Patients accessing the West of England Gender Identity Clinic experience a sense of gender diversity or incongruence between their sex assigned at birth and their gender identity, an associated significant level of distress and discomfort and some impairment in psychological wellbeing and social functioning. The post holder will work with a senior clinical psychologist and as part of a multi-disciplinary team that provides physiological, psychological and social interventions in the service.

The post holder will contribute to the development and provision of specialist psychological assessment, formulation and evidence based interventions to patients of the service. The post holder will also offer consultation to patients, to non-professional carers, significant others and to non-psychologist colleagues in the service. The post holder will also be required to contribute to the supervision and training of staff, service evaluation and development and to clinical research.

The position is based at The West of England Specialist Gender Identity Clinic, The Laurels, Dixs Field, Exeter, however, the post holder may be expected to work at times in satellite centres in other regional locations outside of the clinic in response to service need and development.

Main duties of the job

The principal purpose of the job is to improve the psychological health & wellbeing of people within the post holders specialist field of practice.

This will be achieved in this post through undertaking the following areas of responsibility:

To ensure the systematic provision of a high quality psychological service in specialist field of practice.

Carrying a specialist caseload of clients, and providing advice and consultancy to patients and professionals.

To work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within professional and Trust guidelines.

To contribute to service development and evaluation by undertaking and supporting others to undertake audit and research activities within the service.

The post holder with receive regular professional and clinical supervision in accordance to Trust policy and to Professional Practice Guidelines set out by the British Psychological Society or appropriate designated Professional Body.

Observe, and abide by all relevant Professional Codes of Conduct and Practice including the British Psychological Society. The post holder will be fully registered with the Health Professions Council as a condition of employment

About us

About Devon Partnership Trust

We provide mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity services, as well as a range of specialist & secure services for the wider south west region & nationally. We are passionate about promoting good mental health & wellbeing. We strive to use the expertise & resources within our organisation, and through our partnerships, to deliver high quality services that are safe & focused on people's recovery.

Our values

We not only recruit employees based on their qualifications & experience - we recruit individuals who possess and demonstrate the behaviours which underpin the core values of our organisation. These values include such attributes as showing a commitment to quality of care, improving lives of others, giving respect, dignity & compassion. We can bring those values to life in our everyday tasks by giving a smile; making time for people; challenging ourselves & others, & being open to new ideas.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer & applications are encouraged & welcomed from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics as governed by the Equality Act 2010. Part time & flexible working applications will be considered & supported, where possible. We particularly encourage applicants with lived experience of mental health & learning disabilities. We are a Disability Confident Leader Employer.

Job description Job responsibilities

Communication and Working Relationships

Patients, family and carers: To communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner with patients who may have specific difficulties in understand and/or communicating and who may be hostile, antagonistic or highly emotionally disturbed.

Multidisciplinary team colleagues: To work closely with colleagues in the multi-professional gender identity service on a day to day basis. To contribute to the teams engagement including liaising with a wide range of professionals and agencies.

Health & social care staff: To communicate with a wide range of health & social care staff in a range of settings in a highly skilled and sensitive manner, complex and sensitive information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of patients under the services care. To provide support & guidance in the application of psychological principles and techniques, and to foster reflective practice.

Senior managers & professional staff: To maintain and build good working relationships with senior professional staff and managers across the gender identity service and in DPT to foster a positive approach to gender service provision and to enable effective negotiation.

Planning and Organisation

The service: To plan and prioritise own workload, balancing the demands of patient care, support and guidance of carers and professionals and service research and development activities.

To contribute to the planning and organising of the psychological service within the gender identity service and to contribute to the development and improvement of provision of psychological services to best meet the organisations strategy and priorities.

The multidisciplinary service: To provide psychological knowledge to the multiprofessional planning, development and marketing of the gender identity service.

Responsibility for Judgement and Analysis

To provide specialist psychological expertise and advice.

To provide psychological therapies/other therapies, developing specialist psychological formulations and assessments of clients, formulating plans for their psychological treatment and implementing specialist psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups.

