Senior Assistant Psychologist

at  Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Band 5 Senior Assistant Psychologist post in Community Mental Health Teams South (CMHTs South)
This vacancy may close earlier if a large number of applications are received. Please ensure you submit your application as soon as possible to be considered in the selection process.
We are very excited to be recruiting a new CMHT Assistant Psychologist in Northamptonshire (based across the South of the county in Daventry and Northampton). The Community Mental Health Teams are multi-disciplinary teams that provide support and intervention to people with a range of mental health difficulties. We are undergoing a positive transformation in line with the Long Term Plan for mental health and as part of this, the provision of psychological therapy and psychologically informed therapy is being expanded.
There are currently 5 teams across the South of the county based in Northampton and Daventry. It is anticipated that the post holder will work across the teams as required under the supervision of a qualified Psychologist.
The post holder will support and enhance the professional psychological care of clients within the service; providing psychological assessment and low intensity psychological interventions under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist in a variety of community settings. The post holder will also assist in clinically related administration, conduct of audits, and collection of statistics, development of audit and/or research projects, teaching and project work when required. The successful applicant would be line managed and supervised by a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist but overall accountable to the Principal Psychologist.
We want to recruit a diverse workforce, who are values driven, compassionate and have a desire to deliver high quality care every day. We believe that supporting and involving our staff means that they enjoy their work more, and that our clinical services are better as a result. Northamptonshire is a pleasant area with a mix of rural and urban locations and is within easy distance of other key locations in the Midlands with excellent rail and road links.
Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation NHS Trust was rated as “Outstanding” by CQC in 2018 and is a great place to work. We are proud of the Psychology provision within the Trust, and feedback has consistently been that we have a well-developed Psychology network in the Trust which offers a strong sense of professional identity, support and strategic influence. There are excellent opportunities for professional development through regular monthly psychology meetings and active peer supervision networks. The Trust enjoys good links with both Oxford and Leicester Doctoral training courses.
Clinical
To undertake protocol based psychological assessments of clients including: neuropsychological tests; self-report measures; rating scales; direct and indirect structured observations; and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client’s care.
To assist in the formulation and delivery of care plans involving the psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s problems, under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist, in both NHS community and other settings.
To assist in the coordination and running of therapeutic groups
To work with other staff to assess clients and review their care in preparation for multi-disciplinary reviews.
To assist in the development of a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings where care takes place.
To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary meetings and discussions around the care of clients presenting with complex needs and risk
To communicate professionally and effectively and to use interpersonal skills effectively with clients.

Teaching, training and supervision

• To receive regular clinical supervision in accordance with professional practice guidelines.
• To gain wider experience of professional psychology within the NHS
• To develop skills and competencies that assist in the delivery of current duties.
• To contribute to the training and support of other staff in psychological care.

Management, recruitment and service development

• To assist in the design and implementation of service development projects within the service as required. To attend meetings in which service developments are planned and discussed.

IT responsibilities
Routine use of email, word processing and the Internet. Use computerised software to collate and analyse psychometric results, produce indicators of clinical outcome and to compile reports.
To extensively engage with web-based information resources specific to the client group, and then facilitate access to these resources by staff and clients.

Research and service evaluation

• To assist in the design and implementation of audit and research projects.
• To undertake data collection, analysis, the production of reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes.
• To undertake searches of evidence-based literature and research to assist qualified clinical psychologists in evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.

General
To contribute to the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the post holder’s professional and team/operational manager(s).
To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing in accordance with professional codes of practice of the British Psychological Society and Trust policies and procedures.
To prepare test materials and visual aids as required.
To undertake specific administrative duties as required.
To perform other duties of a similar kind appropriate to the grade, which may be required from time to time by their Psychology Manager

Please refer the Job description for details