Clinical / Counselling Psychologist Palliative Care

at  Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

This is an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and motivated qualified clinical / counselling psychologist to work within the CNWL Inpatient Palliative Care Service, based at University College Hospital London. This is a well established symptom control and palliative care team. The palliative care team cares for adult patients throughout UCLH Hospitals (with a smaller paediatric cohort from age 12 years and up). There are approximately 2000 new referrals per year .
* Please note we would consider flexible working hours within this fixed term 6 month 0.6WTE contract. Or reducing to 0.4WTE over 9 months. Please call to discuss. *
This is a maternity cover within the hospital multidisciplinary team. The successful candidate will provide specialist clinical/counselling psychology service for patients and relatives that have been referred to the hospital palliative care service working in all areas of University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, in collaboration with other palliative care team members. You will have excellent communication skills in supporting patients with life limiting illnesses and their families, and liaising with members of the multi-disciplinary palliative care team and oncology psychologists based at UCLH and other involved healthcare professionals. Whilst the post will predominantly be direct clinical work with patients, the clinical supervision of other members of the multidisciplinary team will be a part of the role. A commitment to team working and working across organisational boundaries is essential. Being able to work creatively are essential.
The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.
You will be part of a busy proactive and innovative inpatient team, whilst also working closely with UCLH colleagues, to provide excellent care to inpatients and relatives. There is a well-established clinical psychology structure within UCLH that you will be closely linked to, that would provide support and mentoring for the post holder. It is an inspiring and supportive place to work, with plenty of opportunities for education and training and personal development.
We are part of the CNWL Palliative Care Service, that also provides palliative care to the community area of Islington and South Camden.
The below is an outline of some of the main duties and responsibilities you will hold. For a full list of responsibilities, please refer to the attached Job Description.
Clinical
To provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to clinical health psychology based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including clients, family members and others involved in the client’s care.
To manage an individual caseload autonomously.
To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, couples and families, drawing upon explanatory models.
To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients’ formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of multi-disciplinary care.
Teaching, training, and supervision
To provide clinical supervision to other members of the wider MDT, as appropriate.
To provide clinical placements for trainee clinical and / or counselling psychologists, ensuring that trainees acquire the necessary skills, competencies and experience to contribute effectively to good mental health care, and to contribute to the assessment and evaluation of such competencies. To contribute to the supervision of other qualified psychologists/psychotherapists/counsellors as appropriate. To continue to develop skills in the area of clinical supervision.
To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate.
Research and service evaluation
Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology/counselling psychology.
To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
To undertake project management and quality improvement projects, including audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service as necessary, to help develop service provision

Please refer the Job description for details