Principle Clinical Psychologist

We have an exciting opportunity for an 8b Principal Clinical Psychologist to work with adults with learning disabilities in the community in Horsham, West Sussex.

The 8b will be the psychology lead in Northern CLDT, providing a high quality, specialist applied psychology service to clients, their families or carers within a large, busy multi-disciplinary team.

The post holder will be expected to hold responsibility for the supervision and governance to psychology practitioners, and to support psychological practice within the team through consultation, supervision, formulation and training.

The post holder will be expected to utilise research skills for audit, service development and research. They will work closely with the Consultant Clinical Psychologist.

We provide a range of psychological assessments and interventions for people with learning disabilities and their networks, with local specialist expertise and interests in Systemic approaches, CAT, Mindfulness, CBT, Positive Behavioural Support approaches, EMDR, Attachment and Trauma Informed approaches and Neuropsychological Assessments.

You will also be involved in the West Sussex commissioned service offering a healthy brain screening programme & diagnostic dementia assessment for all adults with Down Syndrome over 30 years old.

This is a great opportunity for career progression at a time of exciting service development.

Main duties of the job

We are seeking a Principal Clinical Psychologist (8b) who is passionate about improving the lives of people with learning disabilities and their families and networks of support.

You will need to have significant experience of applying your clinical skills in some or all of the following:

1. With complex cases and multi-agency systems.
2. With children/young people or adults with a learning disability.
3. Working in services for adults with a learning disability.
4. Working at a range of levels including direct work with people with learning disabilities, families and carers.
5. Providing supervision, consultation and liaison.
6. Managing high levels of clinical risk.

Experience of leadership and service development:

You will take the lead for Northern CLDT psychology. You will also contribute to the coordination and delivery of the Clinical pathways across West Sussex.

Clinical and professional supervision will be provided by the Consultant Clinical Psychologist, with close support and management from the team lead.

About us

Sussex Partnership is a successful and well-respected Foundation Trust. It has a large, well-established psychological therapies department with close links with Sussex University and good links with carer and service user local organisations.

We have a thriving learning disability and psychology speciality with around 20 learning disability psychological practitioners in West Sussex alone. We meet quarterly as a pan Sussex group of psychology learning disability practitioners CPD events.

There is specialist practice supervision/ development eg a specialist systemic practice group, PBS supervision, and CAT supervision. The learning disability and neurodevelopmental service is innovative and dynamic, and there is strong tradition of research, service development and learning opportunities across the Sussex region.

You will be part of a service that strives for clinical excellence and aims to support its staff to feel valued and actively participate in relevant service developments. The CQC rated the trust outstanding for caring and good overall.

We encourage flexible working. We know that a positive work/life balance brings about huge health-related benefits, which has a positive impact on the care we provide. Please speak to us about flexible working, for example, home-working, part time hours, flexible start/finish times or anything else. If it works for you and works for the role, we'll do our best to make it happen.

Job description

Job responsibilities

You will take the lead for Northern CLDT psychology. You will also contribute to the coordination and delivery of the Clinical pathways across West Sussex.

You will work closely with the wider multi-disciplinary leadership team, Team Leader and Service Manager to contribute to providing safe and effective services within the service operational policy.

You will be joining a large established team of Psychologists, Family Therapists and Behaviour Support Practitioners based in West Sussex, and work closely with a range of multidisciplinary health and social care colleagues. Service provision is clustered around three community learning disability teams, together with an Enhanced Support service.

Clinical Responsibilities Include:

1. Carrying out specialist psychological assessments of adults with learning disabilities based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological data, working with clients, carers and family members in order to reach a psychological formulation of the clients difficulties.
2. Responsibility for holding and managing a clinical caseload, exercising autonomy professional responsibility for planning and prioritising workload.
3. Responsibility for implementing a range of complex psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups.
4. Provide specialist assessments of clients presenting with cognitive impairment due to a variety of causes or organic conditions.
5. To undertake highly complex risk assessment and risk management for individual client and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management including assessment of individuals who are frequently aggressive.

Teaching, Training and Supervision Responsibilities Include:

1. To receive and provide regular clinical supervision. Clinical and professional supervision will be provided by the Consultant Clinical Psychologist, with close support and management from the team lead.
2. To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, policy and developments in the provision of services relevant to the care group.
3. To provide and support clinical placements for trainee psychologists. We have strong links with both Surrey and Salomon's training courses, offering training placements, teaching and supporting research. We have an active research agenda and work closely with service users and carers to support service delivery.
4. Provide expert advice, consultation, training and clinical supervision to other members of the service.

Management, Leadership, Recruitment and Service Development:

1. To participate as a senior clinician in identifying and implementing the development of a high quality, responsible and accessible service.
2. To exercise responsibility for the systemic governance of psychological practice within the service area.
3. Participate as appropriate in staff recruitment, for assistant, trainees and other professional psychologists.

Research and Evaluation:

1. To participate and conduct research relevant to the areas of need served and provide advice to other staff undertaking research.

General:

1. To ensure HCPC registration is maintained, complying with continuing professional development requirements to maintain registration.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Post-graduate doctoral level training in applied psychology [or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996 or outside the UK] as approved by the HPC, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
• Professionally registered as a Practitioner Psychologist with the Health Professions Council (HPC).

Knowledge/Experience

Essential

• Significant assessed experience of working as a qualified psychologist.
• 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.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group.
• Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups.
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of highly specialised psychological therapies and assessment methodologies.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the HPC.
• Formal training in supervision of other psychologists.
• High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
• Experience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision.

Employer details

Employer name

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Address

County Hall North

Chartway

Horsham

RH12 1XA

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