Would you like to join and lead a psychology and occupational therapy team in older people's mental health community services and help shape the way we work in the current climate. There is an exciting opportunity for a Band 8B Locality Lead Psychologist to lead locally on the development and delivery of the Stepped Care Therapies Service for older people. The post allows for varied clinical work complimented by managerial endeavour allowing the post holder to lead locally but also feed into Directorate and county wide initiatives and contribute to the ongoing development of Psychology provision for Older People's mental health.

Main duties of the job

This team is one of three in the county that sit alongside social workers, psychiatrists and a memory assessment service. In Cambridge and Ely we provide clinical input and collaboration with staff from 5 neighbourhood teams (comprising of mental health practitioners as well as district nurses and therapists). There are opportunities for not only undertaking clinical interventions but delivering training, providing supervision to the wider team and developing combined interventions/approaches for people with long term conditions.

About us

Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health & social care organisation dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion to improve the health & wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting & empowering them to lead a fulfilling life.

Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services not only via inpatient and primary care setting but also with the community. These services include Children, Adult & Older Peoples mental & physical health, Forensic & Specialist mental health, Learning Disabilities, Primary Care & Liaison psychiatry, Substance misuse, Social care, Research & Development.

To achieve our goal, we look to recruit high calibre candidates that share our vision & values. As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all sectors of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including disabled people & members of our ethnic minorities & LGBTQ+ communities.

Job description Job responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities

Clinically there is the opportunity to work with: anxiety of all different aetiologies, depression, psychosis, eating disorders, trauma survivors, emotional dysregulation, amongst other functional conditions as well as numerous and varied organic issues such as atypical and young onset dementia. The variety of clinical aetiology is then complimented by the manner in which we work; individually, with family and other caring systems, consultation with our Trust colleagues and we are looking to develop therapeutic groups to meet patient needs. The service has also recently adapted delivery to include remote appointments. The service has a good history of providing further development opportunities for dedicated clinicians to evolve their skill sets through formal training and supporting individual clinician projects (for example, the delivery of Trust wide Equality and Diversity sessions to raise awareness of Transgender issues).

The qualified Clinical Psychologist (registered with the Health and Care Professions Council) will have extensive experience of working in a variety of mental health settings. In particular, they will have experience of working with older people with mental health problems, within community multi-disciplinary team. They will provide clinical supervision and have delegated management responsibilities in the service. Interventions provided by the post holder will be on an individual or a group basis, utilising enhanced clinical skills.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust are committed toproviding high quality, effective services, working in partnership with service users towards recovery. The Trust actively supports continuing professional development and has a robust annual appraisal process. The post holder will be supported through regular clinical and managerial supervision, peer support and supervision structures. There are Trust wide psychology CPD events, and active participation with the regional PSIGE/FPOP group. We have strong links with the University of East Anglia for both CPD and for supporting the training and development of Clinical Psychologists.

Services at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust have been rated as good following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.

Person Specification Education/Qualification Essential

• Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology
• Registration with Health Professions Council as a clinical psychologist.
• Undertaken training in the supervision of trainee clinical psychologists.

Desirable

• Chartered Clinical Psychologist
• Undertaken post-doctoral training in one or more relevant additional specialised areas of psychological practice.
• Other relevant academic qualifications to Master's or doctoral level

Experience Essential

• Experience of working as a qualified Specialist Clinical Psychologist within mental health setting(s).
• 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
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment
• Experience of the application of psychology in different contexts.
• Experience of teaching, training and professional and clinical supervision including at least three trainee clinical psychologists.
• Experience of leading a service development / improvement project within mental health services.

Desirable

• Experience of working as a qualified psychologist with older people with mental health problems.
• Experience of representing psychology within the context of multi-disciplinary care.
• Experience of assessing and treating clients across the full range of care settings.
• Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
• Experience of leadership in a clinical context
• Experience in the use of remote platforms (such as Attend Anywhere) for assessment and intervention

Skills & Abilities Essential

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, psychological formulation, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Skills in individual and group work and in programme planning.
• Planning and organising skills for caseload management.
• Skills in self-management, including time-management.
• Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information, including contentious and highly distressing information
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and its implications for both clinical practice and professional management in relation to the client group.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups
• Advanced keyboard skills.
• Able to contain and work with high levels of distress from clients. Interpersonally calm and able to defuse difficult, volatile situations.
• Able to contain and work with organisational stress. Able to tolerate ambiguity and to take decisions in situations of incomplete information.
• 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 exercise appropriate levels of self-care and to monitor own state

Knowledge & Understanding Essential

• Good understanding of other professionals' theoretical perspectives of this client group.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS and HCPC.
• Ability to identify, and employ, as appropriate, clinical governance mechanisms, including regular supervision, for the support and maintenance of clinical practice

Desirable

• Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of highly specialised psychological therapies and assessment methodologies

Physical requirements Essential

• Ability to sit for prolonged periods for client contacts

Other Essential

• Ability to travel independently in the community
• Motivated towards personal and professional development with a strong CPD record

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

310-OPAC-4256378-A