Principal Clinical or Educational Psychologist (MHST)

apartmentCoventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust placeCoventry calendar_month 

Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust provides a full range of expanding physical, mental health and learning disability services to children, young adults, adults and older adults over many sites across Coventry, Warwickshire and Solihull.

Services are provided to a population of over one million people living in Coventry and Warwickshire and also a wider geographical area in some of our specialist services

‘We recognise the benefits of flexible working and support applications wherever possible. If you would like to work flexibly please ask the recruiting manager for more information.’

Armed Forces Community welcome to apply.

PLEASE NOTE that this vacancy can be closed as soon as sufficient applications are received. Staff at risk within the Trust will be given priority.

Please check your emails, including junk and spam folders, regularly throughout the process of your application for any notifications from the Recruitment Team. If you have any queries regarding your application please phone the Partnership Trust Recruitment Department.

Candidate Information Pack - final version - digital (canva.com)

Job overview

Are you an experienced psychologist with a strong belief in the importance of prevention and early intervention? Can you work well within a friendly team with a variety of professions, making the most of the different skills and knowledge of your colleagues?

Are you passionate about what psychology offers to support and develop a strong service?

The MHST is part of our Early Help offer, supporting children and young people through direct 1-1 work and working with parents/carers and schools and colleges. This new role is designed to ensure that the clinical delivery is consistent with the national MHST model, and is clinically excellent.

We are seeking a Principal Psychologist who is excited at the prospect of developing the service through the evaluation of practice, and with reference to the evidence-base. We need a forward-thinking Applied Psychologist, and we are therefore open to applications from Clinical or Educational Psychologists with the right experience.

This role will be exciting for a confident psychologist with experience of working in an education setting because the service is delivered in schools and colleges.

Our next step is to design and execute internal research projects and contribute our learning to the practice of MHSTs across the country. This will require excellent communication and presentation skills so we can share our findings through conferences, publications and dissemination to the communities of practice for MHST.

Main duties of the job
  • Lead the clinical delivery of prevention and early intervention within the MHST model of service delivery.
  • Represent psychological professions within the leadership team and work with the Service Manager to ensure that the team’s need for CPD and training are met. This will be responsive local and national directives and developments for MHST practice.
  • Working with the Service Manager, ensure that individual clinicians are able to perform their role effectively. This will include ensuring that recruitment, support and training are creating a confident, vibrant and forward-thinking staff team.
  • Oversee the oversee the provision of high-quality specialist clinical psychological interventions and services delivered in MHST.
  • Provide support for psychological assessment and therapy delivered by other clinicians, working autonomously within professional and ethical guidelines, exercising full clinical responsibility, and implementing changes as required.
  • Provide clinical supervision to other psychological services staff
  • Develop a research-friendly clinical service, actively seeking opportunities to design and execute small research projects.
  • Participate in projects and meetings in the Children’s Services directorate to ensure that the MHST is represented in developments.
  • Hold a small caseload of clinical work within MHST’s boundaries

Working for our organisation

At Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust (CWPT), we deliver a wide range of physical, mental health, learning disability and autism services, and are proud to serve communities across Coventry, Warwickshire and beyond.

We put ‘people at our heart’; this ethos is at the centre of everything we do and how we do it. We care for our staff and colleagues as much as they care for others and offer a wide range of benefits and development opportunities.

These include:

  • generous annual leave entitlement which increases during your time with us
  • flexible working opportunities
  • excellent learning and development opportunities, including apprenticeship frameworks, distance learning, internal training, coaching and mentoring, and much more
  • salary sacrifice schemes for lease car/ vehicle, Cycle to Work, home and electronics, gym membership and more
  • discounts with a range of retailers, restaurants and entertainment venues through our Employee Assistance Programme and NHS discount schemes
  • wellbeing support, including an in-house counselling service, external helpline and more
  • staff networks and support groups

We’re always on the lookout for people who share our passion for improving the lives and wellbeing of people in our community, as well as our values of compassion, collaboration, excellence, integrity and respect

Detailed job description and main responsibilities
  • The post holder will support the governance, leadership and delivery of the MHST model within identified school and colleges. This will include considering outcomes and caseload flow so as to ensure as a service we are delivering a robust and continually improving approach, in order to promote the development, welfare and secure the wellbeing of children and young people and their families. The post holder will support the team in developing whole school and college approaches to mental health.
  • The post holder will have oversight of the supervision requirements and delivery to the team members ensuring that the MHST model is adhered to.
  • The post holder will deliver services that are responsive to local and national directives and need, promoting a learning culture that leads to improved service delivery and robust clinical governance.
  • The post holder will work co-operatively with multidisciplinary colleagues, operational and transformational leads to contribute to service development and to achieve service goals.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • HCPC Registration as Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical/Educational Psychologist)
  • Post-graduate doctoral level training in Educational/clinical / counselling psychology (or its equivalent prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS, including models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
  • Advanced knowledge across range procedures, underpinned by theory and practice. Knowledge of a range of psychological procedures and techniques plus knowledge of specialist therapeutic techniques acquired to a doctorate level.

Knowledge and Skills

Essential criteria
  • Advanced knowledge across range procedures, underpinned by theory and practice. Knowledge of a range of psychological procedures and techniques plus knowledge of specialist therapeutic techniques acquired to a doctorate level.
  • Skills in applying this knowledge
  • Knowledge of a range of psychological procedures and techniques plus knowledge of specialist therapeutic techniques acquired through professional diploma, advanced diploma / accreditation / registration or further substantial training and accredited clinical supervision.

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Experience of working with a range of clients, presenting a range of clinical severity and maintenance of professionalism in challenging circumstances.
  • Experience of tailoring psychological assessment and intervention to individual needs.
  • Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for work.
  • Experience of working with children and young people.

The Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of individuals and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. As part of our safe recruitment practice, if appropriate for the role, it is mandatory requirement for all newly appointed staff to be registered with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Update Service.

The Trust is committed to Equal Opportunities and welcomes applications regardless of age, gender, race, disability or sexual orientation. Guidance and criteria on the filtering criminal cautions and convictions can be found on the Disclosure and Barring Service website.

For more information on how our Trusts handles your data please view the 'Privacy Notice - Staff - V1.0 May 2018.pdf' at https://www.covwarkpt.nhs.uk/privacy

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