Principal Clinical

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Full-time, Job share, Flexible working

We are looking for an experienced, enthusiastic and dynamic principal grade clinical/counselling psychologist specialising in working with older people wanting to develop their leadership and clinical skills to join our service in South Powys. Applicants who do not currently meet all the essential criteria for the Band 8b role are encouraged to apply and if successful, will be appointed under Agenda for Change Annex 21. This is a full-time position and is an excellent opportunity for an 8a qualified psychologist looking for career development in Older Adult Services.

Main duties of the job

The principal psychologist, in supporting the consultant in older adult psychology services, will play a key role in the day-to-day management and leadership of the service in South Powys, and will work with the Older Adult Community Mental Health team (OACMHT) and Memory Assessment service (MAS) with support from an Assistant Psychologist. Input will also be provided into one older adult inpatient ward. The psychologist will provide leadership on psychological knowledge and approaches for the staff teams across these services.

Job responsibilities

The role will also include opportunities for service development, including contributing to the development of clinical pathways, research and service evaluation projects, and service improvement initiatives.

The department consists of a small, friendly, and supportive team of colleagues with regular ongoing peer support and supervision. We have strong links with the South and North clinical psychology training programmes, and there are opportunities to offer trainee placements.

There are excellent opportunities for professional development, and we are interested in candidates who are willing to undertake further professional training in evidence based psychological therapies such as CAT, EMDR, ACT and systemic/family therapy as the service is keen to expand our provision of specialist psychological assessment and interventions to older people.

Flexible working arrangements and job share/ part time hours will be considered. A relocation package is also available.

The ability to travel is essential as clinics are offered in various locations. The ability to speak Welsh is desirable for this post; Welsh and/or English speakers are equally welcome to apply.

Person Specification

Qualifications/Experience

Essential

Qualifications and/or Knowledge Honours degree in Psychology Post-graduate Doctorate degree in Clinical or Counselling Psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS Eligibility for Chartered status with the BPS HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist Training in clinical supervision (or equivalent experience) Training and qualification in leadership Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology Familiarity with key strategy documents, policies, and procedures, together with knowledge of legislation in relation to mental health services in Wales Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS and HCPC Awareness of a wide range of therapeutic psychological models and an advanced understanding of at least two

Providing supervision, to Clinical/Counselling Psychologists both qualified and in training; and to Assistant and graduate Psychologists Broad experience of delivering teaching and training Experience of undertaking doctoral level research, service evaluations and ongoing audit activity in addition to advising and supervising others' research and audit activities Experience of NHS Wales recruitment and selection processes

Substantial assessed experience of working as a qualified and senior Clinical Psychologist, normally including significant post qualification experience within the designated speciality where the post is located, or relevant transferable skills Assessed experience of working effectively as a qualified and senior level Clinical/Counselling Psychologist in the designated speciality, or relevant transferable skills Experience of working in community and inpatient settings Experience of neuropsychological assessment Significant experience of working as a qualified Clinical or Counselling Psychologist in a range of mental health settings with a wide variety of client groups, presenting with problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity Advanced levels of clinical expertise in at least one area of clinical practice within the Older Adult Psychology specialty field Substantial experience of providing individual and group supervision and consultation to other professional staff groups

Ability to use a high level of interpersonal and communication skills to convey and receive highly complex/sensitive information effectively, requiring empathy and reassurance in highly emotive, sometimes hostile atmospheres Ability to undertake comprehensive psychological assessments, interpret highly complex material, construct psychological formulations, develop specialised individualised intervention plans, and monitor and evaluate the intervention appropriately Ability to work collaboratively in multidisciplinary settings

Ability to communicate, highly technical, sensitive material verbally and in writing to clients, their families, carers, and other professionals within and outside the NHS Ability to tolerate direct exposure to highly distressing/emotionally demanding situations and interactions Good presentation skills Ability to create and maintain effective working relationships Ability to tolerate stress and anxiety that may be associated with service users' challenging, aggressive or risk-taking behaviour, whilst maintaining a high level of professionalism at all times Ability to make clinical and service-related judgements involving complex facts requiring analysis, interpretation and comparison of several options Ability to critically evaluate, disseminate and apply research evidence relating to clinical effectiveness and service development Ability to formulate solutions and plan and organise a range of clinical or service-related activities and programmes which impact across services / agencies

Able to take action based on own interpretation of clinical/ professional / organisational / occupational policies which impact the Adult Psychology and other services, seeking advice as necessary Able to develop proposals for service developments Able to take on responsibility for the development of specific service initiatives within Older Adult Psychology Services in Powys Computer literate with the ability to use standard and specialist software Capable of working within organisational policies Ability to adhere to BPS and HCPC professional guidelines and be accountable for own professional actions

Skills

Essential

Able to take action based on own interpretation of clinical/ professional / organisational / occupational policies which impact the Adult Psychology and other services, seeking advice as necessary Able to develop proposals for service developments Able to take on responsibility for the development of specific service initiatives within Older Adult Psychology Services in Powys Computer literate with the ability to use standard and specialist software Capable of working within organisational policies Ability to adhere to BPS and HCPC professional guidelines and be accountable for own professional actions

Skills continued

Desirable

Specialist training, in for example EMDR, CBT, systemic family therapy, CAT, research design & Methodology

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