An opportunity has arisen for a Practitioner Psychologist to lead the Heart and Lung Transplant Psychology Service based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital as part of University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) NHS Foundation Trust.

The Heart and Lung transplant service works with patients with advanced heart failure and respiratory disease. As a psychologist, your role will be to offer a range of assessment/intervention including pre-transplant assessments and working with patients on the national waiting list for transplant, post-transplant recipients, and those living with an LVAD.

The applicant will ideally have experience of working in physical health settings (particularly acute medical settings), but our principal aim is to recruit a psychologist with the right passion and skills to continue to lead and develop a gold-standard service. There is ample opportunity to offer direct psychological interventions, whilst working collaboratively with the MDT. The service is also due to be expanding to be supported by a band 7/8a role.

The role provides an exciting opportunity to collaborate and network with other psychologists working in similar services nationally. You will be welcomed by Heart and Lung Transplant colleagues who are keen to support in the continued development of the service. You will also be a valued colleague in our Clinical Health Psychology Service and the Psychological Professionals workforce at Birmingham & Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Main duties of the job

You will need to be able to demonstrate a highly developed understanding of the psychological impact of heart and respiratory failure and how this may interact with pre-existing vulnerabilities. With transplant recipients being under the care of the transplant service for life, specific consideration will need to be given to how to tailor psychology input accordingly, along with the ability to work flexibly across outpatient and inpatient settings.

In additional to patient-facing work (across a range of modalities/settings), you will be working closely with doctors, nurses and allied health professionals to provide high quality care, and you will need strong skills in consultation, supervision and teaching as part of our multidisciplinary teamwork.

Our mission is to provide excellent psychological care and support for patients and staff, which is compassionate, inclusive and committed.If you thrive on challenge, creativity and a dynamic and supportive work environment, in which psychological thinking is highly valued in the wider multi-disciplinary teams, along with the opportunity to shape the future of the service, this is the job for you.

This is a 22.5 hours per week post and whilst there may be some flexibility in how the hours are performed, you will be required to attend a weekly Pre-Transplant Assessment MDT meeting at 8am on Thursdays and Wednesday/Thursday are likely to be days that are required from the postholder.

About us

Welcome to Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. Our 4000 clinical and support staff help us to improve mental health wellbeing and meet the needs of the 70,000 people we serve each year. We provide a range of mental healthcare services across Birmingham and Solihull, as well as specialised services nationally. We also offer medical, nursing and psychology training and are proud of our international reputation for both research and innovation.

Our population is culturally diverse, characterised in places by high levels of deprivation which create an increasing demand for our services and a necessity for us to make sure everyone can access the help they need. We are a team of compassionate, inclusive and committed people working together to provide excellent care to support our community. If you are looking for a place to belong, where you can make a real difference to people's lives, join our team where our warm welcome is waiting for you.

Job description

Job responsibilities

For further information about the main responsibilities please view the attached job description and person specification.

Person Specification

Training and Qualifications

Essential

• Doctorate in Clinical/Counselling/Health Psychology. The completion of which includes the study of models of psychopathology, psychometric and neuropsychological assessment, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
• Registered as a Clinical/Counselling/Health Psychologist with the Health and Care Professionals Council

Desirable

• Post-doctoral training in two or more highly specialist areas of psychological practice that are relevant in a Clinical Health Psychology setting.
• Significant management and or leadership training.

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Experience , knowledge, and skills in working with people with physical health conditions.
• An understanding of the specific needs and difficulties of people with advanced heart failure and/or respiratory disease
• Substantial post qualification experience of working with a variety of client groups of working age with wide-ranging presenting problems that reflect the full spectrum of clinical complexity and severity.
• Relevant post-qualification experience, and formal training in supervision, enabling the post holder to independently supervise clinical psychology trainees in accordance with relevant criteria adopted by local University Clinical/Counselling Psychology Training Course criteria
• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
• Experience of representing psychology within the context of multi-disciplinary care.

Desirable

• Experience of working in a Cardiothoracic or related service.
• Experience of working in acute physical health settings.
• Experience of representing psychology within the context of multi-disciplinary care (particularly physical health settings).
• Experience of adapting psychological therapy to physical health conditions and settings.
• Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.
• Experience of service development and quality improvement.

Skills

Essential

• Skills in providing consultation and advice from a psychological perspective to members of other professional and non-professional groups.
• In depth knowledge of clinical governance and clinical risk management.
• Evidence of continuing professional development consistent with expected standards of the HCPC and the British Psychological Society and relevant subdivisions (Division of Clinical Psychology, Division of Counselling Psychology, etc.) and other relevant professional bodies.
• Highly developed skills, commensurate with doctoral level training and/or post qualification training and experience, in the formulation of highly complex problems from a psychological perspective and in the implementation of highly specialist psychological therapies, interventions and management techniques that are appropriate for use with highly complex presenting problems. Able to deliver established/evidenced based psychological therapy to fidelity.

Desirable

• Experience of effective redesign and improvement methodologies.

Employer details

Employer name

Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Mindelsohn Way

Birmingham

B15 2GW

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

436-6492175