Job summary

We are looking for a band 7 Clinical Psychologist to join the West Devon Intensive Assessment and Treatment Team (IATT) based at Follaton House in Totnes, to help us support the wellbeing of one of the most vulnerable and marginalised sections of our population.

IATT West is a small (and perfectly formed) team and Psychology is highly valued. We have a caring and mutually supportive culture which is a vital foundation for the challenging but rewarding work that we do. Clinical Psychology have a strong and unified team across Devon, covering the inpatient unit and the network of four IATTs. We will support you to learn the skills you need to thrive in the role. We will offer you the training and development support you need to develop your skills and create a fulfilling career. In return, we are looking for someone who is motivated, flexible and eager to learn.

Main duties of the job

You will be a valuable part of the Clinical Psychology team. You will provide a Clinical Psychology service via assessment, intervention and consultation. You will start to develop skills in delivering clinical supervision while receiving regular clinical supervision yourself. In your IATT, you will be part of a rich multi-disciplinary team including Nursing, Psychiatry, Occupational therapy, Physiotherapy and Speech and Language therapy. You will maintain and develop relationships with partner agencies and local providers. You will find that our team is experienced, cohesive and mutually supportive.

About us

About Devon Partnership Trust

We provide mental health & learning disability services, as well as a range of specialist & secure services for the wider south west region & nationally. We are passionate about promoting good mental health & wellbeing. We strive to use the expertise & resources within our organisation, and through our partnerships, to deliver high quality services that are safe & focused on people's recovery.

Our values

We not only recruit employees based on their qualifications & experience - we recruit individuals who possess and demonstrate the behaviours which underpin the core values of our organisation. These values include such attributes as showing a commitment to quality of care, improving lives of others, giving respect, dignity & compassion. We can bring those values to life in our everyday tasks by giving a smile; making time for people; challenging ourselves & others, & being open to new ideas.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer & applications are encouraged & welcomed from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics as governed by the Equality Act 2010. Part time & flexible working applications will be considered & supported, where possible. We particularly encourage applicants with lived experience of mental health & learning disabilities. We are a Disability Confident Employer.

Job description

Job responsibilities

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title: Clinical Psychologist

Band: Band 7

Directorate: Specialist Services

Department: Learning Disability

Base: Follaton House, Totnes, West Devon (1wte)

Responsible To: Chris Entwistle (Service Manager)

Dr Magnus Cormack (Clinical Psychology Practice and Development Lead)

Dr Julie Vane (Principal Clinical Psychologist)

Our vision: An inclusive society where the importance of mental health and wellbeing is universally understood and valued.

Our aims

• To deliver consistently high quality care and treatment
• To ensure our services are driven by the voices of people who use them
• To build a reputation as a recognised centre of excellence and expertise
• To attract and retain talented people and to create a great place to work, with a shared sense of pride and ambition
• To challenge discrimination and stigma and to champion recovery, inclusion and wellbeing
• To be an efficient, thriving and successful organisation with a sustainable future.

Job Purpose

To improve the psychological health & wellbeing of people with Learning disabilities and provide psychological services to people who use services and staff in Intensive Assessment and Treatment Team West (IATT West).

This will be achieved in this post by:

1. Ensuring the systematic provision of a high quality psychological service to people with Learning Disabilities in Devon as a key component of Health and Social Care Partnership services.

2. Providing clinical leadership, co-ordination and supervision for staff, trainees and volunteers employed by or attached to the psychology service.

3. Carrying a specialist caseload of clients, and providing advice and consultancy to patients and professionals.

4. Working autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the team.

5. Receiving regular professional and clinical supervision in accordance to Trust policy and to Professional Practice Guidelines set out by the Health Professions Council/British Psychological Society.

