Assistant Psychologist

Band 5 Assistant Psychologist

A vacancy has arisen in this clinical health psychology service, with the current post holder having successfully moved onto clinical psychology training courses. The post is based in the Outlook service which provides highly specialist psychological support for people with appearance-related distress, also with a work profile that involves direct therapeutic work with clients and audit/evaluation responsibilities regarding the service.

The successful applicant will have a good honours degree in psychology (upper second or higher) who is building relevant experience for an NHS career. It is an advantage (but not essential) to have experience as a psychology assistant or comparable work experience. If you decide to apply please list at the start of your personal statement, in order of importance, what you consider to be the main things that make you a good candidate for this work. Please also make clear the best way of contacting you. If we receive a large number of applicants this will close early.

Supporting the clinical work of the qualified psychologists working in the Outlook team. This involves organising evaluation forms and data processing, some direct client work, leading on the maintenance of the website and other media for informing and preparing Outlook clients for their first contact and afterwards. Also working on support materials used by the clinical team.

The post holder will have strong competence in administration of psychometrics, managing a database, statistical methods of evaluating data and presentation of audit material.

The post holder will be a member of the Outlook team of 2 part time Clinical Psychologists and 2 part time secretaries. The client group is primarily out-patients who have been referred from a wide range of specialist services, but mostly from plastic surgery, dermatology, cancer services and orthopaedic surgery. This team is unique in the NHS in the sense of having a main focus on appearance concerns arising mainly from injury, congenital conditions and from the effects of surgery. The service serves as an exemplar and is closely linked to the research work of the Centre for Appearance research group at the University West of England and the charitable work of' Changing Faces'.

There is flexibility in partnership with the role of a Psychology Assistant in NMSK and another in Cancer Psychology, allowing cross-over to increase the breadth of experience. The role involves working closely within a multidisciplinary teams and predominantly a face-to-face presence across the working week. The role represents an excellent opportunity for professional development in applied psychology, usually towards clinical psychology training. There is a strongly supported by supervision from a clinical psychologist with scope for additional in-service training matched to the post holder's professional development as well as the demands of the job. As such this is aimed at individuals interested in developing within the post for at least a year

The Post Holder will provide specialist input to the Outlook service for appearance related distress and work flexibly across the ASCR and NMSK divisions.

The post holder provides psychological expertise for the care of patients at any stages of the care pathway in Outlook but relates particularly to the preparation for and evaluation of interventions undertaken by the service. The role involves helping to maintain and improve our systems of informing, supporting and engaging with the client group served by Outlook. It involves advanced know-how for using multi-media, data processing and statistical analysis. It also involves:

Providing direct client support, following intervention protocols, supported by prior training and on-going supervision from a clinical psychologist

Providing training, liaison and consultation to professional colleagues jointly with team members or as an individual representing the service.

Providing the above expertise to other areas of the service as agreed with the professional lead.

Actively undertaking regular clinical supervision from senior practitioners within the division to maintain post-qualification professional development.

The individual provides some input into the Clinical Health Psychology service within the Division of Anaesthesia, Surgery, Critical Care and Renal Medicine (ASCR), which provides specialist assessment, interventions, and consultation, to enhance the wellbeing and coping of people with physical health issues (including those diagnosed with cancer, individuals who have had a traumatic accident or undergoing surgery). The role supports professional development that is suited to those pursuing a career as an applied psychologist, developing professional skills and knowledge for working in an acute hospital clinical health psychology specialty. The job entails a strong teamwork component and the post holder will be able to rely on the close supervisory support for professional development.

Main requirements are:

A good honours degree (first or second-class) in psychology as recognised by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

The post holder is required to have particular sensitivity to the complex needs of people who are often affected by incapacitating /debilitating symptoms. The role demands an ability to communicate effectively despite such barriers and emotional distress, whilst maintaining a patient-centred non-judgemental and compassion-based approach.

Knowledge of the design and administration of research as can be applied in health care settings including ethical considerations, subject preparation, the process of randomisation, the construction of a data base, data processing, and reporting.

Advanced knowledge and experience of the use of computer-based statistical analysis software. Knowledge for the preparation and presentation of the results of data analysis using relevant software including powerpoint.

