Assistant Psychologist

INTERNAL ONLY - THIS POST IS OPEN TO BERKSHIRE HEALTHCARE NHS EMPLOYEES ONLY

An Assistant Psychologist with relevant experience to support and enhance the professional psychological care of clients within the Older People's Mental Health Service in the Reading locality.

To provide assessment including neuropsychological assessment as well as psychological interventions under the supervision of a Clinical Psychologist, working independently according to a plan agreed with the Clinical Psychologist and within the overall framework of the team's policies and procedures.

To assist in doing group work and individual therapy with clients, in clinically related relevant service evaluation and audit projects, inclusive of data collection, analysis and report writing. To coordinate the provision of Cognitive Stimulation Therapy.

Main duties of the job

To assist in the development and facilitation of groups, including Cognitive Stimulation Therapy, as appropriate.

To undertake psychological assessments of clients referred to the psychology service using neuropsychological assessments, self-report measures, standardised rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in a client's care, under the supervision of a qualified clinical psychologist.

To assist in the formulation of care plans involving the psychological treatment/management of patients in community settings under the supervision of the clinical lead.

To attend and contribute to MDT meetings as appropriate.

To assist in the development of a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all users of the service.

To assist in conducting cognitive testing and neuropsychological assessments, under the supervision of a clinical psychologist.

About us

Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health and community health services trust. Rated 'outstanding' by the CQC, we're committed to providing the best possible care to people across Berkshire. As an employer, we're committed to offering an inclusive and compassionate environment where our people share in a sense of belonging and are supported to flourish.

Our values at Berkshire Healthcare are:

• Caring for and about you is our top priority
• Committed to providing good quality, safe services
• Working Together with you to develop innovative solutions

Your wellbeing is important to us. Some of the benefits of working for us include:

• Flexible working options to support work-life balance
• 27 days' annual leave rising with service + opportunity to buy and sell
• Excellent learning and career development opportunities
• 'Cycle to Work' and car leasing scheme including electric vehicles
• Access to a range of wellbeing tools and services
• Discounts at hundreds of popular retailers and restaurants
• Staff networks for race, diversity, disabilities, the environment and armed forces community to support equality
• Generous maternity, paternity, adoption and special leave
• Free parking across Trust sites

Job responsibilities

The must haves for you to be considered for this role:

• A passion and understanding for working with Older People
• The ability to assess risk in both routine and urgent situations
• Be a car driver with the ability and readiness to travel

For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification.

We strongly encourage you to review how you meet the criteria in the person specification and write about this point-by-point in your supporting statement for the best chance of being shortlisted.

We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.

We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please don't hesitate to call: Nafera Kamara on 0118 960 5959 or email: Nafera.Kamara@berkshire.nhs.uk who'll be delighted to help.

Please note, if we receive a high number of applications, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.

Person Specification

Education/Qualifications/Training

• An upper second-class honours degree or higher in psychology.
• Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society
• Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice, neuropsychology and/or research design and analysis.

Continuous Professional Development

• Attend and contribute to staff meetings and forums, supervision sessions, training courses, seminars, and workshops, to ensure the development and enhancement of current working practices
• Participate in all personal review meetings and take responsibility for personal and professional development

Previous Experience

• Paid work experience with older people with mental health problems and/or other disabilities including dementia.
• Experience of work in direct care provision with another client group

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• High level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive.
• Ability to communicate sensitively with staff members, service-users, carers, and other parties, in a work setting in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive and hostile.
• An understanding of the needs and difficulties of older people with mental health problems or other disabilities including dementia.
• An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a mental health context.
• Good knowledge of IT (Word, Excel, Access, and SPSS)
• High standard of report writing.
• Sound research skills, including a working knowledge of statistics, and ability to analyse data and produce good quality reports.
• An understanding of psychology applied to health care
• Knowledge and skills in specialist neuropsychological assessments.
• Ability to conduct literature searches and to review previous research literature.
• Experience of presenting research
• Working within a multidisciplinary team with all levels of staff.
• Awareness of GCP/Informed consent and data protection issues related to NHS research.
• Awareness of obligatory regulations and legal requirements of NHS research.

Additional Requirements

• Ability to drive and have the use of a car for work

Personal Qualities

• An ability to interact effectively with staff from all disciplines.
• An ability to interact with older people with mental health problems or other disabilities.
• Ability to work independently, reliably, and consistently with work agreed and managed at regular intervals.
• Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively.
• A desire to pursue a career in professional psychology

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.