6. Contributing to the management of psychology services in the locality.

Duties and Responsibilities

Communication and Working Relationship Skills

To communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner complex and sensitive information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of people with learning disabilities under the services care. To communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner to people with learning disabilities who may present with behaviour that challenges service delivery or who may have complex neurological deficits which affect their understanding, communication and behaviour

Analytical and Judgemental Skills

To undertake highly skilled assessments and make highly skilled evaluations and decisions about assessment, treatment and discharge, and about the psychological management of patients (including management of risk).

Planning and Organisational Skills

To plan, organise and prioritise own workload, balancing the demands of patient care, support and guidance of carers and professionals, service research and developmental activities.

Responsibility for Patient/Client Care, Treatment and Therapy

To provide Psychological Therapies to the community team for people with learning disabilities, developing specialist psychological formulations and assessments of people with learning disabilities, formulating plans for their psychological treatments and implementing specialist psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups.

To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance, and consultation to other professionals, paid and non-paid carers contributing directly to a service users formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.

Responsibility for Policy and Service Development Implementation

Policy & service To follow policy guidance in own role and to identify and comment on proposed policy changes and service developments.

Responsibility for Finance, Equipment and Other Resources

Careful use of equipment and resources as provided

Responsibility for Human Resources, e.g. Supervision, Training, HR Advice and Management

There is a requirement to support learners on a regular basis which includes the achievement and updating of profession specific training to the required standard to fulfil this role.

In common with all Clinical Psychologists, the post holder will receive regular professional and clinical supervision in accordance to Trust policy and Professional Practice Guidance set out by the British Psychology Society and the Health Professions Council. The post holder will be supported by the senior psychologists within the speciality and will be expected to use the expertise of others within the service to further develop their clinical skills with this group of people who use services.

To supervise the work of Assistant Psychologists and/or Trainee Clinical Psychologists as required. To provide supervision and Consultancy to Health and Social Care colleagues within the IATT area.

Responsibility for Information Resources and Administrative Duties

To maintain accurate records

To be responsible for using an email account to generate, monitor, and respond to the e-mail traffic by which the Trust conducts much of its internal communication.

Responsibility for Research and Development

To undertake service relevant research and development activity agreed with the Learning Disability Health and Social Care Partnership, and to organise the R&D activities of assistants and/or trainees as required

Freedom to Act

The post holder is accountable for their own professional actions, acting within Trust policies and procedures and Professional Practice Guidelines.

To work autonomously within clinical professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the governance of psychological practice within the Health and Social Care Partnership for People with Learning Disabilities.

To provide expert and specialist clinical psychology intervention, expertise and advice guidance and consultation on psychological aspects of patient care to colleagues, other service providers, patients, supporters and families.

Any Other Specific Tasks Required

To ensure that skills and techniques relevant to clinical work and demands of this post are continuously updated.

Person Specification

Knowledge, Skills and Ability

Essential

• Knowledge of the Mental Health and Mental Capacity Act and their implications for both clinical practice and professional management in relation to people with learning disabilities and mental health
• Knowledge of relevant legislation in relation to people with learning disabilities and mental health
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological approaches in specific difficult to treat groups e.g. people who may present with challenging behaviour; personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities
• High level knowledge of theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies
• Knowledge and skills in risk assessment and risk management
• Skills in the ability to communicate effectively, verbally and in writing complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to people who use services, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and care system groups
• Ability to develop and maintain good working relationships with individuals and departments within and outside Devon Partnership Trust
• Ability to work independently and use initiative with a service consisting of a network of teams
• Ability to tolerate ambiguity and maintain own morale and motivation in challenging service delivery contexts

Qualifications

Essential

• Doctorate/Masters level or equivalent qualification in clinical/counselling
• Eligible for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council

Desirable

• Further training in assessment and interventions with people with learning disabilities
• IT skills

Experience

Essential

• Experience of psychological assessment and treatment of people who use services across the full range of care settings
• Experience of teaching, training and supervision

Desirable

• Experience of working with a wide range of people who use services across the who life course and who present with issues that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing issues, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse
• Experience gained during supervised training or working with people with lea
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