We are looking for an enthusiastic and experienced Senior Clinical Psychologist with a keen interest in service development and delivery to join our thriving and innovative multi-disciplinary Emotional & Behavioural Team (EBT).

Luton is a fast-growing hub and multi-ethnic community within a half hour train journey from central London, with the clinic a five-minute walk from the station. The Trust has an arrangement for 50% discount on season ticket fares with Thameslink, the rail provider, for its staff.

Luton Specialist CAMHS is part of ELFT (East London Foundation Trust), which also provides CAMHS services in East London and Bedfordshire and has an active child psychotherapy forum.

Main duties of the job

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Senior Clinical Psychologist to bring a psychological perspective in clinical thinking to the senior team and E & B pathway. They will provide guidance on evidence informed therapies that can help address the capacity of and demand on services, and in particular the growing complex challenges that children, young people and their families face, and how we as a service can most effectively respond.

The post holder will lead on service audits, quality improvement projects and clinical outcomes, and ensure the findings of audits inform service development, based on the needs of the diverse communities in Luton.

Responsibilities will include direct clinical work and case management of complex and high risk cases, line management and clinical supervision. The senior role is integral to contributing towards achieving the wider EBT and Luton CAMH Service objectives.

The post holder will support the Clinical team lead of the EBT and the Psychological Therapies Leads within the Luton CAMH Service across the teams and pathways and contribute to senior management meetings.

About us

Luton CAMHS is a well-established multidisciplinary service that provides a comprehensive stepped model of care for children, young people and their families in the locality. CAMH Access Services provide a first step level of early intervention (mild to moderate) mental health care through GP practices, schools, provisions and Early Help services.

For our second level of care we provide four discrete pathways (for moderate to severe mental health): emotional & behavioural difficulties in childhood and adolescence (EBT), adolescent complex and crisis care (AMHT), neurodevelopmental child & adolescent care (NDT), and our county wide eating disorders care (CEDS). The aim of the Emotional and Behavioural Team (EBT) is to deliver a wide range of mental health assessments and treatments to children and young people between the ages of 0-18.

Job description Job responsibilities

• Be responsible for the provision of highly specialist psychological assessments of often highly complex children, young people and their families referred based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of data arising from complex 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.
• Be responsible for the contextualized formulation of plans for the formal psychological treatment and / or management of the clients mental health problems based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the clients problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.

Person Specification Education/ Qualification/ Training Essential

• Postgraduate (Doctoral) Training in Clinical Psychology leading to Practitioner Psychologist Registration with the HPC, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
• Post-doctoral training in supervision.

Experience Essential

• Substantial post qualification experience within the specialty of child and adolescent clinical psychology- assessed experience of working at an equivalent to Band 8a level in child and adolescent mental health.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, in-patient and residential care settings
• Experience of liaison and joint work with other statutory, including Social Services and Education, and voluntary agencies, including crisis management.
• Experience of the application of psychology and delivering services in different cultural contexts
• Experience of teaching, training and professional and clinical supervision
• Experience of assessing adolescents for psychotherapy including risk assessment.
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care co-ordinator and also within the context of a multi-disciplinary care plan.

Knowledge and Skills Essential

• Masters or Doctorate level knowledge of clinical psychology including highly developed knowledge of lifespan developmental psychology, models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, and two or more distinct psychological therapies.
• Knowledge of legislation and its implications for both clinical practice and professional management in relation to the health and welfare of children and adolescents and mental health.
• Specialist knowledge Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy especially as relevant to adolescents and their families.
• Specialist knowledge - Complex Cases Highly developed knowledge of severe child and adolescent mental health problems, including comprehensive multi-disciplinary assessment, systems of psychiatric classification and intervention.
• Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialist psychological therapies for complex presentations in adolescence e.g., psychosis, OCD, eating disorders, severe depression, neuro-developmental disorders and their assessment, dual diagnosis.
• Communication & Relationship skills A high level ability to communicate effectively at both a written and oral level complex, highly technical and clinically sensitive information to adolescent clients, their families, carers and a wide range of lay and professional persons within and outside the NHS.
• Able to use highly specialist skills of empathy and diplomacy to overcome significant barriers to understanding and acceptance often in a highly emotive and sometimes hostile atmosphere.

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