Consultant Clinical/Counselling Psychologist

Job summary

As the Consultant Psychologist, you will play a lead role in the further development of our psychological services for Children & Young People (CYP) referred for assessment and/or intervention in relation to suspected neurodevelopmental conditions. Your role will initially focus on progressing our CYP Autism offer but we expect you to be instrumental in the development of more integrated, needs-led, neuro-developmental services within our Care Group. Currently, our services are delivered through separate pathways, but our ambition is to integrate our offer and provide more seamless care to ensure efficient service delivery and an improved patient experience.

Our CYP Autism service predominantly provides assessments of possible Autistic Spectrum Conditions but also, more uniquely, offers specialist advice and interventions to CYP with a diagnosis of ASC. The service is for Children and Young People in the South Staffordshire area up to the age of 18 and extends to the age of 25 if they have an EHCP.

You will be responsible for the systematic provision and governance of high-quality psychological services and practice across our neurodevelopmental services. You will have substantial experience working as a senior Psychologist that includes highly developed skills and experience relevant to the breadth of our CYP Mental Health provision as well as highly specialist assessment and intervention skills relevant to ASC, ADHD and children's learning disabilities.

Main duties of the job

To ensure the systematic provision & governance of high-quality psychological care across our neurodevelopmental services & to ensure that effective systems are in place for the clinical & professional supervision & support of psychological practice. This will predominantly be across our CYP Autism provision in South Staffordshire but will develop to include psychological practice in identified neurodevelopmental services. To provide expert psychological input to own specialist caseload responding to the most severe & complex cases. Provision of highly specialist professional consultation, advice and guidance on all aspects of psychological practice within CYP-Autism and associated neurodevelopmental services & across services. Working in collaboration with other Consultant level psychological staff & the Professional Lead for Psychological Services, to actively contribute to professional, strategic & clinical leadership to assure the continual development & provision of effective psychological services & psychologically informed provision across our CYP Mental Health services. Whilst currently based in the CYP Autism service, it is expected that this post will develop to provide expert clinical advice & guidance on wider neuro-developmental conditions including autism and ADHD, across the Children & Families Care Group, providing consultation, training and support to other professionals as required.

About us

By joining Team MPFT, you will be helping your communities and in return for this, we will support you by;

Supporting your career development and progression Excellent NHS Pension scheme Generous maternity, paternity and adoption leave Options for flexible working Up to 27 days annual leave (increasing with service up to 33 days) and the opportunity to purchase additional leave Extensive Health and Wellbeing support and resources If you work in our community teams, we pay for your time travelling between patients Lease car if you complete more than 500 business miles per annum, fully insured and maintained (including tyres), mileage paid at lease car rate Salary sacrifice car - fully insured and maintained (including tyres), your gross pay is reduced by the cost of the vehicle before tax, NI and pension deductions are calculated, milage paid at business rate s Salary sacrifice bikes up to £2k Free car parking at all trust sites Free flu vaccinations every year Citizens Advice support linked with a Hardship Fund for one off additional support up to £250 (if the criteria is met)

And more. We are proud to be a diverse and inclusive organisation and there is a choice of staff networks that help you meet like-minded people.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please do view and read the job description for more detailed information on the role. We also encourage you to contact us if you would like to discuss this challenging but exciting role further. Please contact:

Wendy Hallows, Service Manager at

Chris Faram, Professional Lead for Psychological Services at

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical / counselling psychology (or its equivalent prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS, including models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology. Eligible for BPS Chartered Status. Eligible for full membership of the Division of Clinical Psychology (DCP). Post registration training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice (, neuropsychology, psychotherapy, trauma, attachment) as required for specific clinical post. Trained in clinical supervision and the supervision of psychological professionals in training including doctorate level trainee psychologists. Trained in care co-ordination. Evidence of continuing relevant professional development and growth, relevant to the clinical area, sufficient to ensure continued professional registration.

