Principal Clinical Psychologist

Job summary

hours per week. An exciting opportunity has developed within Livewell Southwest. The Child and Adolescent MentalService (CAMHS) is looking to recruit a Principal Clinical Psychologist for the Plymouth CAMHS Looked After Children Pathway.

To improve the psychologicalhealth and wellbeing of children and young people by providing highlyspecialist clinical psychology services and clinical leadership to the CAMHS Childrenin Care (CIC) (known locally as CAMHS CIC) Pathway that is safe, effective, cost efficient, timely andaccessible and in accordance with national and local priorities and responsiveto the needs and views of local children, young people and their families.

This will include clinicalsupervision of professionals in the CAMHS CIC pathway who provide specialistassessment and intervention for children and young people who are particularlyvulnerable; are at increased risk of developing complex mental health problems;can find it hard to form secure attachments and have frequently experiencedabuse, trauma, and loss in their early years. In addition, there is a higherincidence of neuro-developmental disorders, speech and language or specificlearning difficulties.

The post holder will beproviding a highly specialist mental health service to children, young people,their families, and foster carers where there are identified mental healthproblems.

This role may not be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route.

Main duties of the job

This includes supervisingstaff that provide clinical supervision, consultation, and training to a widerange of professionals, with responsibility for the Trainee ClinicalPsychologists.

To contribute to theestablishment of a positive working environment and open learning culture,which fosters high morale and commitment amongst all staff and that, promoteswellbeing, personal development, and continuous improvement in the standards ofbusiness activities and professional practice.

The post holder will be responsible forproviding clinical leadership, coordination, supervision, and child protectionsupervision for psychology staff trainee psychologists and other mentalhealth professionals. Determining theclinical plan and ensuring the effective delivery and evaluation of it.

Responsible for highlyspecialist, systemic clinical psychology provision for children and youngpeople within the CIC Pathway who have complex and persistent problems, andtheir parents and carers. The postholder will exercise full responsibility and autonomy where problems aremanaged as a psychologically based standard care plan for a) ensuringappropriate assessment, formulation, and intervention b) communicating with thereferral agent and others involved in the care on a regular basis and c)agreeing the above and gaining consent and assent with the child, young person(where mental capacity exists) and the family.

Please see attached Job Description for further information.

About us

Livewell Southwest is an independent, award-winning social enterprise providing integrated health & social care services for people across Plymouth, South Hams & West Devon, as well as some specialist services for people living in parts of Devon & Cornwall. With teams in community hospitals, GP practices, sports centres, health & wellbeing hubs.

As an organisation with a strong social conscience, we always value being kind, respectful, inclusive, ambitious, responsible and collaborative. Transforming services to make them sustainable, ensuring that we value, support & empower each other.

We are committed to involving the people we care for, families & carers in everything that we do, working towards co-production where we can. Helping us to deliver the right care for people, in the right place & at the right time. By putting people at the centre of what we do, we ensure to support people to lead, healthy independent lives & be the very best at helping people to live well.

Valuing our employees making an investment in their development a priority. We offer:

Protected CPD time for registered staff

Various development pathways and ongoing regular training packages for all staff

Leadership & mentoring programmes

Access & funding for training including Care Certificate, Assistant Practitioners Course & Scholarship Into Nurse Training

A Robust Preceptorship

A bespoke induction programme

Existing members of the NHS Pension Scheme can continue their membership when they join the organisation.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Responsible for highly providing specialistpsychological interventions to children and young people within the CIC pathwaywho are particularly vulnerable; are at increased risk of developing complexmental health problems; can find it hard to form secure attachments and havefrequently experienced abuse, trauma, and loss in their early years. Inaddition, there is a higher incidence of neuro-developmental disorders, speechand language or specific learning difficulties.

The post holder will be providing a highlyspecialist mental health service to children, young people, their families, andfoster carers where there are identified mental health problems. These includehigh levels of trauma, risk taking behaviour including self-injury, harm toothers and suicidality.

The post holder has full freedom to act withinthis designated area working within professional ethics and adhering toLivewell policies and is accountable for their own professional actions.

Assessment

Highly specialist psychological assessmentwith children and young people who have complex presentations. Gathering,interpreting, and integrating data from a variety of sources including medicalreports, psychometrics, range of psychological tools and observational methodswith the individual, family members and others involved in their care.

Formulation

To formulate plans for the formalpsychological treatment and / or management of an individuals problems acrossthe full range of care settings based upon an appropriate conceptual frameworkof the patients problems. Drawing upon and selecting the most appropriatepsychological model from an in-depth knowledge of a range of theoreticalpositions and evidence of efficacy.

Intervention

Take a specialist and senior clinical role inthe organisation, delivery, adaptation, development, management, and evaluationof psychological therapies aimed at preventing or reducing highly complex andpersistent mental health / behavioural problems. In doing so to a) draw upon anin-depth knowledge of a range of psychological models, theories, interventions,and their evidence base and b) maintain several provisional hypotheses c)monitoring efficacy and outcome and altering the intervention accordingly d)intervene with parents, carers, professional staff, and organisationssupporting the child.

Communication with patients carers andfamilies

Communicating complex and sensitiveinformation concerning the psychological assessment, formulation and treatmentplans of clients that be contentious in a highly skilled and sensitive manner.This can involve explaining psychological assessments, formulation, managementstrategies, theory, and models. This information will frequently becommunicated in emotive, contentious, and hostile circumstance. It willcommunicate in face-to-face situations, in meetings, in written reports andformal legal contexts.

court reports. This material will becommunicated to a) to parents, carers, families, staff teams b) professionalsacross health and other agencies c) senior managers across agencies d) withchildren and young people who have impaired cognition, sensory disabilities,communication disorders ( severe autism) for whom English or any other formof spoken language is not the first means of communication.

