Assistant Psychologist - Dietetic Assistant

NHS; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 31,000; Part time

Job summary

CPFT is seeking an enthusiastic Band 4 Assistant Psychologist to join the Paediatric Psychological Medicine team based at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge. This 0.8 WTE fixed-term post (0.4 WTE Assistant Psychologist, 0.4 WTE Dietetic Assistant) covers the East of England and works within a multidisciplinary team to support children and young people with obesity-related needs.

The role involves psychological assessment and intervention under supervision, developing group interventions, and

Qualifications

• Honours degree in psychology and BPS membership.
• Postgraduate training in clinical psychology/mental health practice sought.
• Experience with paediatric settings and multidisciplinary teams is desirable.

Responsibilities

• To undertake protocol based psychological assessments of clients applying psychological tests under supervision.
• To assist in formulation and delivery of care plans involving psychological treatment and/or management of client problems.
• To assist in coordination and running of therapeutic groups.
• To assist in development of a psychologically based framework of understanding and care.
• To support with nutritional and anthropometric assessments and interventions under supervision.
• To support advanced paediatric dietitian in monitoring and adjusting nutritional therapy.
• To assist in audits, data collection and research projects.

Education

An honours degree or higher in psychology.

Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society.

Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis.

Tools

Dietplan 6

Job description

Band 4

Main area Health Psychology Grade Band 4 Contract 9 months (fixed term 9 months) Hours Part time - 30 hours per week (weekdays, office hours) Job ref 310-CYPF-8019836-A

Site Addenbrookes Hospital Town Cambridge Salary £28,392 - £31,157 per annum pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 19/11/2026 23:59

Job overview

We would like to recruit an enthusiastic and creative Assistant Psychologist to work in our Complications of Excessive Weight (CEW) team.

This post forms part of the larger Paediatric Psychological Medicine team based at Addenbrookes' Hospital and employed by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.

This 0.8 WTE post (0.4 wte Assistant Psychologist, 0.4 wte Dietetic Assistant/responsibilities) will be based at Addenbrookes' Hospital, but covering patients from across the East of England.

The post will involve working with a multidisciplinary team of Consultants, Nurses, Dietitian, Family therapist, Family support worker and a Counselling psychologist. The scope of the service is to take an MDT biopsychosocial approach to improve the care for children and young people (CYP), with comorbid complications related to severe obesity.

Main duties of the job

• To support and enhance the professional psychological care of clients referred to the Paediatric Obesity service.
• To support with psychological assessment and intervention 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 support with the development and facilitation of group interventions for children, young people and their families.
• To develop appropriate resources for use within clinical work with children, young people and families under the care of paediatric medical teams within Addenbrookes'
• To work alongside the Paediatric dietetic team and in conjunction with the advanced paediatric dietitian assist in the provision of specialist dietetic services to the CEW Service.
• To work within a multi professional framework and contribute to a first class dietetic service through evidence based clinical practice, management, education, research and audit.
• To assist in clinically related administration, conduct of audits, collection of statistics, and development of audit and/or research projects, teaching and project work.

Working for our organisation

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

Our clinical teams deliver a wide range of NHS services across inpatient, primary care and community settings, including children's, adult and older people's mental health, forensic and specialist mental health, learning disabilities, primary care and liaison psychiatry, substance misuse, social care, and research and development.

To achieve our goals, we recruit high calibre candidates who share our vision and values. As an equal opportunities’ employer, we welcome applications from all sections of the community, particularly underrepresented groups including people with long term conditions and members of our ethnic minority and LGBTQ+ communities.

All appointments for new employees to CPFT are subject to the successful completion of a probationary period.

Please note we reserve the right to close adverts early should we receive sufficient applications.

Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all roles. If you apply for a post that does not attract sponsorship, your application will be withdrawn from the process.

For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at https://www.cpft.nhs.uk

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1. To undertake protocol based psychological assessments of clients applying psychological tests, including 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, under the supervision of a qualified psychologist.
2. To assist in the formulation and delivery of care plans involving the psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s problems, under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist, in both community and hospital settings.
3. To assist in the coordination and running of therapeutic groups.
4. To assist in the development of a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings where care takes place.
5. To support with nutritional and anthropometric assessments and interventions under the supervision of an Advanced Paediatric Dietitian, working independently according to a plan agreed with the dietitian and within the overall framework of the team’s policies and procedures.
6. To use frameworks, protocols, guidance and support from the advanced paediatric dietitian to ensure effective implementation of dietetic treatment programmes for patients.
7. To support the advanced dietitian with the monitoring and management of individual nutritional therapy programmes including modifications to programmes where indicated, using an agreed framework.
8. To carry out accurate nutritional assessments, taking diet histories and assessing food record charts both manually and using a computer software package such as Dietplan 6.
9. To be proficient in performing accurate anthropometric measurements where required.
10. To work with the Advanced Paediatric dietitian to develop and deliver a 4-6 month dietetic led education programme for children and young people with CEW. Programme to include topics such as energy balance, portion sizes, food labelling, triggers, behaviour change, routine and activity.

Person specification

Education/Qualifications

• An honours degree or higher in psychology.
• Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society.
• Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis.

Experience

• Experience of working with children and young people.
• Experience working with children, young people and families specifically in medical settings.
• Experience of conducting audits.
• Experience of co-facilitating groups with service-users and/or teams.

Skills and Abilities

• High level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive.
• Excellent time management and organisational skills.
• Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team.
• Advanced keyboard and technology skills

Knowledge and Understanding

• An understanding of the needs and difficulties of people with physical health conditions.
• An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to this population.
• Awareness and application of diversity issues in clinical practice.

Other

• An interest in working with children and families.
• An interest in working with children and families with severe obesity and/or complex medical presentations
• A desire to explore a career in Professional Psychology.
• An interest in human nutrition and dietetic interventions.
• An interest in the role food and food choice plays in severe obesity and related complications.

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's community services in Peterborough;
• 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.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.