people or adults with medical problems in an NHS setting Specialist knowledge of psychometric test construction, development, validation, administration and clinical interpretation of the results
Desirable
Awareness of ethnic diversity issues.
Personal Qualities Essential
Respect for users of services and their carers Willingness to supervise trainee clinical psychologists and other qualified clinical/counselling psychologists working in similar settings. Commitment to and interest in working with children and young people with medical problems and their families Commitment to working collaboratively with children, young people and their families to develop and improve services Willingness to work as part of a team Ability to work independently. Ability to make effective use of clinical consultation and appraisal. Willingness to participate in continuing professional development.
Other Essential
Requirement to undertake frequent exposure to emotionally distressing and traumatic situations Computer literate Ability to travel between work sites in a timely manner. Formal training in assessment Formal training in breakaway techniques Freedom to act Must be capable of working within organisational policies, and be accountable for own professional actions.
Desirable
Ability to speak Welsh and willing to use in a work context. Ability to travel to peripheral centres in Wales
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 Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
Address Noah's Ark Children's Hospital for Wales
University Hospital for Wales
Cardiff
CF14 4XW
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://cavuhb.nhs.wales/ (Opens in a new tab)