Job summary
- Main area
- Assistant psychologist
- Grade
- Band 4
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday - Friday 9-5)
- Job ref
- 350-CC7199706
- Employer
- Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Hollins Park
- Town
- Warrington
- Salary
- £26,530 - £29,114 Per Annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 01/06/2025 23:59
- Interview date
- 26/07/2026
Employer heading
Assistant Psychologist
Band 4
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Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.
We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and also particularly encourage applications from ethnically diverse, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under-represented in our workforce. Furthermore we welcome applications from reservists and ex-armed forces personnel as we recognise the benefits of the values, skills, training and experience that they bring to their work with us. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.
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Job overview
We are seeking to recruit an Assistant Psychologist to join our friendly and compassionate Maternal Mental Health Service, part of our wider Cheshire and Merseyside Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service. It is an exciting time to join the service as we deliver the NHS Long Term Plan to improve Maternal mental health outcomes. The Maternal Mental Health Service provides specialist psychological and midwifery support for women and birthing people experiencing moderate to severe psychological distress in the context of birth trauma, perinatal loss, fear of childbirth/tokophobia and/or separation at birth due to safeguarding concerns. We have a number of workstreams across our service, focused on improving Maternal mental health outcomes for marginalised communities and developing culturally responsive pathways
Working under the supervision of a Clinical Psychologist this role will focus on supporting the psychological care of clients within the service. The role will also contribute to a range of audit, research and project work within the service, which includes our inequalities workstream. As a result, we would welcome applications from those with either lived or work experience of working with health inequalities.
Travel is an integral part of the role
Main duties of the job
To support and enhance the professional psychological care of clients within the service, across all relevant sectors; providing psychological assessment and psychological interventions under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist, working independently according to a plan agreed with the supervising qualified psychologist and within the overall framework of the team's policies and procedures. To assist in clinically related administration, conduct of audits, collection of statistics, and development of audit and/or research projects, teaching and project work. Overall, this will require work on a one-to-one and/or group basis, in a highly emotive atmosphere, necessitating the maintenance of a high degree of professionalism at all times.
The post holder will demonstrate an attitude which respects and values service users and their careers, in line with the Culture of Compassionate Care.
The post holder will embrace the core values of the organisation. These principles will recognise the need to Promote safe practice to Value the aims of service users to Work in partnership and offer meaningful choice to be optimistic about the possibilities of meaningful change to Value social inclusion.
Working for our organisation
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.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Duties and Responsibilities
1. To support Qualified Psychologists by undertaking psychological assessments of clients applying psychologically based psychometric tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the clients’ care.
2. To assist in the formulation and delivery of care plans involving the psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s problems, under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist, in a range of settings as appropriate.
3. To assist in the coordination and running of therapeutic groups.
4. To work with other disciplines to assess inpatients, outpatients, day patients or residents and review their care in preparation for multi-disciplinary reviews
5. To assist in the development of a psychological framework of understanding and care to all service users of the service, across all care settings.
6. To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary meetings as directed by the qualified psychologists
7. To use a degree of initiative and work independently with service users on planned work, and to exercise judgement based on good practice (NICE) and local operating procedures.
8. To work with potentially distressing material in relation to service users personal histories and presentation, including risk to self and others.
9. In common with all clinical psychologists, to receive regular clinical supervision in accordance with professional practice guidelines and trust policy.
10. To develop skills and competencies that assist in the delivery of current duties
11. Where appropriate, and under the supervision of qualified staff, contribute to the training and support of other staff in psychological care.
12. To assist in the design and implementation of service development projects within the service as required.
13. To attend meetings in which service developments are planned and discussed as required.
14. To be competent in the use of basic IT packages, such as Microsoft word.
15. Develop a skill base in the administration and analysis of a range of psychometric packages as directed.
16. To assist in the design and implementation of audit, effectiveness, and research projects.
17. To undertake data collection, analysis, the production of full reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes.
18. To review evidence-based literature and research to assist qualified psychologists and work with other team members in their clinical responsibilities, as necessary.
20. To prepare test materials and visual aids as required.
General1. To contribute to the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in appropriate CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the postholders professional and team/operational manager(s).2. To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing in accordance with professional codes of practice of the British Psychological Society, and Trust policies and procedures.3. To prepare test materials and visual aids as required and to maintain stock of same where necessary.4. To undertake specific administrative duties as required.5. To perform other duties of a similar kind appropriate to the grade, which may be required by their Psychological Services Manager.
Travel is an integral part of role post holder must be able to travel around service footprint and possibly wider as required by role.
Person specification
QUALIFICATIONS
Essential criteria
- An honours degree in that satisfies the British Psychological Society criteria for Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership
Desirable criteria
- Post graduate training in areas relevant to psychological practice, mental health and/or research design and analysis
KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE
Essential criteria
- Work experience in any organisation
- Experience of research methodology, data collection, analysis and report writing
- Knowledge of a broad range of Psychological theories and the application of these to mental health self-harming behaviours
Desirable criteria
- Experience designing and conducting large scale research, audit or service evaluations
- Previous experience working with service users and families
- Knowledge of Psychological Therapies
- Knowledge of NICE guidelines
- Knowledge of policies and legislation relevant to recovery based services
VALUES
Essential criteria
- Continuous Improvement
- Accountability
- Respectfulness
- Enthusiasm
- Support
- High professional standards
- Responsive to service users
- Engaging leadership style
- Strong customer service belief
- Transparency and honesty
- Discreet
- Change oriented
Skills
Essential criteria
- Excellent interpersonal skills
- High level communication skills – verbal and written – with professionals, children, young people and families
- Good time management skills
- Ability to travel as role requires
Desirable criteria
- Proficient IT skills
- Ability to communicate sensitive information to children, young people and families
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Dr Rebecca Hunter
- Job title
- Highly specialised clinical psychologist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Additional information
OR Emma Oultram at [email protected]
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