Assistant Psychologist - NHS

Job overview

This is a great opportunity to work within our inpatient mental health psychology service and to work alongside psychologists, psychiatrists, junior doctors, OTs, nurses, social workers and physiotherapists, in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Our innovative Adult Mental Health 3-3-3 service comprises Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), Admission ward, Treatment ward and Recovery ward. Within our Admission ward we also care for adults who are referred to us through the Ministry of Defence. Our inpatient pathways are based on stays of 3 days (assessment), 3 weeks (treatment) and 3 months (recovery). Working within this unique acute care system enables you to:

• Focus on developing specific skills and further develop expertise in assessment, treatment and recovery.
• Have the opportunity to experience working across the 3-3-3 system.
• Improve and enhance collaborative working across the acute care system.
• Contribute to the reputation and image of our treatment system, resulting in an increased sense of pride in our work place.

The post-holder will deliver different forms of psychological interventions to patients recovering from an episode of mental health illness in either an individual or group setting.

Main duties of the job

To support and enhance the professional psychological care of adults with a mental health diagnosis. Working across all sectors of care providing psychological assessment and psychological interventions under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist, working independently according to a plan agreed with a qualified psychologist and within the overall framework of the Team’s policies and procedures.

To assist in clinically-related administration, conducting audits, collection of data and statistics, development of audit and/or research projects, teaching and project work.

Please confirm in your application that you meet the specified criteria.

• DVLA have a number of reciprocal arrangements with overseas countries, for further information please visit the DVLA website

Working for our organisation

Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health & social care organisation dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion to improve the health & wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting & empowering them to lead a fulfilling life.

Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services not only via inpatient and primary care setting but also with the community. These services include Children, Adult & Older Peoples mental & physical health, Forensic & Specialist mental health, Learning Disabilities, Primary Care & Liaison psychiatry, Substance misuse, Social care, Research & Development.

To achieve our goal, we look to recruit high calibre candidates that share our vision & values. As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all sectors of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including disabled people & members of our ethnic minorities & LGBTQ+ communities.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1. To provide a direct service using psychological intervention and assessment tools, under supervision of the Clinical Psychologist.
2. To support the Clinical Psychologists in preparation of team formulation sessions, i.e. completing file reviews and dissemination of formulation.
3. To facilitate group work, including psychoeducation, CBT. DBT and ACT informed sessions. This may include co-facilitating groups alongside other members of the MDT.
4. To facilitate individual psychological work, under the supervision of the Clinical Psychologist.
5. Where indicated to carry out Brief Psychological Interventions, including Anxiety Management, Behavioural Activation and Distress Tolerance.
6. To support completion of Cognitive Screening assessments and in some circumstances more detailed neuro-psychological assessments.

Person specification

Education/Qualifications

• An upper-second class honours degree or higher in psychology.
• Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society (BPS).

• A Master’s degree and/or enrolled in a Master’s course recognised by the British Psychological Society.

Other

• Recognise peoples right to privacy and dignity, treating every person with respect.
• Willingness to be flexible in approach and attitude.
• Ability to travel.

Knowledge & Understanding

• Enthusiastic, self-motivated, responsible
• Able to contain and work with high levels of distress from service users.
• Capable of working effectively as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality in all aspects of the work (clinical, research).

Skills & Abilities

• An understanding of the needs and difficulties of people with mental health problems and other disabilities.
• Ability to communicate (orally and in writing) highly complex, highly clinically sensitive and condition-related information to patients, families and other professionals.
• Experience of maintaining working relationships and a high degree of professionalism in the face of often highly emotive and distressing problems.
• An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge, underpinned by theory, to a mental health context.
• Ability to adapt style and/or intervention strategies to meet the challenges of complex and highly sensitive situations.
• Ability to maintain a high degree of ethical and professional standards.

• Knowledge of the literature on psychosis.
• Knowledge of the literature pertaining to personality disorder.

Experience

• Experience of working with adults with mental health difficulties.
• Experience of delivering psychologically informed groups.
• Practical working knowledge of at least one relevant psychological approach e.g. CBT.

• Experience of working in inpatient mental health settings.
• Experience of completing risk assessments.
• Experience of working with patients with cognitive difficulties.
• Experience of psychometric testing, scoring and report writing.
• Experience of working with challenging behaviour.

Here at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) we are dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion. We deliver many of the NHS services that are provided outside of hospital and in the community such as physical, mental health and specialist services.

We are a health and social care organisation, offering a wide range of services, including:

• Integrated physical and mental health services for adults and older people;
• Specialist mental health and learning disability services;
• Children and young people’s mental health services;
• Children’s community services in Peterborough;
• Social care;
• Ground-breaking research

We strongly encourage applications from all sections of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including disabled people and members of our ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ communities. For further information about our positive equality, diversity and Inclusion work, please visit https://www.cpft.nhs.uk/equalityanddiversity.

CPFT is looking to build upon its pool of temporary workers with Temporary Staffing Services (TSS). You will be asked at interview if you would be willing to register with TSS. This is an excellent opportunity for those looking to take on additional hours that are flexible around your personal circumstances.

Please be advised that in line with the WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguards List, 2020 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust currently are unable to accept applications from overseas candidates whose country of residence is classed as a ‘Red List’ country.

Applicants who require entry into the UK will be required to provide a valid police certificate from the relevant authority from each country (except the UK) where the applicant has been present for 12 months or more, 10 years before the date of visa application, while aged 18 or over.

If you are successful at interview you will be subject to pre-employment checks, including a DBS (if appropriate), references and Occupational Health. To ensure a smooth process please bring all identity documents to your interview. A list of required identity documents will be attached to your interview invitation.

All communications will be sent to you via TRAC Systems. By applying for this post you are agreeing to CPFT transferring the information contained in this application to TRAC. If you are made an offer, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.