Senior Practitioner Psychologist - Bridgend

Welcome to Swansea Bay University Health Board. We welcome applications from people who share our values: caring for each other, working together and always improving.

Swansea Bay University Health Board reserve the right to close this vacancy after 24 hours if a large number of suitable applications are received. Therefore we encourage early applications to ensure consideration for this post.

Prior consideration for this vacancy will be given to staff currently awaiting redeployment and we therefore reserve the right to withdraw this advert at any stage.

The salary scale above has been agreed as part of the NHS Agenda for Change pay award for 2024/2025 and will be implemented in November 2024 backdated to 1st April 2024 where applicable.

Applications may be submitted in Welsh. Applications submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.

Job overview

Band 8a (senior practitioner psychologist) or an opportunity for newly qualified candidates to be supported under Annex 21 to work towards this position with a personal development plan.

This is an exciting opportunity for an applied psychologist to develop their clinical and forensic skills and expertise further through working in a regional medium secure service.

The Caswell Clinic is a 61 bedded unit provided specialist inpatient care to males and females detained under the Mental Health Act (2007) and who have complex clinical and risk needs.

With a strong focus on recovery, we endeavour to provide and promote care that compliments the principles of least restrictive practice.

Main duties of the job

• Exercise autonomous professional responsibility
• Provide specialised psychological assessments / risk assessments using a wide variety of methods
• Implemented a range of specialised psychological interventions.
• Provide psychological consultation to multi-disciplinary team colleagues
• In highly sensitive clinical situations, to communicate in a skilled and persuasive manner

• Contribute to the development of local team policies and procedures.
• Exercise responsibility for managing assistant / trainee psychologists.
• Act as a panel member in the short-listing and interviewing of psychology staff.

• Receive regular clinical, professional and managerial supervision and undertake appropriate Continuing Professional Development.
• Provide appropriate supervision for designated psychology staff / other staff including psychology students /trainees.
• Develop and provide training for staff.

• Plan and conduct audit, service evaluation and research to help develop service / psychology provision.
• Provide research advice / mentoring/ supervision to psychology students / trainees / other staff as required.

• Observe a personal duty of care in relation to equipment and resources supplied by the Health Board.

• Record and maintain appropriate clinical records as required.

Working for our organisation

We believe staff are our best asset and we want you to be happy and confident about starting your career here in Swansea Bay University Health Board.

As one of the biggest healthcare groups in the UK we can offer a wealth of professional training and development opportunities in an innovative, forward-thinking organisation.

You might be a nurse or doctor, maybe you specialise in a health science/therapy or can offer skills in one of our support services - we have a job for you.

There are also apprenticeships, work placements and volunteering roles available.

We are an inclusive employer and welcome applications from everyone whatever their sex; religion or belief; race; age; sexual orientation; gender identity or, whether they are pregnant or have recently been on maternity leave, married or are in a civil partnership; or, whether they are disabled.

Our values - Caring For Each Other, Working Together and Always Improving, show that our commitment to equality is at the heart of everything we do.

If you want excellent career and training opportunities while living on the doorstep of some of Europe's most spectacular scenery, with all the benefits of a thriving and cosmopolitan city - look no further.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Exercise autonomous professional responsibility and be legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of professional practice, being guided by principles and broad occupational policies.
• Provide specialised psychological assessments using a wide variety of methods, 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.
• Analyse, interpret and integrate complex assessment information where the data are often conflicting and incomplete.
• Formulate plans for formal psychological therapy, across a range of care settings, based on a number of provisional hypotheses derived from psychological theory and evidence-based practice.
• Implemented a range of specialised psychological interventions, for individuals, carers, families and groups.
• Adjust and refine psychological formulations and therapy options based on continual re-assessment of clients during therapy, monitoring and evaluating progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care, in order to maximise the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions.
• Be available to multi-disciplinary team colleagues for the provision of psychological advice and consultation on clinical practice.
• Undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide case-related advice to other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management.
• Act as a co-ordinator of care as appropriate, overseeing the provision of a care programme appropriate for the client’s needs, co-ordinating the work of others involved with care, taking responsibility for arranging reviews as required, and communicating effectively with the client, his/her family and all others involved in the network of care, including professionals from other agencies.
• In highly sensitive clinical situations, to communicate, in a skilled and persuasive manner, complicated information about assessment, formulation and therapy plans with clients who may be confrontational, have major communication difficulties or be difficult to engage and maintain in therapy.
• In consultation with manager(s), to develop and maintain the highest standards of professional practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes.
• Contribute to the development and articulation of best practice in psychology within the team, 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.
• Maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the specific client group and mental health.

• Contribute to the development of local team policies and procedures and implement accordingly. Suggest changes to team working practices in order to improve service quality.
• Contribute to the development of local team services. Advise service management on aspects of the service related to the team where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing. Comment on the content of draft policies and procedures.
• Exercise delegated responsibility for managing assistant psychologists and the workload of trainees, within the framework of the team/service policies and procedures. Act as a panel member in the short-listing and interviewing of psychology staff within the team, and other staff, as appropriate.

