Clinical Associate Psychologist

Gloucestershire Health and Care; Gloucester; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 52,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free car parking

27 days leave + bank holidays

NHS pension

Job summary

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a qualified Clinical Associate in Psychology to work with adults in inpatient settings. The post focuses on two acute wards and requires collaboration with MDTs to deliver specialised assessments and psychological interventions.

You will contribute to a culture of trauma-informed care, support staff development, and engage in service evaluation and research to improve patient outcomes within the inpatient complex psychological

Qualifications

• Specialist psychological assessments and formulations for adults with severe mental health issues.
• Development of evidence-based psychological interventions and care plans.
• Collaboration with MDTs and supervision to support clinical practice.

Responsibilities

• Undertake specialised psychological assessments and formulations for inpatients.
• Develop care plans including risk assessment and appropriate interventions.
• Lead groups and provide clinical supervision and CPD activities.
• Maintain records and contribute to service evaluation and research.

Skills

Clinical assessment

Formulation

MDT collaboration

Group facilitation

Education

Honours degree in psychology (BPS accredited)

Clinical Associate in Psychology level 7 apprenticeship

Job description

We love what we do and we think you will, too!

At Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust (GHC), we provide joined-up mental health, physical health and learning disability services to people of all ages across Gloucestershire. We run community hospitals and provide care and support in people’s own homes and in a range of other locations across the county.

We are on a mission to enable people to live the best life they can and we have a vision to work together to provide outstanding care. We put people at the heart of our services, focusing on personalised care by asking 'what matters to you'.

We’re passionate about making sure that everyone can contribute to achieving our mission and w e are continually working to support healthy and happy high-quality team s in all areas of the Trust.

Our application process aims to understand each candidate’s knowledge, skills and experience. We have found that candidates that use AI to generate their answers can lack specificity and fail to address key criteria outlined in the job description.

It is really important to personalise your application to convey your individual skills, knowledge, and experiences effectively and for us to understand why you are applying for this role with GHC. We discourage over reliance on AI-generated applications as it will lessen your chances of success in securing an interview with us.

Job overview

We are looking for a qualified CAP with experience of working with adults with severe and enduring mental health difficulties and people in crisis.

This is an opportunity to join a team that values evidence based practice, innovation and a flexible approach to applied psychological work. We would encourage participants with a strong interest in service evaluation and research to add to our track record of publication in the specialist area of inpatient mental health.

In a small and supportive team you can both continue your professional development and contribute to the way we deliver services to patients, families and carers and to our staff teams.

Please do get in contact for an informal discussion about the job.

Main duties of the job

To provide specialist assessment and formulation and appropriate psychological intervention to patients in the acute hospital.

The role with focus on two of our acute wards; Kingsholm Ward (15 bed male ward) and Dean Ward (15 bed female ward). You will attend weekly MDTs to provide consultation and discuss psychological interventions and build effective working relationships with medics, nurses and other AHPs.

You will lead groups which enable access to psychological tools and skills to patients both on the ward and off the ward.

You will facilitate Reflective Practice for ward teams on a regular basis and other professional groups as required.

You will contribute to a culture of trauma informed care and promote psychological safety through your job role, work with patients and families and through training and support for staff.

Working for our organisation

We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people’s homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.

Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:

• 72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
• 76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
• 81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust’s priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.

This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

JOB PURPOSE

• To undertake specialised psychological assessments, treatments and other types of clinical intervention appropriate to this level of training with individual & groups of service users within the inpatient acute service.
• To provide support and psychological consultation to inpatient multi-disciplinary teams (MDT’s).
• To be able to work independently, under supervision, on a day-to-day basis. This work will be reviewed regularly with supervision usually being offered by a qualified HCPC registered practitioner psychologist.

DIMENSIONS

• Provide clinical support to service users, their families and colleagues within the services provided by Inpatient Complex Psychological Interventions Team.