Records

Maintain contemporaneous records to thestandard required by Livewell Southwest and the British Psychological Society(BPS), to record activity in clinical records, on computerized systems,outcome forms, to contribute to Health Care Incident Reporting, SeriousUntoward Incident Review and Complaints as necessary.

Advice, consultancy, and training

Providing highly specialized psychologicalexpertise, training, teaching, and consultancy to promote the wellbeing ofchildren and young people. That may be delivered to parents and the wide rangeof experienced professionals from health and partner agencies. It will includepresenting data, research, and psychological theory. Also developing,evaluating, and reviewing consultancy and training interventions, ensuring theinterventions is effective and appropriate.

Multi agency working.

To work collaboratively within a healthmulti-disciplinary team and with wider multi agency teams this work willinclude:

Developing effective working relationships andcommunicating on a day-to-day basis with a wide range of staff and professionalcolleagues across health and partner agencies in PCC and community settings.There may be conflict of professional opinion.

Coordinating, chairing, participating, andrecording multi agency professionals meetings and case conferences that willinvolve a range of specialist senior professionals Paediatricians, SocialWorkers, Head Teachers.

Providing comprehensive, highly specialistpsychological, detailed verbal and written reports to the multi-agency anddisciplinary team supporting the child or young person that may be presented inlegal proceedings. With an awareness of issues of consent and sharinginformation on a need-to-know basis. Risk assessment and management. Toundertake risk assessment and management. To advise colleagues and otherprofessionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management. Tomake decisions about future care pathways, placements, safeguarding.

Access to therapy. To participate in meetingsand decisions about accepting and rejecting request for involvement andmanaging a waiting list.

Supervision-To seek out regular appropriateclinical supervision and professional guidance.

Diversity-To demonstrate awareness ofdiversity issues, inequalities in health and power.

Development of a high quality responsive andaccessible service. As a senior clinician take the lead in initiating andorganising, in collaboration with the Clinical Pathway Manager and othermembers of the MDT the development of a high quality responsive and accessibleservice for children and young people, their carers and families.

Advise and inform service managers and theProfessional Lead on the development of services for children and young peoplewithin the CIC pathway by identifying need and making significant contributionsto proposals for planning, policies and strategy as agreed by the professionaland line managers.

Interpret and implement policies, procedures,service developments and systemic interventions for the provision of psychologyand psychological therapy to CAMHS CIC.

Representing CAMHS CIC if the Modern Matronrequires them to at city wide working groups delivering integrated or jointdelivery of services.

To advise or act as an advisor / consultant toother specialist clinical psychologists as appropriate and agreed with theClinical pathway Manager and Modern Matron.

To provide data for commissioners on request.

To promote and contribute to a culture. That andChildren, young people and familys participation in service improvement.Progressive attitude to service improvementthat is free from harassment and bullying and respects the dignity anddiversity of all staff and service users. Pathway culture that develops and empowerspeople and recognises achievement and promotes continuous development of staffand teams and pathways.

Audit and research activities.

To lead on research within the CAMHS CIC post holderwill be expected utilise research expertise to initiate, develop andparticipate in clinical research, evaluation, and audit and / or superviseother colleagues in his / her own profession undertaking provide research advice and supervision to other staffwithin the team and wider utilise theory, evidence-based literature, and research to supportevidence-based adaptand develop psychological therapies when required and evaluate keep abreast of research and clinicaldevelopments relevant to CAMHS supervise trainees and students research and audit activities onplacement to doctoral / publication standard on clinically relevant researchand service evaluations. To integrate research and evaluation findings into local practice

Communication

To ensure excellentcommunication and working relationships across the service, within the CYPFS,within senior professional staff and managers in LSW and partner post holder will work closely with other CAMHS, with the external agencies of social care,education, voluntary sector and user groups, networks, and organisations thatintegral to this community post.

To comply with the Organisational Integratedgovernance requirements

This mayinclude writing policy and procedure documents relating to service deliver,clinical practice and business.

Please see Job Description for further information.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Postgraduate doctoral level training in Clinical Psychology (or its equivalent for those trained before 1996) Registered Chartered Clinical Psychologist

Desirable

Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychology practice

Experience

Essential

Experience of working as a qualified clinical psychologist for a minimum of 3 years post qualification within the designated speciality where the post is located. Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course of presenting with the full range across the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings, maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse, and the threat of psychical abuse. Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients psychological care and treatment, and within the context of a multi-disciplinary care plan. Experience of consultation to organisations and groups and psychological practices and processes. Experience of preparing and delivering consultation and training to a wide audience of varying skill and ability. Experience of professional and clinical supervision

Desirable

Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

Knowledge Doctoral level knowledge of clinical psychology including highly developed knowledge of theory and practice of specialised psychological assessment and therapies in specific difficult to treat groups. In this case children and young people with a trauma presentation. Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of two or more distinct psychological therapies. Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, both qualitative and quantitative as practiced within the field of clinical psychology. Knowledge of legislation, policy and documentation and its implications for clinical and professional practice in relation to children. Evidence of continuing professional practice as recommended by the BPS. Skills Skills I the use of complex methods of psychological assessment and intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration. Complex clinical formulation skills A high level ability to effectively communicate both a written and oral level complex, highly technical and clinically sensitive information to clients and their families, carers and a wide range of professional persons within and outside of the LSW. Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups. Ability to design and deliver complex training packages to a wide variety of audiences. Competence in high level research evaluation and audit.

Desirable

Knowledge Highly developed knowledge of lifespan developmental psychology, models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics neuropsychology

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