The post is an exciting opportunity to join the Acute Mental Health Service and be part of the psychology team working on the three acute wards and male only Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit at Hammersmith and Fulham Mental Health Unit. The post will be based on a male PICU.

The post-holder will work collaboratively and proactively with the multi-disciplinary team to manage risk robustly and to provide a psychological perspective to the care provided. Along with providing assessment, formulation and brief interventions to service users and their families. Reflective practice, team formulation, consultation, and post incident support are an integral part of the psychology service. The provision of team formulation and consultation will support the ward team to provide formulation driven care

The post holder will be part of a welcoming psychology team, consisting of clinical psychologists, counselling psychologists and psychotherapists. The service also offers placements for trainee clinical psychologists.

As a senior member of the psychology team the post holder will provide clinical supervision and line management to both qualified psychological staff, those in training and assistant psychologists/clinical associates in psychology. Along with providing clinical supervision to other members of the MDT as required.

Main duties of the job

- Providing a full and comprehensive psychology service to the acute ward providing assessments, formulation, and brief interventions (group and individual). Along with transition sessions and recommendations for psychological therapy to support safe discharge from the ward.

- Developing the multi-disciplinary team's psychological understanding of the service user's needs through teaching, training, team formulation, consultation, and supervision.

- Facilitating reflective practice for one of the wards on the unit.

- Line management and provision of clinical supervision to psychological therapists or other professionals.

- Opportunity for service development and research related to the service needs.

About us

West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse providers of mental health, community and social care in the UK.

Our 3,982 staff care for people in hospital and in the community, helping them to recover and go on to lead full and productive lives. We aim to be the best organisation of our kind in the country.

We provide care and treatment for more than 800,000 people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow, delivering services in the community (at home, in GP surgeries and care homes), hospital, specialist clinics and forensic (secure) units.

We'rerated good overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Together, we're committed to promoting hope and wellbeing, working with patients, service users, carers, families and partners across the communities we serve.

We are keen to ensure that our workforce reflects the community it serves, particularly in terms of ethnicity, gender, disability, LGBTQ+ and experience of mental illness.

Covid-19 vaccination is a condition of employment for this role, unless an exemption applies. The successful applicant may have contact with vulnerable service users and we will therefore seek proof of being fully vaccinated during the recruitment process.

Job description

Job responsibilities

The postholder will be responsible for providing a comprehensive psychology service on a male psychiatric intensive care unit/female acute ward. Service users are experiencing a mental health crisis and present with complex psychological needs, that require intensive treatment in a hospital setting. The psychology service provided will include direct and indirect interventions to service users and their families, developing the psychological thinking and skills of MDT colleagues underpinned by these guiding principles:

Trauma-informed care

Recovery focused

Formulation driven to inform the care planning of their admission including the length of stay and the discharge pathway

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Doctoral level training in clinical / counselling psychology or its equivalent, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS or an accredited psychological practitioner with extensive experience of working at a Band 8a level
• Or / And Professional registration as a practitioner psychologist with the Health and Social Care Professions Council or professional registration with UKCP/BABCP (Accred.)
• Formal training in the supervision of psychological therapies

Desirable

• Post-Doctoral training in clinical approaches relevant to work with complex and severe mental health difficulties such a 3rd wave cognitive behavioural therapies or systemic work.
• Pre-qualification training and qualifications in health or neuro psychology, research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.

Experience

Essential

• Substantial post qualification experience of working in mental health settings, including specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and inpatient settings, adult and older adult.
• Experience of working in acute mental health settings, working with a range of age ranges, cultures and clinical groups.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.

Desirable

• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
• Experience of having facilitated/co-facilitated psychological therapy groups
• Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts

Knowledge/skills

Essential

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, formulation, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
• Knowledge and awareness of the trauma informed approach.
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities, autistic spectrum disorders).
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.

Desirable

• Knowledge of Culture of Care
• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, e.g. complex psychometric testing and specialist neuropsychological testing

Employer details

Employer name

West London NHS Trust

Address

Acute Psychology Theraphy

SOUTHALL

UB1 3EU

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

222-LS-AMHS-272