CORE KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Clinical

• To undertake specialised and protocol based psychological assessments – including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with service users, family members and others involved in the service user’s care.
• To assist in the development of psychological formulations of complex clinical problems and the development and delivery of care plans, which include psychological treatment and/ or management of the service user problems including risk assessments.
• To determine appropriate psychological intervention, considering a range of potentially conflicting clinical information and dynamics under the supervision of a clinical psychologist.
• To design, implement and modify bespoke psychological interventions with service users and groups under the supervision of a clinical psychologist.
• To communicate confidential and personal information concerning psychological needs, obtained through assessments and interventions, to colleagues within and outside of the Trust and to the service user and their family.
• To assist in the coordination and running of therapeutic groups.
• To work as a member of a multidisciplinary team and attend meetings as appropriate.
• To follow a person-focused and evidence-based approach and work in partnership with service users and their families/carers.
• To work in accordance with National NHS and GHC policies and regulations, as well as those of relevant professional bodies.
• To receive regular clinical supervision in accordance with BPS guidance and good clinical practice.
• To assist in the planning, coordination and running of staff support forums such as reflective practice, case discussion, formulation and CPD workshops.
• To maintain appropriate records in electronic or hard copy in line with Trust policies and Professional guidelines. Includes workload data and using word processing skills to produce service user related reports.

Leadership / Management

• To assist in the design and implementation of service development projects within the service as required.
• To support other members of the team with their development such as undergraduate students on placement, assistant psychologists and apprentice CAPs.

Teaching, training and supervision

• To assist with providing specialist training to other psychologists, trainees, assistants and other colleagues as appropriate.
• To assist in the development of a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all service users of the service, across all settings where care takes place.

Research and service evaluation

• To plan, monitor and evaluate own work, using clinical outcomes assessments, small-scale research methodology and statistical procedures.
• To assist in the design and implementation of service-based audit and research projects using appropriate methodology and statistical procedures, as agreed with the clinical supervisor.
• To undertake data collection, analysis, the production of reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes.
• To undertake searches of evidence-based literature and research to assist the team and respond to changes in evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
• To continually develop own knowledge of applied psychological models, specific client groups and types of psychological difficulty through reading, literature searches and personal study.

Professional

• To manage work independently according to goals agreed at intervals with their manager, working independently on a day to day basis.
• To work within guidance and direction of qualified HCPC registered Psychologist and guided by the Profession’s standards including the British Psychological Society (BPS) Code of Conduct, Ethics Guidelines for Chartered Psychologists, and registration.
• To carry out Continuous Professional Development (CPD) activity and to maintain a CPD. log suitable for submission to the BPS, which demonstrates 70 hours per year CPD. CPD to include gaining wider experience of professional psychology within the NHS over and above that provided within the principal service area where the post-holder is employed. Also to include developing skills and competencies that assist in the delivery of current duties.

OTHER

• Prepare test materials, visual aids and undertake specific administrative duties as required.
• Perform other duties of a similar kind appropriate to the grade that may be required from time to time by their manager.

COMMUNICATIONS AND WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

• Service users, families, carers and advocates.
• Multi-disciplinary colleagues, social services staff, and staff from private / voluntary organisations.
• CAPs in other parts of the region (professional networks).
• Attend meetings in which service developments are planned and discussed.
• Clinical supervision is provided from a qualified Clinical Psychologist.
• Contributes to relevant Psychology activities and meets as required with Psychology colleagues.

EFFORT AND HEALTH & SAFETY FACTORS

• The duties of psychological assessment, intervention, and management require concentration and may require some long periods of sitting. Computers are used frequently.
• The nature of the job involves work with people in distress and being faced with severe behavioural, emotional, and mental health issues. Sometimes it involves being faced with verbal and physical aggression, highly distressing self-injurious behaviour, and coming into contact with family breakdown, physical or sexual abuse and neglect. Competence in breakaway techniques (and restraint as necessary) is required.
• Work is conducted in a variety of settings (e.g. service users’ homes, hospital wards, residential or day care facilities). Settings may be difficult to work in, e.g. temperature, space available, frequent interruptions, lack of privacy, poor cleanliness, exposure to cigarette smoke and other environmental hazards.
• Work is sometimes in environments where there is close contact with people with poor personal hygiene and there may be contact with bodily fluids, blood, urine, faeces, lice, etc.
• The job requires transporting and using test materials / equipment (suitcase sized loads).