Knowledge and experience of computer-based methods of literature search and review.

Skilled communication, able to convey complex information, both verbally and in writing, for example in summarising a research report or in presenting psychological concepts to a group of people undertaking a treatment programme, requiring articulate and confident presentation.

To be able to work effectively with people who have marked psychological distress, making appropriate use of clinical supervision. This requires the post holder to have emotional resilience and therefore able to maintain a high degree of professionalism at all times.

To be able to work flexibly, managing changing priorities within a workload in a rational way, for example by organising client assessments with competing demands such as report preparation, supervision, governance, and professional meetings.

To have a high order of competency with IT equipment for the purposes of test administration and scoring, communication, and clinical research, including the capacity to advise colleagues in this.

This service specialises in the care and support of people who for a variety of reasons have appearance-related psychological challenges. The post holder, supported by clinical supervision, will work in a number of different ways to support this and will at all times be personally accountable for their professional/clinical decisions and is required to ensure their part in the supervision arrangements for fulfil this responsibility. Every member of the department is expected to prioritise and manage their work, integrating this, through line management, with the collective responsibilities and goals of both the department and North Bristol NHS Trust.

The Clinical Health Psychology service is always actively engaged in research and development, often in partnership with universities and other parties. Members of the department are expected to co-operate with and adhere to the relevant research protocols as appropriate.

The specific areas of duty and responsibility in this post will be agreed and interpreted through a job plan, agreed with the Clinical Psychology Lead in ASCR, fluctuating to take account of varying demands and service changes. The job plan may be revised at stages as circumstances change.

The main responsibilities of this post are to:

Undertake evaluation work with service users and staff as appropriate, preparing, administering, and analysing standardised measures and maintaining the data base for the data generated by this

Conduct qualitative evaluations gathering details of the experiences and feedback from patients

Support the coordinating and delivery of self-management courses (

Support research work within the departments including the organisation of meetings in liaison with the research team in the Trust, at Bristol University, and UWE and with relevant charitable organisations (eg Changing Faces)

Contribute to the development of patient information resources including the Outlook website

To support and monitor the achievement of key performance indicators to evaluate the service

The post holder works in close liaison with the line manager/head of Outlook, providing a flexible support role, to maintain the smooth running of the department, sometimes at short notice in circumstances where this is under particular strain.

Professional responsibilities include:

Participate in performance review with the line manager at set intervals as part of professional development.

Fully participate in clinical governance processes, service meetings, clinical audit, the development and observation of service standards and improvement initiatives, observing local and national guidance.

Remain up-to-date on relevant issues in the psychological care in the specialist areas and national and local policy matters relevant to professional work.

Undertake regular clinical supervision from within the Clinical Health Psychology Service, maintaining a record of this, working to a written contract reviewed annually in accordance with supervision policy for clinical psychologists employed by NBT.

Adhere to the Professional Code of Conduct as laid down by the British Psychological Society, Division of Clinical Psychology and the HCPC.

Maintain accurate and up to date records as appropriate in agreement with the head of service, generating written reports/letters describing relevant information to be read by the referrers, and patients alike, in accordance with service standards. Reporting administrative data including clinic formation and attendances, maintaining records of patient contacts, as appropriate.

Manage own caseload following formulation, planning, appropriate interventions and monitoring progress, as may be required by head of department.

Maintain other records of professional work as appropriate such as appointments, training, annual leave, hand-over documentation etc.

The Post Holder will be required to:

Sustain concentration for unbroken periods of up to two hours in order to carry out detailed clinical assessment and/or intervention to include neuropsychological assessment where required.

Sit for periods of at least an hour in order to carry out clinical work. This may include prolonged sitting at a patient's bedside in an awkward posture.

Lift and move equipment (but not patients) using safe systems of work and postural guidelines

Use display screen equipment for communication and research.

Travel as required to fulfil agreed work objectives.

React flexibly to changing work priorities over time.

Work with individuals experiencing emotional distress. This includes the processing of extremely traumatic experiences, life threatening injuries or untreatable condition, involving both individuals and their relatives. Reactions in such circumstances will frequently include verbal aggression.