To support the Senior Psychologist and MDT by undertaking service development and redesign projects and coordinating the resulting work within the team.

Responsibility for Patient Care, Treatment and Therapy

Assessment, formulation & intervention: To make highly skilled evaluations and decisions about assessment, treatment and discharge, including the management of risk. To contribute to assessments to aid care pathway planning and to inform decisions about eligibility for gender service interventions. To formulate plans for psychological treatment and implementing specialist psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups and to demonstrate awareness of diversity issues. To maintain accurate and up to date client records

Consultation & guidance

To provide advice, guidance and consultation on psychological aspects of patient care to colleagues, other service providers, patients, supporters and families.

Policy, Service, Research, Innovation and Improvement

The post holder is accountable for their own professional actions, acting within Trust policies and procedures and Professional Practice Guidelines.

Policy & service: To support proposed changes for policy and for service development.

Information Resources and Administrative Duties

To maintain accurate records, compliant with Trust Practice Standards.

To be responsible for using an email account to generate, monitor, and respond to the e-mail traffic by which the Trust conducts much of its internal communication.

Responsibility for Research and Development

To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in clinical work within the gender identity service.

To support project work including specific areas of audit, research or service evaluation

As a clinician to be responsible for collecting clinical practice and outcome data that contributes to building practice based evidence and service evaluation.

Freedom to Act

The post holder is accountable for their own professional actions, acting within Trust policies and procedures and Professional Practice Guidelines

To work autonomously within clinical professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the governance of psychological practice within the locality/specialty. Interpretation of professional and Trust guidelines, and implementing policies in conjunction with peers, Senior Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Team Leader.

To provide specialist psychological expertise and advice guidance and consultation on psychological aspects of patient care to colleagues, other service providers, patients, supporters and families.

Any Other Specific Tasks Required

To ensure all clinical care and treatment provided by psychologists is carried out under appropriate supervision and leadership.

To ensure that all relevant staff groups continuously update the skills and techniques relevant to their clinical work.

Person Specification Qualifications Essential

• Qualified Clinical Psychologist (D.Clin) and eligible for Chartered Clinical status in the British Psychological Society including specifically: training in models of psychopathology, psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology and in research design, methodology and data analysis
• Registration with HCPC
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by BPS

Desirable

• Training in gender and sexual diversity

Knowledge and skills Essential

• Broad knowledge and familiarity of mental health and other specialist services; and of the services in the NHS where psychology and psychological therapies are commonly applied.
• Knowledge of theory and practice of at least two distinct psychological models/approaches and preferably including cognitive and behavioural, systemic and narrative and/or humanistic and existential approaches
• Ability to work independently and use initiative within a service consisting of a network of teams.
• Ability to work as a member of a clinical team.
• Ability to tolerate ambiguity, and maintain own morale and motivation in challenging service delivery contexts.
• Ability to interact with people from a range of backgrounds and unconventional expressions of gender and sexual identities, who may also require understanding of their experience of mental or physical distress and disability
• Have experience of, or interest in marginalised identities and or gender and sexual diversity
• Ability to use clinical and professional supervision effectively and in particular in relation to reflective practice
• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups
• Ability to communicate effectively verbally, nonverbally and in writing complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to patients, families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside of the NHS
• Ability to integrate complex data; make highly skilled evaluations and decisions; and take a long term perspective.

Desirable

• Knowledge of the psychological needs of patients experiencing gender and sexual diversity, a sense of incongruence or dysphoria
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to this patient group and to mental health
• Knowledge of relevant British Psychological Society, American Psychological Association and Royal College of Psychiatrists professional and clinical guidelines for working with gender and sexual diversity and gender dysphoria
• Knowledge of the World Professional Association of Transgender Health Standards of Care and the interventions available to people who experience gender dysphoria in the UK
• Knowledge of the social and political history of gender and sexual diversity and how it may be related to healthcare
• Project management skills / experience

Experience Essential

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369-C9369-23-1260