Job summary
This is an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and dedicated Clinical Psychologist to be part of our friendly Autism Spectrum Condition service. The service assesses adults aged 18+ in Liverpool and Sefton. It is an exciting time to be joining the team as we develop our services alongside nationally changing perceptions and awareness of Autism and collaborate with our colleagues within our trust as we aim to reshape how autism is understood and supported.
We welcome and will consider applications from applicants who are registered with the Health Professions Council as a Practitioner Psychologist and have Post-graduate doctoral level training in the field of applied psychology accredited by the BPS, or its approved equivalent.
Main duties of the job
You will work as part of a multidisciplinary team including, Nurses, Occupational therapists, social workers speech and language therapist and other Psychologists, all of whom have a wealth of knowledge and experience. You will work as an autonomous highly skilled practitioner carry out specialised assessments of Autism. The team has clinicians trained in ADI-R, ADOS and DISCO. You will provide advice and consultation to other clinical staff within the team and with our colleagues within other Trust services.You will contribute and lead formulations taking into account where additional complexities such as mental health, attachment, mild learning disability, or other neurodevelopmental conditions are present.You will provide advice and consultation to locally provided community mental health teams, inpatient services, community learning disability teams, social care providers and the criminal justice agencies.You will work alongside the senior Clinical Psychologist to be involved in ongoing service development and in shaping service innovations.We offer placements to trainees from local universities on a regular basis and the post holder would be expected to clinically supervise and manage the workloads of assistant psychologists and trainee clinical psychologists within the service as required.You will contribute towards the continuing professional development, training, research, advising and supporting the Multi-disciplinary team as appropriate.
About us
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The post holder will be responsible for the undertaking psychological work with service users referred to the team. This is likely to be varied; going from individual work with service users to liaising and working with other members of the team, other services and partner agencies. Your work will be consistently person centred and involve the delivery of services to autistic people. The post holder will report directly to the Consultant Clinical Psychologist.
The team sits within the Community Care Division of Merseycare NHS trust; its remit is to deliver safe and effective services across Merseyside.
This post is advertised as a band 8a; we would be willing to accept application from newly qualified Psychologists, if successful they would be appointed at band 7 with a programme of competencies they had to achieve to reach the level required for the 8a post.
The successful candidate will demonstrate excellent organisation and communication skills and be motivated to ensure high standards of proficiency and professional practise. You will demonstrate an ability to apply strategy to practice and have a clear commitment to person centred practices, demonstrating this in your work with individuals, families and other professionals.The post holder will report directly to the Consultant Clinical Psychologist.
This post is advertised as a band 8a, we would be willing to accept application from newly qualified Psychologists, if successful they would be appointed at band 7 with a programme of competencies they had to achieve to reach the level required for the 8a post.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- A first or Upper Second degree in psychology or a lower class with post graduate qualification
- Post graduate doctoral level training in Clinical Psychology as accredited by BPS
- Registration with HCPC as a Practitioner Psychologist
Desirable
- Further training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice, autism, personality disorder or research.
Experience and Knowledge
Essential
- Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team.
- Experience of exercising clinical responsibility for a service user's psychological care and treatment, both as a profession and within the context of a multi-disciplinary care plan.
- To provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to the service based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client's care.
- To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
Desirable
- 6.To provide highly specialist psychological advice guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients' formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
- Highly developed knowledge of the theory & practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific, complex groups e.g. dual diagnosis, personality disorder, people with additional difficulties & challenging behaviours.
Skills
Essential
- Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and the ability to 'hold' the stress of others.
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, formulation, intervention, and management, frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration
- A high-level ability to communicate effectively at both a written and oral level, complex, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to patients, families, carers, and a wide range of lay and professional people within and outside of the NHS.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
- Knowledge of the legislation and its implications for clinical practice and professional management in relation to the patient group and mental health.
- Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology as practised within the field of clinical psychology
Desirable
- Record of having published in either peer reviewed or academic or professional journals and/or books
- A commitment to the evaluation of services, enthusiasm for both multi-professional and uni-professional audit, and a wish to continue to develop expertise in the service area.
- Formal training in the supervision of other health professionals.
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.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website .
Employer details
Employer name
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
Address
Hartley Hospital
1b Curzon Road
Southport
PR8 6PL