This is an exciting opportunity to work in a large Clinical Health Psychology team integrated into an acute hospital Trust and work in two clinical specialties: the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Service and Renal and Transplant Medicine service.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will provide a highly specialist clinical psychology service to patients who access the Myalgic Encaphalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Service (0.5wte) and Renal and Transplant Service (0.5wte).

As an integrated member of the respective medical teams, the post holder will deliver direct assessment and intervention alongside consultation and supervision to the wider team. The post holder will be required to work with patients, families across a range of contexts including acute medical wards and community settings as needed. The postholder will be expected to work with their psychology colleagues to scope current service needs and work with the medical team on a sustainable programme of psychological support.

About us

OUH Department of Clinical Health Psychology

The OUH Clinical Health Psychology department is a well-established team that supports a wide range of specialities across the acute hospital Trust.

The team has close academic links with the University of Oxford through the Clinical Psychology training programme and other research groups across the Medical Sciences Division. The department is research active and encourages team members to pursue their academic and research interests. The department actively supports CPD activity through study leave and funding for training courses.

Job description

Job responsibilities

RESPONSIBILITIES

CLINICAL

• To undertake highly specialist psychological assessment and communicate a clinical opinion in order to inform and/or develop a case formulation to guide psychological or surgical intervention/consultation, based on analysis and interpretation of highly complex information from a variety of sources including clinical interview, direct observation, questionnaire measures, up-to-date literature review, psychological assessment (including assessment of mental state and psychological formulation drawing on a variety of models), psychometric assessment and with regard to other medical investigations if relevant. To give an opinion based on this in cases where professional opinion may differ, and in which a judgment has to be made about the significance of data where data may be unreliable/missing.
• As an integral part of a psychological assessment, to simultaneously exercise well-developed manual skills (i.e. accurate manipulation of a wide range of psychological test materials, including physical materials), with which accuracy is important and it is often necessary to take account of interfering factors (such as patient distractibility, or level of comprehension).
• To develop specialised plans for formal psychological intervention, based on the individual assessment and formulation, and making use of an informed judgment of evidence of treatment efficacy and psychological principles.
• To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, their families and carers, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
• To communicate effectively, empathically and clearly with team members and other medical professionals regarding psychological or medical matters which will regularly be highly complicated (such as explanation of multi-faceted clinical formulations including psychological principles, medical factors, personal and family psychological factors, and the implications of these), highly emotionally charged (such as eliciting/discussing experiences of trauma or childhood abuse), and which may require managing difficulties in understanding (such as cognitive deficits, or unconscious denial of psychological conflicts)
• Skilled at communicating with patients who may at times present as hostile or who are highly anxious or psychotic.
• To communicate effectively and clearly with clinical colleagues regarding psychological assessments and interventions by organizing and putting across the highly complex information involved in a relevant and usable form (which may for example have a bearing on the MDT treatment plan, or on which opinions may differ) in formal written and spoken reports, as well as in day-to day liaison and consultation.
• In carrying out the duties of the post, to exercise very high levels of mental concentration for prolonged periods (for example in consecutive psychotherapy sessions), regularly requiring sustained emotional concentration (for example in communicating highly distressing news, or eliciting/discussing experiences of trauma or childhood abuse), while sitting in a constrained position for extended periods.
• In exceptional circumstance (for example, when working with a person experiencing a mental health crisis or responding to an urgent / emergency situation, to be be able to cope with and manage challenging behaviour. This can include verbal abuse and risk of physical aggression (for example from people with behavioural problems or enduring mental illness).
• To exercise standard keyboard skills, and operate electronic equipment such as data projectors and video cameras.
• To record activity and outcome data as required by Psychological Medicine Senior Management Team and the medical services.
• To be involved in independent assessments for potential transplant donors in accordance with BTS standards.

CONSULTATION

• To provide expertise and specialist psychological advice and consultation to other professionals in relation to patient assessment, diagnosis, treatment and care (for example advising MDT colleagues on psychological principles and research, or acting as consultant to AHP colleagues in understanding and managing challenging behaviour).
• To share best practice with Psychologists working in other renal and transplant services across the UK and to contribute to national guidelines and policy statements regarding psychology and renal and transplant.
• To share best practice with Psychologists working in other ME/CFS services across the UK and contribute to national guidelines and policy statements regarding psychology and ME/CFS.

RESEARCH

• To take responsibility for keeping up to date with relevant clinical research.
• To identify, initiate and complete clinical research as a routine activity (including psychological aspects of amputation or collaborating actively with MDT colleagues on research projects).
• To carry out and co-operate in audit/service-related projects (for example designing the collection and analysis of psychological outcome measures for patients seen in the renal and transplant service).
• To use computer software in developing and operating systems for storage and analysis of data and creation of reports for colleagues in relation to audit activities and clinical research.
• To supervise research and development activities of doctoral trainee Clinical Psychologists, and Assistant Psychologists as appropriate.
• To liaise and cooperate with psychologists working nationally in other Renal and Transplant services, to ensure analogous audit data collection, for comparison and presentation.

TEACHING, TRAINING AND SUPERVISION

• To supervise doctoral trainee Clinical Psychologists, and be responsible for their training in all aspects of Clinical Psychology.
• To supervise Assistant Psychologists as necessary, and any other psychologists or professional colleagues associated with the post.
• To provide teaching on Clinical Psychology on the Oxford Training Course in Clinical Psychology as appropriate.
• To provide teaching and training to other professional colleagues/staff groups on psychological matters as appropriate.
• To offer clinical supervision to the kidney patient advisor.

ADMINISTRATIVE/ORGANISATIONAL

• To attend Renal and Transplant Service, ME/CFS Service and Clinical Health Psychology team meetings.
• To participate in the efficient day to day running and development of the Renal and Transplant and ME/CFS Services.
• To maintain accurate clinical notes and documentation for professional and legal requirements in line with Occupational Health procedures.
• To take part in service/departmental policy implementation and development (by for example actively working on policy implementation, as well as raising issues and proposing and discussing changes).
• To plan and organize the work of trainees, and assistants as appropriate, in addition to their own caseload, research and other responsibilities and liaise as necessary with other colleagues.

Person Specification

Training and Qualifications

Essential

• Honours degree in psychology at 2:1 or above
• Post-graduate Doctoral level qualification in Clinical Psychology (or equivalent for those trained pre 1996).
• Post-doctoral level of knowledge of Clinical Psychology, and corresponding high level of skills in assessment and treatment, as expected from the necessary qualifications and in keeping with the job requirements
• Post-qualification experience of clinical practice with a high degree of autonomy
• HCPC Registration

Experience

Essential

• Experience of clinical work in a relevant setting
• Experience with individual work, families and indirect work through MDT colleagues or other carers
• Experience of clinical work within an acute hospital or medical setting

Desirable

• Experience of working in a clinical health psychology service

Employer details

Employer name

Oxford University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Churchill Hospital

Old Road

Oxford

OX3 7LE

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