Assistant Psychologist

This post forms part of the larger paediatric psychological medicine team based at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and employed by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.

This 0.8 WTE post (0.4 wte Assistant Psychologist, 0.4 wte dietetic assistant/responsibilities) will be based at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, but covering patients from across the East of England. The new service called Complications related to Excess Weight service (CEW).

The post will involve working with a multidisciplinary team of Consultants, Nurses, Dietitian, Family therapist and a Family support worker and a Counselling Psychologist. The scope of the service is to take an MDT biopsychosocial approach to improve the care for children and young people (CYP), with comorbid complications related to severe obesity.

The role of the Assistant Psychologist with additional dietetic responsibilities is:

- To support and enhance the professional psychological care of clients referred to the Paediatric Obesity service.
- To support with psychological assessment and intervention under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist, working independently according to a plan agreed with a qualified psychologist and within the overall framework of the team’s policies and procedures.
- To support with the development and facilitation of group interventions for children, young people and their families.- To assist in the formulation and delivery of care plans involving the psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s problems, under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist, in both community and hospital settings.
- To assist in the coordination and running of therapeutic groups.
- To assist in the development of a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings where care takes place.
- To support with nutritional and anthropometric assessments and interventions under the supervision of an Advanced Paediatric Dietitian, working independently according to a plan agreed with the dietitian and within the overall framework of the team’s policies and procedures.
- To use frameworks, protocols, guidance and support from the advanced paediatric dietitian to ensure effective implementation of dietetic treatment programmes for patients.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health and social care organisation dedicated to providing high-quality care with compassion to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting and empowering them to lead a fulfilling life.

Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services, not only via inpatient and primary care settings, but also within the community. These services include children's, adult and older people's mental health, forensic and specialist mental health, learning disabilities, primary care and liaison psychiatry, substance misuse, social care, research and development.

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities

1. To assist in the design and implementation of audit and research projects.

2. To undertake data collection, analysis, the production of reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes.

3. To undertake searches of evidence-based literature and research to assist qualified clinical psychologists and Advanced Dietitian in evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.

To assist in the design of computerised databases and to be responsible for their continual updating and ongoing statistical analysis.

To be aware of, and comply to National Regulations and local Trust Policies concerned with Data Protection.

Receive regular clinical supervision in accordance with good practice guidelines and Trust policy.

To participate in regular supervision in accordance with good practice guidelines and Trust policy.

To participate in the Trust’s annual Appraisal process.

To attend all relevant mandatory training as and when required to do so.

To gain wider experience of professional psychology within the NHS over and above that provided within the principal service area where the post holder is employed.

To develop skills and competencies that assist in the delivery of current duties

To contribute to the training and support of other staff in psychological care