Band 7/8A Practitioner Psychologist (Applewood and MHL)- Swindon

at  Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

Swindon Psychological Therapies Service are seeking a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to provide input to our adult acute ward, Applewood, and our Mental Health Liaison team (MHL). Psychological input is well established and highly valued within both teams. Although this is a band 8A role, we are also open to adapting the role to offer a preceptorship from band 7 into 8A.
This role consists of two main areas of responsibility: Applewood (22.5 hours) & Mental Health Liaison (15 hours). We are interested in hearing from candidates who may be interested in one aspect of the role, or both.
Applewood ward: Applewood ward is a 16 bedded unit, providing input for male service users of working age experiencing acute mental health difficulties. The ward is located at Sandalwood Court.
Mental Health Liaison (MHL) team: MHL provide assessment, formulation and brief intervention for service users presenting via Great Western Hospital. The team are based at the Victoria Centre. The team are accredited under the PLAN scheme.
The post holder will work closely with MDT colleagues to provide specialist psychological assessment, formulation and brief intervention. The provision of reflective practice and team formulation are also an important aspect of the role.
The post holder will work across two teams, Applewood and the Mental Health Liaison team. They will provide specialist assessment, formulation and psychological intervention for service users during their time with the team. Psychology input to the two teams is well established and highly valued by the staff teams, with regular team formulation and reflective practice groups. The post holder would be expected to play a significant role in contributing to staff training on the wards, alongside other psychologists in the Locality who work in ward based and acute settings. They will also work closely with other Therapies staff who provide input to the ward. Swindon Locality currently has a QI project to improve access to staff support debriefs following significant incidents. The post holder will contribute to the Locality Staff Support Debrief team.
The post holder will receive management & clinical supervision from the Swindon Psychological Therapies Service (PTS). They will work closely with other psychological practitioners working across the acute pathway, All psychological practitioners on the acute pathway are trained in the Comprehend, Cope and Connect approach to formulation and this is utilised across the pathway.
We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust) a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care.
We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire and in parts of Dorset.
Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person-centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.
At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.
The successful applicant will be enthusiastic and highly motivated to provide a good quality, evidence based psychological service within a changing and challenging environment. They will have experience of working with individuals with complex psychological difficulties and risk issues within secondary care and a particular interest in working with individuals in acute distress. They will enjoy working as part of a team and thrive on working under pressure.
Swindon Psychological Therapies Service (PTS) comprises a supportive team of Clinical Psychologists, Counselling Psychologists, CBT Therapists, Arts Psychotherapists and a Family Therapist . We have established links with local training providers in Clinical and Counselling Psychology, and also take undergraduate placement students from the Bath psychology course. As a team we are supporting several QI projects.
The team has a strong emphasis on promoting staff wellbeing, including a monthly wellbeing newsletter, bi-monthly reflective practice and regular Compassion Focussed Staff Support sessions. We actively support staff in their ongoing professional development and have a bi-monthly CPD Club.
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Please refer the Job description for details