Senior Clinical Psychologist: Paediatric Health Psychology (Asthma)

Job overview

We are delighted to be offering two permanent paediatric psychology positions within our expanding Clinical Health Psychology Department at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, to work alongside our Paediatric Diabetes Psychology Service.

Preparation work to establish these roles in paediatrics is underway with the relevant MDTs and there will be senior leadership providing specific support to this postholder.

This post will involve working across both hospital sites.

We welcome any enquires about this position so please do get in touch. Please note there may be specific days required for this post, which can be discussed on enquiry.

Main duties of the job

An important element of the role is the ongoing development of the service and therefore experience in this area is important. The post holder will be a valued part of a growing Clinical Health Psychology Department and contribute to supervision, line management and trust wide developments as required.

Working for our organisation

We actively encourage and support CPD, supervision, service-related audit and research. As a newly established department, there is significant scope to work creatively in the continuation of new trust wide developments and be part of shaping our culture.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification for a full outline of the main responsibilities of this role. This includes the following:

1. To provide a specialist Clinical Psychology service to paediatric patients as part of the relevant multidisciplinary team(s).
2. To undertake a range of evidenced-based psychological interventions, drawing on a range of psychological models and employing a range of modalities (individual and family) adapted and tailored to the needs of the individual and the context and the ongoing evaluation of the outcomes of the intervention.
3. To offer advice and consultation on patients’ psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues and to other non-professional carers.
4. To have strategic oversight of the implementation, evaluation and measurement of the development of the paediatric asthma/LTCs psychology service.
5. To offer consultation, advice and disseminate psychological ideas to the wider paediatric department.
6. To make a contribution to the general management, governance and supervision of the wider Clinical Health Psychology Service as agreed.
7. To work autonomously in the execution of these duties and within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the Clinical Health Psychology Department and Trust policies and procedures.

Person specification

Qualifications / Training

• Post graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics, two or more distinct psychological therapies, as accredited by the British Psychological Society.
• Doctoral level qualification in clinical psychology (or equivalent prior to 1995) by course accredited by the BPS and registration as a practitioner psychologist with HCPC.
• Completion of formal clinical supervisor training sufficient to be able to supervise doctoral trainees.

• Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.

Knowledge, experience and expertise

• Experience of working with children, young people and families who have long term conditions.
• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of patients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and inpatient settings and with difficult to treat groups.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to patients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS

• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
• Experience of working in multi-disciplinary teams and offering systemic interpretations to have impact on the team functioning in patient care.
• Relevant experience of developing and setting up new services.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the patient group and mental health.

Communication and relationships (including management responsibilities)

• Ability to exercise the full clinical responsibility for patient’s psychological care and treatment within the clinical specialty and to co-ordinate the psychological care provided by others.
• 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 material and challenging behaviour.
• Maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems.
• Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.

• Ability to provide emotional support, consultation and professional mentorship to multidisciplinary team members.