About this role
Job summary
We are seeking to recruit a highly skilled, innovative and experienced psychological Therapist (Clinical/ Counselling/ Forensic Psychologist or CBT Therapist/ Psychotherapist) to provide clinical and professional leadership to Bexley Home Treatment Team. The post holder will join the team manager and consultant psychiatrist in providing clinical leadership to the team. They will take a lead role in developing and managing the provision of psychological interventions in the team, including individual and group-based interventions. They will also offer training, consultation, supervision and reflective practice within the service as a whole.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will provide skilled and experienced leadership to the Bexley Home Treatment Team (HTT), overseeing the provision and development of the psychological interventions and wider psychosocial and trauma-informed practice in the service. The post will ensure the systematic provision of a high-quality specialist psychology service to service users of Bexley HTT and their support networks (including families and carers).
To supervise and support the psychological assessment and intervention provided by other clinical members of the service who provide psychologically-based care and treatment.
To provide consultation, reflective practice and incident debriefs to the service and to facilitate team working, psychologically informed practice, trauma-informed care and appropriate treatment pathways to optimise service user journey and experience across service transitions.
The post will also involve close organisational liaison with the wider Oxleas mental health system and third sector partners.
The post holder will be expected to work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the service/teams.
To utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research.
To propose and implement policy changes within the area served by the teams/service. To contribute to the overall management of the service.
About us
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children's centres, schools and people's homes.We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.
Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
We're Kind We're Fair We Listen We Care
Job description Job responsibilities
Management responsibilities
To exercise delegated responsibility for managing the psychological resources available to the HTT, whether in the form of additional qualified and unqualified graduate psychology staff, or in the form of psychological materials employed in the assessment and treatment of patients. To exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the service. To participate as appropriate in staff recruitment, both in the short-listing process and as a member of interview panels for assistant, trainees and qualified psychologist and other clinical staff. To provide day to day management of the psychology staff within the service. To be an authorised signatory for staff related expenses. Liaise with the budget holder to agree best use of funds and be responsible for reviewing and monitoring usage. To contribute to the overall management and functioning of the service.
Leadership
To provide clinical placements for trainee clinical and/or counselling psychologists, ensuring that trainees acquire the necessary skills, competencies and experience to contribute effectively to good mental health care and to contribute to the assessment and evaluation of such competencies. To provide post-qualification training (CPD) and clinical professional supervision to qualified clinical staff attached to the service. To provide advice, consultation and clinical supervision to other clinical members of the service for their provision of psychologically based interventions to help improve clients functioning. To maintain and develop skills in the area of professional pre- and post-graduate training and clinical supervision. To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate.
Clinical
As the lead Psychologist/ Psychological therapist for Bexley HTT, to provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to theservice based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the clients care. To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a clients mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the clients problems, and employing methods of proven efficacy, across the full range of care settings. To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses. To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group. To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based care plans. To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan. To ensure that all members of the treating team have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding and care of clients of the service, through the provision of advice and consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory. To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide general advice to other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management, including responsibilities within the policies and clinical duties to safeguarding vulnerable adults and children. To communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner, complex information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care and to monitor and evaluate progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care. This will require being able to convey this to clients, families and colleagues with a range of understanding and knowledge so will require the ability to be flexible, adaptive and simple but yet retain a sophisticated understanding and approach. This communication is likely to take place in situations which are highly emotive and with people who may also have concurrent and/or associated physical health conditions. To provide expertise, advice and support to facilitate the effective and appropriate provision of psychological care by all members of the treatment team.
Research
To take the psychology lead, as a senior clinician, in the evaluation, monitoring and development of the teams operational policies, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit and ensuring incorporation of psychological frameworks for understanding and provision of high-quality care. 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. To initiate project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within and across the service to help develop and improve services to clients and their families.
Communication
To maintain appropriate relevant professional registration (e.g. HCPC, BABCP etc). To ensure the development, maintenance and dissemination of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes. To ensure the development and articulation of best practice in psychology within the service area and contribute across the service by exercising the skills of a reflexive and reflective scientist practitioner, taking part in regular professional supervision and appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the field of clinical psychology and related disciplines. To maintain and promulgate 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, Health Professions Council and Trust policies and procedures. To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the specific client group and mental health.
Person Specification
Education / Qualification Essential
HCPC registered practitioner psychologist, BABCP registered CBT therapist , UKCP registered family therapist or psychotherapist Additional training beyond entry-level qualification in a specialised area of psychological practice (through formal post-qualification training (PG Diploma or equivalent), OR a combination of specialist short courses and/an evidenced portfolio of supervised practice-based learning in a specialist area of clinical psychological therapy practice, assessed by a registered body and/or an experienced clinical supervisor to be of equal level to a Postgraduate Diploma or higher. Recognised supervision training.
Desirable
Leadership or management training
Experience Essential
Substantial assessed experience of working as a qualified psychological therapist including at a highly specialist level (equivalent of band 8A) Experience of working with people in crisis Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and also within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
Desirable
Experience of leading and managing services including managing staff and initiating and implementing service development.
Skills / Knowledge / Abilities Essential
Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration. Skills in providing consultation and advice from a psychological perspective to members of other professional and non -professional groups. Ability to organise time effectively, use own initiative and to work under supervision where appropriate Knowledge of scientific research methodology, analysis and interpretation of data.
Desirable
Ability to provide plan, organise and provide teaching and training on relevant psychological topics, using a variety of complex multi -media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
Effort and Environement Essential
Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and severely challenging behaviours. Ability to identify, and employ, as appropriate, clinical governance mechanisms for the support and maintenance of clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
Desirable
Ability to develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.
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 Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
Address Hawthorns Unit , Queen Mary's Hospital Sidcup
Sidcup London
DA14 6LT
United Kingdom
Employer's website http://oxleas.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)