About this role
Job summary
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Southwark Acute and Crisis Psychology and Psychotherapy team. We are offering a permanent contract for a full-time Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/Psychotherapist Band 8a. The post holder will be based at the Maudsley Hospital which provides acute mental health care to people living in Southwark, South East London.
Main duties of the job
This is a split post across two urgent care services - Our new Mental Health Urgent Care Centre and our Place of Safety unit. The post holder will provide psychological assessment and very short term therapy services to clients; offer advice and consultation to ward colleagues; and play an integral role in the promotion and evaluation of innovative, psychologically informed approaches to meeting clients' mental health needs. The post holder will be expected to train and develop non-psychology staff in psychologically minded care. Prior experience of working within acute and crisis services is desirable and the candidate is expected to have a sound knowledge of evidence based short-term interventions. Supervision and support to the post holders will be provided by senior Clinical Psychologists working in Southwark's acute and crisis services.
The post holder will have experience of consultancy to colleagues at all levels, teaching, supervision and group work.
About us
We are committed to ensuring our staff get the most out of their benefits packageand understand the importance of a healthy work life balance. There is an extensive range of excellent benefits for you and your family. We want you to feel like you are part of a close knit team at SLaM. It's important to us that you valued and appreciated and that are why we have a comprehensive benefits package on offer
Some of our benefits are highlighted here:
Generous pay, pensions and leave, we offer a comprehensive pay, pensions and leave package which is dependent on the role and length of service.
Work life balance, flexible working and support a range of flexible options, such as: part-time working and job sharing.
Career development, There are plenty of opportunities to progress your career and we support your development through a number of programmes such as mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership and other talent programmes
Car lease, our staff benefits from competitive deals to lease cars
Accommodation, our staff benefits from keyworker housing available which is available on selected sites
NHS discounts, with discounts up to 10% from a variety of well-known retail brands though Health Service Discounts website.
For a full list of our benefits please visit: https://www.slam.nhs.uk/media/421262/Working%20at%20SLaM.pdf
Job description Job responsibilities
Job Purpose:
To provide a highly specialist psychological interventions to mental health acute crisis services including specialist assessment, treatment, planning, implementation and monitoring of outcomes.
To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
To provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate, functioning as a lead specialist.
To promote service evaluation, audit and research.
To work as an autonomous professional within registration body guidelines and codes of conduct and guided by principles and policies or procedures of the service, taking responsibility for interpreting policies within defined parameters.
To agree outcomes/results with clinical/professional lead and to decide how they are best achieved.
To be active in the provision of staff support within their area, including but not limited to Critical Incident Staff Support and Reflect-Support-Resolve. To participate, as a recipient, in staff support work when appropriate.
Our values and commitments:
Key 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 acute crisis services including assessing/working with psychosis, learning disabilities, personality disorders, offending behaviour, etc., within limits expected at Band 8a.
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.
To authorise client travel expenses (if required)
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 across the Trust when required (e.g., for training purposes, meetings etc).
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.
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
oTo have undertaken a recognised qualification in one of the core mental health professions, e.g. psychiatric nursing, clinical psychology, medicine, social work and occupational therapy OR to have equivalent relevant experience and demonstrable competence to work in the mental health field in the NHS. oEntry-level qualification in applied psychological therapy/mental health/social welfare profession or equivalent 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. (A/I)
Desirable
Further training in areas relevant to short term interventions and complex mental health needs such as DBT, CBT CFT Undertaken supervisor training
Experience Essential
oEvidence of having worked as a clinical specialist under supervision in complex mental health oExperience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature in an acute/crisis setting. oExperience of supervising assistants and trainees having completed the relevant training. oPost-qualification experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities. Experience of carrying out post-qualification research, audit or service evaluation projects
Desirable
Experience of working in a range of acute and crisis services (e.g. wards, HTT, liaison)
Knowledge Essential
oTheoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment of patients in acute/crisis settings. oKnowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities. oKnowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care oKnowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological assessments and interventions for acute and crisis care..
Skills Essential
oTo 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. oTo plan allocation of tasks to assistants/trainees as appropriates. oSkills in providing teaching and training to other professional groups. oConsultation 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. oAbility 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.
Desirable
Skills in providing teaching and training in short-term interventions.
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 The Maudsley Hospital
Denmark Hill
London
SE5 8AZ
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.slam.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)