Assistant Psychologist
Outstanding Care, Outstanding Careers
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Job overview
We are recruiting a part-time Assistant Psychologist (Band 4) to join our rapidly developing Children's Diabetes Team and Young Person's Diabetes Service.
The Children's Diabetes Team, based at Dorset County Hospital, cares for approximately 100 children and young people aged 0-18 years within the locality. The post holder will work alongside a qualified clinical psychologist to support the delivery of the psychology service to children and young people with diabetes, their families/carers and members of the multi-disciplinary team.The role will include a combination of supervised direct clinical work, as well as supporting the delivery of groups, working with other professionals in the service, and supporting with audit and clinical databases.
This role is a part time, permanent position, with flexible working options.
Main duties of the job
We are seeking a highly-motivated, compassionate and organised individual:
- To contribute to psychological screening, assessment, formulation and therapy for children and young people within the diabetes service at the direction of the clinical psychologist.
- To work as part of the multi-disciplinary diabetes team on quality improvement initiatives including relevant audits, collecting, analysing, and reporting on a range of statistics.
- To support the teaching and training of the multi-disciplinary diabetes team
Experience working as an assistant psychologist, or other relevant experience, is required.
Working for our organisation
The Children's Diabetes Team is a multi-disciplinary team consisting of diabetes nurses, diabetes dietitians, consultant paediatricians, a clinical psychologist and administrators. The team work in collaboration to help children, young people and parents/carers achieve the best Diabetes management they can in order to lead a happy and full life.The team work in a cohesive way to ensure families get the right support with diabetes management, from ensuring access to appropriate technology, to supporting mental health and linking families in with local services to meet their needs.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Responsibility for Patients- To undertake psychological screening and assessment of children and young people with diabetes under the supervision of a clinical psychologist. This may include undertaking questionnaires, conducting neuropsychological assessments, making observations and semi-structured interviews.
- To analyse and interpret assessment findings with the support and direction of the clinical psychologist.
- To provide evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions to children and young people with diabetes under the supervision of a clinical psychologist
- To plan, organise and teach psychosocial interventions in group or individual formats when required.
- To contribute to wider interventions provided by the MDT within the diabetes service.
- To liaise with clients, carers, and professionals regarding non-complex sensitive clinical information.
- To work as part of a team with the clinical psychologist including planning and organisation of own workload or delegated tasks.
- To support the provision of highly specialist psychological advice and consultation to community and ward staff involved in the care of children and young people. This may involve exposure to highly distressing circumstances.
- To maintain a database of psychology referrals.
- To feedback findings from psychological assessments to the wider MDT, and to be able to communicate this information effectively to young people, and their families or carers where appropriate.
- To work with frequent intense concentration during clinical sessions in which assessment and intervention are undertaken.
- Regular supervision should be accessed on a minimum of a fortnightly basis in accordance with good practice guidelines.
- To plan and prioritise own clinical workload and attend referral meetings, planning meetings, ward rounds and case conferences as appropriate.
- To participate in the development and preparation of clinical materials such as brochures, handouts, relaxation tapes, scripts, etc for use in the clinical services.
- To write letters and clinical reports as required.
- To note-take as needed at clinical psychology meetings such as case formulations, psycho-social meetings, high HbA1c meetings and disseminate to the wider MDT as required.
- To support the clinical psychologist to enhance the basic psychological skills of the diabetes MDT through training and support.
- To support the clinical psychologist to design and implement a psychological strategy for the service
- To work with colleagues to maintain and improve the quality of the diabetes service for children and young people.
- To work positively with colleagues to maintain effective relationships.
- To attend relevant team and inter-agency meetings and to disseminate and cascade information from these meetings effectively to relevant staff.
- To attend and contribute to High HbA1c/complex case meetings, enhancing the provision of basic psychological tools by the wider MDT.
- To have a personal duty of care for NHS equipment and facilities and to advise on the ordering and maintenance of psychological tests and other equipment as required.
- To maintain appropriate client records and make regular statistical returns as required.
- To provide up-to-date reports on the progress of patients as required
- To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with professional codes of practice of the Health and Care Professions Council and Trust policies and procedures.
Person specification
Knowledge, Skills & Training
Essential criteria- BPS accredited degree in Psychology (2:1 or higher) conferring graduate basis for registration (GBR)
- 2:1 Psychology degree or higher
- Knowledge and skills for maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
- Good communication and organisational skills
Business Travel
Essential criteria- Subject to the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act, able to travel using own vehicle on Trust business.
Experience
Essential criteria- Experience of working as an assistant psychologist or other equivalent recognised work experience
- Experience of audit/data collection/statistical analysis for service improvement or research
- Experience of working in a physical health setting or with clients with long term health conditions
- Experience of working with children or young people
- Experience of teaching, and training others
- Experience facilitating therapeutic groups or contributing to the delivery of psycho-educational interventions
Personal
Essential criteria- Ability to work independently and as part of a multi-disciplinary team
- Ability to prioritise, and organise workload
Information Technology
Essential criteria- Basic IT skills, normally obtained through practice or practical training. Demonstrable experience of using word processing, spreadsheet, database and or presentation software.
- Experience maintaining a database of psychology referrals, including inputting, organising & analysing direct patient information and outcomes.
Additional
Essential criteria- Demonstrable skills in written and spoken English, adequate to enable the post holder to carry out the role effectively.
Finance & Resources
Essential criteria- To demonstrate an understanding of personal responsibility for keeping Trust equipment safe
Our Mission
Outstanding care for people in ways which matter to them.
Our Vision
Dorset County Hospital, working with our health and social care partners, will be at the heart of improving the well-being of our communities.
Our Values
Integrity, Respect, Teamwork, Excellence
We are a Trust that celebrates diversity and we are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We would welcome applications from people in all under-represented groups.
For more information, please use the link below to read our joint strategy for Dorset County Hospital and Dorset Healthcare.
Trust Strategy | Dorset County Hospital (dchft.nhs.uk)
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT INFORMATION CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION
Please read the job description and person specification carefully to ensure your application reflects the knowledge, skills and experience required.
The closing date/interview date is subject to amendment; this vacancy may therefore expire at short notice, so we recommend that you submit an application at your earliest convenience. We reserve the right to close any vacancies without notice.
Shortlisted applicants will be contacted via email; therefore it is important that you check your personal email account regularly.
Unfortunately we are unable to respond to every application; if we do not contact you within 4 weeks of the closing date, please be advised that you not have been shortlisted on this occasion.
You can contact us on 01305 254655 to find out whether you have been shortlisted or if you would like feedback.