MOST CHALLENGING PART OF THE JOB

• Working in very emotionally demanding situations, being faced with significant levels of distress or anger, or other challenging behaviours.
• Working with service users/patients who may experience psychosis, suicidal thoughts, self-harm and substance misuse leading to emotional deregulation, behavioural disturbance and verbal and actual threats of harm.
• Undertaking complex assessments with service users who have multiple needs, including adverse childhood experiences: complex social and housing needs: substance misuse difficulties and high levels of risk.
• Working with service users with chronic and/or deteriorating conditions, and dealing with the breaking of bad news with services users, their families and carers about their condition.
• Tackling barriers to assessment and interventions such as lack of insight, or engagement with services, impairment in communication, sensory impairment or other cognitive impairments.
• Developing capacity for accurate self-awareness about current knowledge, skills and gaps to develop own learning objectives to meet needs of the job role.
• Dealing effectively with conflict, controversy, distress and confrontation on a regular basis.
• Managing the expectations of service users, and carers.

Please refer to JD/PS for additional detail about generic responsibilities for all post holders in GHC.

• Honours degree in BPS accredited psychology degree (2:1 or above or 2:2 with substantial relevant experience)
• Completed level 7 Apprenticeship masters degree ‘Clinical Associate in Psychology’ from an approved course
• Eligible for graduate basis for chartered membership of BPS
• Evidence of training/CPD to develop knowledge and theory relevant to the specialism

Experience

• Willingness to work in the face of emotive and distressing problems, and possible verbal abuse/threat of physical abuse
• Ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, sensitive information to patients, carers and families and other colleagues
• Prior experience with the service user group or experience in an inpatient or residential clinical setting
• Some experience of using/administering/interpreting neuropsychological standardised tests e.g. WAIS IV/WMS/DKEFS
• Additional knowledge/experience of research methodology

Knowledge

• Strong listening skills, empathic towards people in distress
• Practical working knowledge of at least one relevant psychological approach e.g. CBT
• Experience of MDT working
• Experience of groups

Skills

• Emotional robustness to frequently work with the intense distress of others
• Calm but assertive to help effective communication when there are barriers to understanding and in circumstances where hostility, manipulation, conflict and antagonism could be present
• Ability to recognise limits of competence and seek support when needed
• Ability to prioritise work and organise own diary
• Ability to undertake all statutory and mandatory training
• Competency in breakaway techniques and de-escalation established and maintained via trust training

Other requirements

• Computer literate, keyboard skills and competent with Microsoft office software
• Ability to travel to locations as required in a timely manner to fulfil the requirements of the role
• Ability to keep and maintain appropriate records in keeping with Trust policies and BPS guidance

When joining us, as well as becoming part of a team that makes a difference, we also offer:

• Free car parking at many of our sites
• 27 days leave plus bank holidays, increasing up to 33 days with long service
• A broad range of training and development opportunities, including apprenticeships up to Level 7 qualification.
• A multi-professional preceptorship programme for all Newly Qualified; Nurses, Nursing Associates, Internationally Educated Practitioners, Allied Health Professionals and Return to Practice Practitioners.
• Generous NHS pension and enhanced pay when if you work unsocial hours
• Flexible, family friendly and agile working opportunities
• Recognition and long service awards
• Fast Track physiotherapy
• Access to discounts and salary sacrifice schemes; including Cycle to Work, Car scheme and discounts on travel, leisure and retailers.

Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.

If you are aged 16-30, you may be eligible for financial and pastoral support from the King’s Trust, with who we are in partnership with to support your first 6 months in role. We will pass on your details to the King’s Trust who will be in touch with you if you are eligible. If you would rather not be contacted, please let us know.

For more information please see the attached 'Additional Information for Applicants' document.

Good luck with your application.

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.

Name Dr Bethany Taylor Job title Principal Clinical Psychologist Email address [e-mail] Telephone number 0300 421 4788 Additional information

General inpatient CPl office number is 0300 421 4779