Principal Practitioner Psychologist

at  Devon Partnership NHS Trust

Job Purpose The principal purpose of the job is to improve the psychological health & wellbeing of people with persistent pain presentations. The roles main tasks are: Ensuring the systematic provision of a high quality psychological service to the Pain Service, RDUH Eastern as a key component of the DPT Clinical Health & Neuropsychology Service to the RDUH and related community services. Providing clinical leadership/supervision for staff, trainees and volunteers employed by or attached to the psychology service. To carry a specialist caseload of patients, and providing advice and consultancy to patients and professionals.
To work jointly with other members of the multi-disciplinary pain team. This is via consultation and supervision of the MDT, and also via joint clinical assessment and group-based interventions where appropriate. To work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within professional and DPT guidelines as a specialist member of staff. As directed by the Professional and Strategic Leads embed practice-based evidence and evidence based practice across service area.
This will include implementing and collating data from service outcome measures to support key performance indicators and to demonstrate the impact of the service, as well as working with people using the service to ensure their involvement in service design and evaluation. The post holder will work collaboratively to ensure a whole systems integrated approach to service delivery and development, and will support wider Integrated Psychological Medicine (IPMS) developments. All staff within the CHNP services will be responsible for ensuring user involvement and experience, social inclusion and race equality agendas inform and support their work. Duties and Responsibilities Communication and Working Relationship Skills Clients, family and carers: To communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner with clients who may have specific difficulties in understand and/or communicating and who may be hostile, antagonistic or highly emotionally disturbed.
Multidisciplinary team colleagues: To work closely with colleagues from both Devon Partnership Trust and the Acute Trust in the multi-professional integrated mental health/physical health and wellbeing service on a day to day basis Health & social care staff: To communicate with a wide range of health & social care staff in hospital and in community settings in a highly skilled and sensitive manner, complex and sensitive information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under the services care. To provide support & guidance in the application of psychological principles and techniques, and to foster reflective practice. Senior managers & professional staff: To maintain and build good working relationships with senior professional staff and managers across the Trust and the Acute Trust and to foster a positive approach to the integrated mental health and wellbeing service and to enable effective negotiation. Analytical and Judgemental Skills To provide specialist clinical/counselling psychology expertise and advice.
To provide psychological therapies, developing specialist psychological formulations and assessments of clients, formulating plans for their psychological treatment and implementing specialist psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups. Proficiency in in both individual and group therapy approaches is desirable. To support the Professional Head, General Manager, Practice and Strategic Development Leads and Professional Leads by undertaking service development and redesign projects and coordinating the resulting work within the team. To provide complex assessment of specialist conditions Planning and Organisational Skills The psychology service: To plan and organise own work within the service setting and to contribute to the development and improvement of provision of psychological services within the commissioned integrated mental health and wellbeing service to best meet the organisations strategy and priorities.
The multidisciplinary service: To provide psychology/therapy supervision to the multi-professional planning, development and marketing of mental health and wellbeing services Responsibility for Patient/Client Care, Treatment and Therapy Assessment & intervention: To provide expert psychological therapies, developing specialist psychological formulations and assessments of clients, formulating plans for their psychological treatment and implementing specialist psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, and to demonstrate awareness of diversity issues. Consultation & guidance: To provide advice, guidance and consultation on psychological aspects of patient care to colleagues, other service providers, patients, supporters and families Responsibility for Policy and Service Development Implementation The post holder is accountable for their own professional actions, acting within Trust policies and procedures and Professional Practice Guidelines. Policy & service: To implement policies and procedures for the provision of psychology and therapy services within own service and other services within the Trust. R & D: To support the R&D activities of the Clinical Health PSychology and Neuropsychology Department (CHPN).
Responsibility for Finance, Equipment and Other Resources To be responsible for the safe keeping of equipment under own use. Responsibility for Human Resources, e.g. Supervision, Training, HR Advice and Management Leadership & supervision: To lead and professionally supervise less experienced psychology/therapy staff, trainees and volunteers. To provide placement responsibilities for trainee staff.
To contribute to the provision of therapy supervision for non-psychology/therapy staff providing psychological therapies within other Trust teams. To support placements for trainee staff in line with professional guidelines Responsibility for Information Resources and Administrative Duties To maintain accurate records, compliant with Trust Practice Standards. To be responsible for using an email account to generate, monitor, and respond to the e-mail traffic by which the Trust conducts much of its internal communication. Responsibility for Research and Development To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work within the CHNP.
To conduct project work including specific areas of audit, research or service evaluation As a clinician to be responsible for collecting clinical practice and outcome data that contributes to building practice based evidence and service evaluation. To participate in service audits and relevant research projects. Freedom to Act The post holder is accountable for their own professional actions, acting within Trust policies and procedures and Professional Practice Guidelines To work autonomously within clinical professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the governance of psychological practice within the locality/specialty. Interpretation of professional and Trust guidelines, and implementing policies in conjunction with peers, Head of Profession and General Manager.
To provide expert and specialist clinical psychology expertise and advice guidance and consultation on psychological aspects of patient care to colleagues, other service providers, patients, supporters and families. Any Other Specific Tasks Required To ensure all clinical care and treatment provided by psychologists/psychotherapists/therapists is carried out under appropriate supervision and leadership. To ensure that all relevant staff groups continuously update the skills and techniques relevant to their clinical wor

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