Desirable

Registration with other professional bodies as relevant , registration with BPS as a chartered psychologist, membership of ACP-UK Leadership development or management qualification / training. Additional post-graduate qualification in accredited therapeutic intervention relating to autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, positive behaviour support Training in Quality Improvement methodologies

Experience

Essential

Working as a registered Clinical/Counselling Psychologist, with significant assessed experience, to include a significant period of working/clinically specialising at a senior level in a relevant clinical field for the post Professional leadership/management of registered and pre-registered applied psychologists and able to demonstrate examples of positive impact/change within service delivery/practice at an advanced/expert level Working as a registered Clinical Psychologist both within the designated service and also with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and with a full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings (in-patient and outpatient settings, community, primary care inpatient and residential settings). Working in specialist CYP mental health provision which includes multi-disciplinary working. Exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care as a care co-ordinator Assessing and working therapeutically with CYP with ASC, ADHD and learning disabilities Working therapeutically with CYP with significant behavioural, emotional or mental health difficulties, and their families/carers Working collaboratively with CYP and their families/carers and professional network Providing clinical consultation services to other professional staff. Teaching, training, and clinical supervision of trainee psychologists, including field supervision of research theses Research and development Project management of quality and service improvement initiatives. Providing clinical and professional leadership to other registered and non-registered members of the psychological professions Managing multi-agency service delivery models. Working at a strategic level. Quality and Assurance Governance issues.

Desirable

Experience of working in the NHS and/or publicly funded health or care settings Experience of clinical leadership in a multi-disciplinary team. Demonstrable experience of developing others through education, mentorship, coaching, teaching, assessing, presentations, publishing Experience of representing the profession in local, regional or national forums

Skills

Essential

Doctoral, or equivalent, level knowledge of: Evidence-based practice relevant to the role Knowledge and skills in the assessment and treatment of the client group and the usual range of co-presenting problems. Risk assessment and risk management Clinical governance Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health and its implications for clinical practice. Audit and research methodology Social Inclusion agenda Application of psychological understanding, formulation and intervention across therapeutic modalities and within clinical, multi-disciplinary and service level working. Highly developed knowledge of: The care of difficult to treat groups dual diagnoses, additional disabilities or severely challenging behaviour. Must be able to: Demonstrate skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management and their application in a CYP mental health setting. Provide effective clinical leadership. Communicate highly complex, highly sensitive and highly contentious information effectively, to a wide range of people. Ability to exercise highly advanced and complex negotiating skills in planning, developing and establishing services, in particular where services interface with different areas within and outside of the organisation. Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and severely challenging behaviours. Ability to identify, and employ, as appropriate, clinical governance mechanisms for the support and maintenance of clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour. Adapt evidence- based interventions creatively for clients with communication difficulties / learning disabilities and have the ability to tailor interventions where CYP have not responded to normally recommended interventions Demonstrate skills in providing liaison, consultation and clinical supervision to other professionals and non-professional groups in health and non-health settings. Articulate sensitively and collaboratively the value added by the range of psychological services within the context of multidisciplinary mental health and learning disability healthcare provision, whilst also valuing the range of roles and skills represented in the MDT. Undertake complex multiagency working and liaise with multiple systems. Utilise psychometric tests competently. Provide effective teaching, training and clinical supervision for the multidisciplinary team. Identify, provide and promote appropriate interventions / means of support for carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and challenging behaviours. Utilise appropriate clinical governance mechanisms within own work. Project management. Use approved breakaway techniques following approved training. Demonstrate proficiency in the use of Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook and similar applications. as well as Clinical Consulting platforms. Use multimedia materials for presentations in professional, academic and public settings.

Desirable

Highly developed assessment skills including training and experience in use of diagnostic tools such as ADOS-2 and ADI-R. Demonstrate knowledge and experience of Quality Improvement methodologies. resulting in measurable improvement to patient care

Personal Attributes

Essential

A passion and enthusiasm for developing psychologically informed services for Children and Young People presenting with ASC and other neurodevelopmental conditions and their families and carers Ability to demonstrate leadership and management skills with the ability to create a culture where staff are valued and supported. Ability to develop productive therapeutic relationships with a range of clients. Able to work in accordance with the Trust Values and Behaviours. Able to engage with vulnerable service users and partners/carers and work effectively in highly distressing and challenging circumstances. Able to maintain a high degree of professionalism within highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical assault. Able to provide containment, insight and direct input to complex and challenging cases where there is a high degree of carer distress and/or hostility in addition to the difficulties presented by the service user. Able to work flexibly and co-operatively as part of a team. Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and hold the stress of others. Able to use own initiative and make decisions independently. Committed to continual quality and service improvement. Self aware and committed to professional and personal development. Able to accept and respond positively to feedback from supervision. Willingness to undertake further clinical and leadership development both formal and informal. Enthusiasm for a broad range of psychological phenomena, theories and application.

Desirable

Personal lived experience of mental health issues and use of mental health services.

---