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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Key Result Areas & Performance:

Clinical:

1. To provide specialist psychological assessments of patients referred to the service, based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of highly complex data from a variety of sources including psychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with patients, family members and others involved in the patient’s care.
2. To formulate, develop and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a patient’s psychological problems and adjustment, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the patient’s problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.
3. To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
4. Ensure equity of access to psychological assessments and interventions adapting approaches where needed, practicing in a culturally informed manner and supporting others to do so
5. 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.
6. To establish rapport and build effective working relationships with patients and all those involved in their care.
7. To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by neuropsychologically and psychologically based standard care plans.
8. To provide highly specialised psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to patient’s formulation, diagnosis and treatment plans.
9. To ensure that all relevant professionals have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding and care of patients in the service, through the provision of advice and consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory.
10. To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual patients and to provide general advice to other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management with particular reference to deliberate self-harm.
11. To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of patients under their care and to monitor and evaluate progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.
12. To provide expertise, advice and support to facilitate the effective and appropriate provision of psychological care by staff

 Teaching, Training and Supervision:

1.  To receive regular clinical professional supervision from an appropriately experienced senior psychologist.
2. To provide supervision and consultation to other MDT staff as appropriate.
3. To support and supervise recently qualified, pre-qualified (e.g. Assistant Psychologists) and other psychology and psychological therapies staff
4. To provide clinical placements for trainee clinical psychologists, ensuring that trainees acquire the necessary skills, competencies and experience to contribute effectively to good mental health care and to contribute to the assessment and evaluation of such competencies.
5. To provide formal teaching and training sessions on psychological aspects of neurological conditions to fellow professionals, patients, relatives and carers
6. To have a Personal Development Plan and Individual Objectives that meet the requirements of the professional body and both Trusts.

Research and Service Evaluation

1. To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
2. To undertake appropriate service-related research and provide research advice to other health professionals undertaking research when appropriate.
3. To undertake project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service to help develop service provision.
4. To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the teams’ operational policies and services through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.
5. To advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
6. To provide timely and accurate activity reports and data.

Workforce

1. To manage the workloads of Assistant Psychologists and Trainee Clinical Psychologists or other members of the MDT, within the framework of the team/service’s policies and procedures.
2. To be involved, as appropriate, in the short-listing and interviewing of Assistant Psychologists or other members of the team.

Partnerships: Communications and Relationships

1.  To maintain and develop effective professional working relationships with senior management within each service level agreement.
2. To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner at all times through all interventions with patients and staff.
3. Establish forums to allow patients and staff to provide feedback on the effective management and operation of the services to continually review best practice.

General

1. To ensure the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes.
2. To ensure the development and articulation of best practice in psychology across the service, by continuing to develop the skills of a reflexive and reflective scientist practitioner, taking part in regular professional supervision and appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the field of clinical psychology and related disciplines.
3. To maintain and promulgate the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with professional codes of practice of the British Psychological Society and Trust policies and procedures. Clinical record keeping and incident reporting will be undertaking according to the systems and procedures of the relevant Trust.
4. To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to mental health.

Health and Wellbeing

1. Physical skills – the post holder will be expected to manage a demanding working day, whereby they will be meeting several clients and families on a daily basis alongside on-going liaison with internal and external professionals. The post holder will need to be familiar with and comfortable with using computer technology. 
2. Emotional and mental demands – the post holder will need to manage difficult and emotional encounters with clients, families and carers. Due to the nature of this therapeutic work, there will be experiences of hearing difficult and at times distressing information, the post holder will be expected to consider their self-care and utilise their clinical and line managerial supervision in an effective manner.
3. Environment and working conditions – the post holder will be based within an acute hospital setting but may be expected to work at other sites, if appropriate. The post holder will be expected to manage and support situations whereby there is verbal/physical aggression, they will be supported by mandatory training to address these needs alongside clinical and line managerial supervision and adherence to the Trust policies.