Principal Clinical Psychologist

NHS; Chester; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job description

Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

We offer a relocation package of up to £8,000

The relocation package is for anyone who would need to relocate in order to take up employment with Cheshire and Wirral Partnership. Terms and conditions apply please see attached document.

If this applies to you, please state this on your application so we can discuss this with you if you are invited to interview.

Ancora House is a Tier 4 CAMHS service, specialising in the treatment of young people, aged from 13 through to their 18th birthday. The unit caters for young people who present with a range of severe, complex and enduring mental health problems, or acute risk management.

Ancora House comprises of 26 beds across 2 wards, Indigo and Coral. The post covers both wards, working alongside other Clinical Psychologists. Within the Tier 4 CAMHS service there is also a specialist Eating Disorder Service (CHEDS) and Ancora CARE.

There is an exciting opportunity for 2 full time Band 8b Clinical Psychologists, to join Ancora House. We will consider flexible working requests.

Main duties of the job

You will be responsible for the provision of specialist psychological assessment and formulation for severe and/or complex presentations within Tier 4 CAMHS.

Within the MDT, you will provide clinical leadership through the provision of high-quality clinical supervision, training and consultation within the team. Across the Children, Young People and Families Care Group you will work closely with colleagues from other services, Heads of Clinical Services and Clinical Leads, to develop and contribute to service development, audit and research projects.

The work will include assessments and formulation, and short-term therapy when indicated, though this may entail a flexible informal approach as circumstances can be quite dynamic. Group work is also part of the role. There will also be potential involvement in supervision, audit, research and training activities.

This post requires an individual with initiative, excellent communication and leadership skills, and ideally experience in working with young people in CAMHS services. The post-holder will need to show initiative and creativity; and be able to function well in a multi-disciplinary team.

The post-holder will be a qualified Clinical Psychologist, registered with the HCPC.

About us

Cheshire and Wirral Partnership (CWP) provides health and care services for a population of over one million people, including mental health, learning disability, community physical health and all-age disability care, as well as the provision of three GP surgeries in Cheshire.

We employ around 4,500 staff across 73 sites and have services across Wirral and Cheshire, as well as Trafford, Warrington, Bolton, Halton and Liverpool. We also provide specialist services for the North West as a whole.

Our aim is to help improve the lives of everyone in our communities, adopting a compassionate, person-centred approach to everything we do. We are rated as Outstanding for Caring by the Care Quality Commission, with a Good rating overall.

As a Disability Confident Employer, Rainbow Badge Scheme member, Veteran Aware organisation and proud holder of the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award, CWP is committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible and developing a culture that values differences, and welcome applications from people who have direct experience of accessing our services.

We also offer up to three weeks' induction, with our Prepare to Care programme for all new starters. This aims to give you all the knowledge and guidance to help you hit the ground running with CWP.

Job responsibilities

Please download a copy of the job description (see documents to download section below) for full details of the main responsibilities for this role.

At CWP, our recruitment selection processes are based on both competence (see person specification for details) and values.

CWP recruits people that can demonstrate the Trust's Values in their everyday life and we use a values-based approach in our interviews, which explores not only what you do but how and why you do it.

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trust's Values and think about how these align with your own personal values. The supporting information section in your application should reflect your understanding of the Trust's Values and associated behaviours and you should provide examples from your work experience and/or personal life which demonstrate these values through your behaviours.

An applicant guide to help and support you through your recruitment journey can be accessed at the bottom of this page. Further help and support for completing your application can be accessed via our website. If you need any further guidance to help you complete your application, contact our recruitment team via email at: [e-mail] or by calling 01244 393100.

If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the essential criteria described in the person specification for an available position, please answer YES to the question: Do you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme?

Please inform the team if you have any special support needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection processes.

The trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post and encourages applications from armed forces reservists or cadet force adult volunteers.

Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of £16 per year applies.

New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.

Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.

Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team CWP very soon!

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
• Registered with the Health Professions Council as a Clinical Psychologist
• Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice. Post-qualification specialist training in particular psychotherapeutic approaches e.g. cognitive analytic psychotherapy, dialectical behaviour therapy.

Knowledge and expertise

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and nonprofessional groups.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health
• Knowledge of attachment theory
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.
• Formal training in supervision of other psychologists or equivalent experience 50 hours supervision in a specific modality, case presentations, group supervision supported by short courses approved by the Psychology Head of Service
• Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc).
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of highly specialised psychological therapies and assessment methodologies.

Experience

• Assessed experience of working as a qualified clinical psychologist for a minimum of four years with 2 years at a highly specialist level.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, in patient and residential care settings severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and also within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
• Experience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision.
• Experience of representing psychology within the context of multidisciplinary care.
• Experience of assessing and treating clients across the full range of care settings.
• Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.
• Experience of working within a multicultural framework.

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.

Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust