Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Clinical or Counselling Psychologist or Psychotherapist
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Job Overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a highly specialist clinical or counselling psychologist or psychotherapist within the Psycho-oncology team at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. We are looking to appoint an empathic, enthusiastic and dynamic psychological practitioner to contribute to the provision of a specialist psychology service for patients with cancer across all sectors of cancer care at ICHT. This is a fixed term maternity leave cover post within a large, established, friendly and supportive team of psychologists and psychotherapists working across cancer and oncology services.
Main duties of the job
The postholder will work individually and systemically to support patients, carers and staff from diverse backgrounds throughout the cancer pathway, alongside working to foster a psychologically safe environment within cancer services. They will contribute to Level 2 teaching and supervision for specialist cancer staff as well as provide training, consultation and reflective practice as appropriate. The postholder will undertake service evaluation, audit and research as required and work as an autonomous professional within BPS and HCPC guidelines and codes of conduct, guided by the policies and procedures of the service. Supervision and management will be provided by one of the experienced senior psychologists within the psychology team and there will be opportunities to link and work alongside other psychologists and psychotherapists working in other medical specialities within the broader ICHT Clinical Health Psychology Department.
Desirable candidates may have particular interests in third wave therapies (i.e., ACT, CFT), adjustment and coping in acute and chronic illness, systemic and narrative approaches, trauma informed models and approaches, attachment, existentialism, models of loss and grief and non-diagnostic approaches to understanding distress (e.g., the PTMF), amongst other therapeutic approaches. The postholder will have access to CPD and training offered through CNWL, as well as other training opportunities.
Working for our organisation
CNWL (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust) has almost 8,000 staff providing integrated healthcare to a third of London's population, Milton Keynes and areas beyond. We involve service users, carers, the public, staff and partner organisations in the way that we are run.
Our catchment area spans diverse communities, with over 100 first languages spoken. It contains areas of great affluence as well as areas of much deprivation. We are committed to providing services that meet the needs of the people who use them, and we actively encourage involvement from local people who can help make a difference. We’re proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME and people with disabilities to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.
We are recognised locally, nationally and internationally for providing high quality, innovative healthcare. We aim to employ only the best people, and our experts are frequently called upon to contribute to national health strategy and policy, and many models of our care have been adapted for use in other countries.
CNWL NHS Foundation Trust are committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We follow safe recruitment practices to protect children and vulnerable adults.
Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities
Clinical and Client Care
- To provide specialist psychological assessment, formulation and intervention for patients with cancer across all sectors of cancer care at ICHT
- To provide culturally appropriate psychological interventions with carers or families of referred patients when required and as appropriate.
- To assess and monitor risk and draw up appropriate risk management plans.
- To act as liaison on the patient pathway, between the acute hospital, primary care and community services as necessary for the psychological well-being of the patient
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Contributing to team or service clinical functioning
- To contribute to the effective working of the Psycho-oncology service and to a psychologically informed framework for the service.
- To contribute to the team’s delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.
- To be proactive in challenging discrimination and supporting the development of culturally competent services.
Policy and service development
- To implement policies and procedures in own area of work, and to propose improvements or beneficial changes.
- To contribute to the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.
- To contribute to service development through undertaking and participating in appropriate projects.
Care or management of resources
- To take care of, and use carefully, the Trust’s equipment and physical resources.
Management and supervision
- To be responsible for the allocation and/or clinical supervision of the work of an assistant psychologist if required, under supervision from a more senior psychologist.
- To supervise trainee applied psychologists within own area of specialism after completion of the relevant Training Course’s Supervision Training.
- To offer supervision and consultation to non-psychological staff working in cancer services in ICHT
Teaching and Training
- To provide specialist training in psychological approaches to care to other professions as appropriate.
- To disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations and published articles.
Record-keeping and Information Governance
- To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by Trust policies and local procedures.
- To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry.
Research and development
- To undertake regular complex service evaluation, audits or research relevant to service needs.
Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development
- To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior psychologist according to HCPC and Trust guidelines.
- To ensure own Continuing Professional Development in line with BPS and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements and the HCPC ‘Standards for Continuing Professional Development’.
- To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current developments in professional and clinical practice and of relevant legislation and policies.
- To comply with the HCPC ‘Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics’ and ‘Standards of Proficiency’, and ensure professional development in line with these.
- To adhere to the BPS’s Professional Practice Guidelines and Trust policies and procedures.
General
- To travel to meetings at ICHT and CNWL as appropriate and when required.
- To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour and follow trust policies relating to its management.
- To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations and to support others involved in such situations.
- Where relevant and by agreement with line manager to work flexibly which may include offering some regular commitment to late clinics or Saturday working, within the overall Job Plan.
Person specification
Qualifications And Training
Essential criteria
- Doctorate or equivalent in Clinical or Counselling Psychology or equivalent Psychotherapy qualification
- Registered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist or UKCP as a Psychotherapist.
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Desirable criteria
- Training in 3rd wave therapies
- Knowledge and experience of time-limited NHS psychology services
- Specialist training or experience in the field of clinical health psychology
- Specialist training in trauma-informed therapeutic approaches
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of psychological assessment and support of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature
- Experience of work in health psychology or other relevant area
- Experience of NHS (or other public health / third sector) multidisciplinary teamwork
- Experience of supervised psychological practice in NHS (or other public health / third sector) settings
- Experience of using and communicating advanced psychological formulations
- Experience of working in different cultural contexts and / or working with diversity within local communities. This may have been gained through work, research, volunteering and / or lived experience.
- Experience of receiving clinical supervision across a range of client needs
- Experience of developing and carrying out research projects and / or audit
- Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the HCPC / BABCP/ UKCP
Desirable criteria
- Experience of supporting patients with trauma, especially in relation to physical health conditions or experiences that might affect the treatment and management of a physical health condition
- Experience of using routine outcome monitoring for the purposes of service evaluation
- Experience of working within cancer, oncology and/or haematology psychology services
- Experience of working with interpreters
- Experience of providing psychological support for people who are socially disadvantaged
- Experience of facilitating groups
- Experience of teaching, training, supervision and consultation
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Theoretical knowledge of psychological processes that are relevant to physical health conditions
- Knowledge of psychological assessment and clinical psychometrics.
- Understanding of staff responsibilities and an ongoing commitment to promoting Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion within the NHS informed by the Equality Act 2010
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to mental health, child and adult safeguarding, including knowledge of information governance.
- Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care.
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of the literature concerning common psychological issues in oncology, cancer and haematology patient groups
- Doctoral level knowledge of psychological research methodology and complex statistical analysis.
Skills And Abilities
Essential criteria
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups working in acute care
- An ability to work effectively, efficiently and independently to manage high clinical caseloads in a safe and effective manner
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive work
- Ability to undertake audit and evaluation
- Good communication skills, psychological insight and a warm empathic manner
- Ability to communicate complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication including sensory difficulties, language barriers and emotional distress.
- Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate through written means complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information
- Able to suitably adapt and sensitively deliver psychological therapy across cultural and other differences.
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within
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