• Receive regular clinical, professional and managerial supervision and undertake appropriate Continuing Professional Development. Provide clinical, professional and managerial supervision for designated psychology staff below Senior level, and to provide clinical supervision to multi-disciplinary staff work within the team, as appropriate.
• Provide clinical placements and supervision for trainee practitioner psychologists at Doctoral level, and to assess and evaluate their competencies. Develop and provide pre- and post-graduate teaching of clinical psychology, as appropriate.
• Provide supervision for staff working in other services or partner agencies, as appropriate. Develop and provide training to other disciplines across a range of settings and agencies, where appropriate.

• Plan and conduct audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service, in order to help develop service provision.
• Maintain specialised skills in the critical appraisal of relevant research literature, for the purposes of adhering to, and developing, evidence-based practice. Undertake appropriate research within the team.
• Provide research advice to other staff undertaking research within the team, and trainee practitioner psychologists.
• Provide formal research supervision to trainee practitioner psychologists and other staff, as appropriate.

• Observe a personal duty of care in relation to equipment and resources supplied by the Health Board.

• Make appropriate notes of clinical sessions and accurately record and analyse observational data, psychological test results and research findings.
• Use the computer as necessary for clinical work, including literature searches, word processing, developing and maintaining training packs, information leaflets, inputting data, e-mailing, report writing and other tasks for the efficient running of the service. Maintain and promote the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance.

Provide the post-holder’s line manager with an adequate data set of personal clinical activity and timesheet or other work record.

Person specification

qualifications & knowledge

• Good honours Degree in Psychology.
• .Eligibility for British Psychological Society Chartered status.
• Post-graduate Doctorate/Qualification in specialist area of (Clinical/Counselling/Forensic) Psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996 or for those trained overseas, as accredited by the British Psychological Society or its equivalent allowing registration with the Health and Care Professions Council as a Practitioner Psychologist
• Clinical supervision training for Doctoral Trainee Practitioner Psychologist.
• Doctoral level/ advanced knowledge of practitioner psychology theory and practice, psychological therapies and their application, neuropsychological and psychometric assessment and interpretation.
• Doctoral/advanced level knowledge of research design and methodology, including multivariate data analysis as practised within practitioner psychology.
• Knowledge of relevant legislation and its implications for both clinical practice and professional management.
• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development as recommended by the BPS and HCPC.

• Post-doctoral/qualification training courses in specific areas of practitioner psychology (Clinical/Forensic/Counselling).
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult-to-treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnoses and people with additional disabilities).
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies.

experience

• Substantial assessed experience of working as a qualified practitioner psychologist, normally including significant post-qualification experience within the designated speciality where the post is located, or relevant transferable skills.
• Demonstration of further specialist training / experience through having received extensive and demonstrable clinical supervision of working as a practitioner psychologist or an alternative agreed by the Head of Psychology.
• Experience of specialised psychological assessment and treatment of a range of clients across a wide range of care settings.
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients’ psychological care, with experience of co-ordinating care within the context of multi-disciplinary care-planning.

• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
• Experience of the application of practitioner psychology in diverse cultural contexts.
• Experience of representing psychology within the context of multi-disciplinary care.

aptitude & abilities

• The ability to demonstrate a high level of competence to work within the designated speciality. Skills in the supervision of other staff including Trainee Practitioner Psychologists.
• Skills in the supervision of Trainee Practitioner Psychologists, through attending the University of Wales Clinical Psychology Programme ‘Preparation for Placement’ training.
• Well-developed skills in effectively communicating very complex, highly technical and clinically sensitive information, both orally and in writing, to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Capable of effective workload management when facing competing demands. The ability to work collaboratively with a range of multidisciplinary colleagues.

• Welsh Language Skills are desirable levels 1 to 5 in understanding, speaking, reading, and writing in Welsh

other essential criteria

• Ability to travel within geographical area and work hours flexibly.
• Satisfactory Standard/Enhanced DBS clearance including an Adults and Childrens Barred List check
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Capable of maintaining a high degree of professionalism and safe clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
• The ability to identify and provide appropriate means of support to line-managed staff who deal with highly distressing situations, severely challenging behaviours and other stressors.
• The ability to use a variety of complex multi-media materials for a range of purposes such as teaching and training.

Swansea Bay University Health Board is committed to supporting its staff and processes to fully embrace the need for bilingualism thereby enhancing service users experience. In our commitment to increase the number of staff able to communicate in Welsh with patients and professionals, we would particularly welcome applications from Welsh speakers.

Equality remains at the centre of the Health Boards policy-making, service delivery and employment practices. We value the diversity of our staff and welcome applications from people from protected groups under the Equality Act 2010, this specifically includes age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/reassignment, race, religion, disability, pregnancy and maternity and marriage and civil partnership.

All disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria listed in the Person Specification will be invited to interview.

If you are eligible for the Health and Care visa, application costs are lower and you do not need to pay the annual Immigration Health Surcharge.