Principal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist - Inpatient Psychology

About Us

EPUT provides community health, mental health and learning disability services to support more than 3.2 million people living across Bedfordshire, Essex and Suffolk. Also:

• We are among the largest employers in the East of England region, with more than 10,000 staff working across more than 200 sites.
• We run the COVID-19 vaccination programme across mid and south Essex and Suffolk and north east Essex.

EPUT was formed on 1 April 2017 following the merger of North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (NEP) and South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT). A new leadership team was established at the Trust in 2020.
Our vision and values

Our Vision

"To be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care".

Our Purpose

"We care for people every day. What we do together, matters".

Our Values

• We Care
• We Learn
• We Empower

Our strategic objectives

• We will deliver safe, high quality integrated care services.
• We will enable each other to be the best that we can.
• We will work together with our partners to make our services better.
• We will help our communities to thrive.

Job overview

*An exciting new opportunity has arisen for 1WTE 8b Principle Clinical/Counselling Psychologist to join our Adult Inpatient Psychological Services Team in Chelmsford*

You will be joining us at a time of implementation of the new Inpatient Operating Model, which also aims to realise EPUT's commitment to become a trauma informed organisation.

We have a proven track record of valuing and investing in our staff. Many of our Consultant Psychologists have been promoted within EPUT. We value staff well-being and understand the importance of flexible working to maintain a work/home life balance and offer different configurations, including compressed hours.

If you would like to be a part of shaping and contributing to innovation in mental health delivery, are a champion of quality initiatives and have an interest in delivering interventions for people with severe mental health problems then we are keen to interview you and see if we can offer you the opportunities you deserve!

Main duties of the job

The main duties of this job involve both clinical and line managerial responsibilities. The post holder will have excellent assessment, formulation and intervention skills as well as an ability to work short-term with Service Users who present in crisis. They will also have good supervisory skills and an ability to motivate our Inpatient Psychological Services staff who include; senior Psychological Practitioners, trainees, Arts Psychotherapists and our newly appointed Clinical Associates in Psychology trainees (CAPS). A wider systemic understanding of team and organisational dynamics or an interest in developing this is welcomed. Duties also cover indirect working such as; representation at Trust wide meetings, chairing local service development groups staff training and staff support initiatives (e.g. reflective practice). The post-holder will work within the Inpatient and Urgent Care Unit to help shape and deliver trauma informed services.

The successful candidate will be skilled and experienced in working in secondary care health settings and within a multidisciplinary team. Working with and formulating complexity as well as understanding crisis presentations is essential for this role. The ability to make professional recommendations and risk informed decisions alongside the ward team is key, as well as a passion for partnership and MDT working.

Working for our organisation

EPUT are looking for motivated staff who share our Trust values of Care, Learn and Empower. In return, EPUT can offer you a range of benefits and development including;

• Season Ticket Loans
• NHS discounts for staff
• Excellent Training facilities and opportunities
• Buying and Selling annual leave scheme
• The opportunity to work bank shifts and expand knowledge and experience in other areas
• Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work
• Day One Flexible Employer

The Trust supports and actively encourages flexible working for all employees. We offer many options and you are encouraged to ask the recruiting manager what is possible for this role. If appointed, you will have the opportunity to apply for a flexible working request from the first day of your employment.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We, the Adult Inpatient Psychological Services team aim to understand the impact of trauma and adverse experiences on an individual's crisis presentation within the hospital setting. We work together with our MDT colleagues and wider Care unit colleagues to ensure our Service Users experience purposeful inpatient admissions and timely discharges.

EPUT's Adult Inpatient Psychological Services team cover 6 inpatient sites across Essex. Each site has a Principle Lead overseeing the area/areas. Our team is comprised of Principle/Senior Practitioners, Arts Psychotherapists, trainees, assistant psychologists and CAPS. We acknowledge the excellent day-to-day work of our staff team and also pride ourselves on new creative practice as evidenced by recent innovations; such as our nationally recognised staff training packages.

We welcome discussions about flexible and part-time working. When appropriate, remote ways of working will be utilised in this role.

The post holder will work alongside our four 8bs in our existing leadership team to ensure that the Adult Inpatient Psychological Services team is current, evidence-based and in line with best practice and Trust standards. Flexible and adaptive clinicians will prosper in this role as well those individuals who enjoy innovative practice. The successful candidate will oversee the psychological services staff who are based at The Linden Centre, Chelmsford. The post holder will also provide day to day psychological therapy into some of the Linden Centre wards including the PICU. They will offer clinical leadership, evaluation and service monitoring. They will work autonomously within professional guidelines to provide a high quality Inpatient Psychological Service to Service Users, assisting or leading in service development and project management as agreed.

As well as applicants from the UK, we encourage overseas candidates to apply for this role. We welcome diversity within our organisation. We can offer guidance for candidates coming from overseas about settling into working in the UK and we have a programme to provide a 'buddy' for you, i.e. a member of the Psychological Services Directorate who has also emigrated to join us at EPUT and can guide you through as you settle into your new home.

Registration with Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) is essential as well as eligibility for registration with a professional body (BPS).

Person specification

Education /Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) including models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the HCPC and BPS.
• Evidence of significant CPD in relation to Adult Mental Health.

Desirable criteria

• Qualifications in management and supervision of psychological services colleagues.
• Post-doctoral qualifications in EMDR/DBT/CAT/Schema Therapy/Sensorimotor Psychotherapy/CBTp or other evidence based models for the treatment of complex cases, personality disorders and/or psychoses.

Skills/Experience /Abilities

Essential criteria

• Experience and skills in training others/professionals in psychological theory and practice and therapeutic models.
• Experience in supervising psychologists, psychotherapists and junior staff at a lower banding. Ability to line manage, conduct appraisals, performance manage and supervise lower banded staff.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working in inpatient services or crisis settings may be useful.
• Skills and experience in the management of more junior colleagues in addition to psychological services staff.

Please note - staff who are formally at risk within the organisation will be given priority in securing alternative employment. Should it come to light that a post being advertised by the Trust is considered 'suitable alternative employment' to an individual who is at risk, the recruiting manager will be advised and the post will be withdrawn from NHS Jobs.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.

Important Professional References

Make sure that as a part of your application you have professional references with business contract information covering your last three year employment history. We are unable to accept personal or character references.

As a newly appointed employee you are responsible for incurring the cost of your initial DBS check relevant to your post, the amount will be deducted from your first salary with the Trust.

Applications for Job Share are positively welcomed.

Equal Opportunities Employer

Our Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We particularly welcome applications from people with experience of using mental health services. We also hold the Disability two tick symbol and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with learning disabilities, we encourage people with a disability to apply. If you require this application form in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape etc, please contact the Recruitment Department on 01375 364513 or email epunft.recruitment.adverts@nhs.net and we can arrange for this to be dispatched to you.

The Trust has the right to expire vacancies prior to the closing date if they so wish. The Trust makes every attempt to contact all applicants and we strongly advise that you check the email account which is registered with NHS Jobs regularly, we would advise however due to the high number of applications we receive that if you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expect all staff to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to robust safer recruitment processes.

Covid Vaccination

Although Covid vaccinations are no longer a mandatory requirement within the NHS we continue to encourage and support the vaccination uptake as this remains the best line of defence against Covid19. The safety of our staff and patients is a top priority for us at EPUT.

If you would like to book a Covid vaccination or would like more information please contact us by emailing epunft.cv19hr@nhs.net.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.