This is an exciting opportunity for a 0.6wte Band 7 Clinical/Specialist Psychologist to join the headache psychology team within the Headache team at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.

The headache teams provide a national tertiary service to patients with complex and chronic headache presentations (including chronic migraine and cluster headache). The teams take referrals from all over the UK, and patients often have complex needs.

Please note, we are only able to accept candidates who hold HCPC registration as a practitioner psychologist (clinical/counselling), or are soon to receive this registration

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work alongside clinical psychologist, consultants, nurses and other medical colleagues.

The post involves specialist assessment and intervention for patients with complex headache presentations, providing evidence based psychological interventions to help them reduce the impact of their headaches on them and their lives and adapt to living with their conditions.

Part of the work will include assessing patients for suitability on the Occipital Nerve Stimulator surgery pathway. Interventions will be carried out on an individual and group basis. There will also be opportunity to support service development.

About us

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is one of the most complex NHS trusts in the UK, serving a large and diverse population. We provide academically led acute and specialist services, to people from the local area, from throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. Our vision is to deliver top-quality patient care, excellent education, and world-class research.

We provide first-class acute and specialist services across eight sites:

• University College Hospital (incorporating the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Wing)
• National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
• Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals
• University College Hospital Grafton Way Building
• Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine
• University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre
• The Hospital for Tropical Diseases
• University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street

We are dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of many complex illnesses. UCLH specialises in women's health and the treatment of cancer, infection, neurological, gastrointestinal and oral disease. It has world class support services including critical care, imaging, nuclear medicine and pathology.

At UCLH, we have a real 'One Team' ethos, and our values - safety, kindness, teamwork and improving, are central to the way we work. This is supported by our staff, who voted us as the #1 NHS Acute Trust to work for in the whole of England.

Job description

Job responsibilities

For the full Person Specification and more information regarding the main responsibilities of this role, please refer to the attached Job Description.

We are committed to sustainability and have pledged to become a carbon net zero health service, embedding sustainable practice throughout UCLH. We have set an ambitious target of net zero for our direct emissions by 2031 and indirect emissions by 2040.

Person Specification

Knowledge & Qualifications

Essential

• Honours degree in psychology or related disciplines, and a Doctorate and/or PhD level in clinical psychology or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS or Counselling psychology
• Registered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist, and evidence of continuing professional development as required by the HCPC.

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working with a wide variety of patient groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity including outpatient, community, primary care, inpatient and residential care settings and in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems.
• Experience of collaboratively working within multi-disciplinary team settings and providing consultation, teaching and training to colleagues.

Desirable

• An interest and experience of working with patients with chronic pain conditions.

Communication & Customer Care

Essential

• Demonstrates understanding of the needs of patients with acute and chronic disability
• Demonstrates professional and effective verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to communicate sensitive information to cognitively impaired and/or psychologically vulnerable people and their carers, who may have significant barriers to understanding or acceptance
• To deliver psychological therapy across cultural and other differences.
• Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team, contributing to effective team functioning and holding team roles.
• Ability to develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic meetings.
• Ability to manage emotionally stressful situations such as working with victims of abuse or trauma.
• Ability to manage verbal aggression and hostility directed at self.

Personal & people development

Essential

• Ability to establish good rapport and professional working relationships within multidisciplinary teams and other agencies for extended periods of time
• Ability to show initiative and utilise clinical supervision effectively
• Ability to identify areas for own personal / professional development through highly developed reflective practice skills and integrate knowledge gained into own practice
• Effective time management and ability to prioritise own workload
• Ability to autonomously manage own caseload
• Ability to complete clinical and research duties in an autonomous fashion, under appropriate supervision

Desirable

• Ability to represent clinical psychology in multi-disciplinary group settings and within specialist clinical services

Academic and research

Essential

• Interest in contributing to the Department's research programme

Quality and service improvement

Essential

• Evidence of working effectively in multidisciplinary teams

Information processing (IT skills)

Essential

• Competent IT skills (word processing, spreadsheets, statistical packages)

Personal Qualities

Essential

• A high level of interpersonal and communication skills.
• Must be able to cope with highly emotive and psychologically challenging demands of working with patients for long periods of time.
• Must be able to communicate effectively with a wide range of people in a sensitive, caring and non-judgemental manner.
• Ability to contain and work with organisation stress and 'hold' stress of others.

Employer details

Employer name

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Address

National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery

Queen Square

London

WC1N 3BG

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

309-UCLH-3961-C