Principle Clinical Psychologist

NHS; Slough; Hybrid; GBP 64,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player in mental health services is seeking a dedicated Clinical Psychologist to join their team. This role offers a unique opportunity to work with older adults facing complex mental health challenges, including dementia. The postholder will conduct psychological assessments and provide evidence-based interventions while leading a team of professionals. With a commitment to inclusivity and continuous professional development, this position offers flexible working arrangements and a supportive environment. If you are passionate about improving mental health care for older adults, this is the perfect opportunity for you.

Benefits

Flexible working options

27 days' annual leave

Excellent learning and career development opportunities

'Cycle to Work' scheme

Access to wellbeing tools and services

Discounts at popular retailers

Staff networks for diversity and equality

Generous leave policies

Free parking across Trust sites

Qualifications

• Doctoral level training in Clinical Psychology with HCPC registration required.
• Experience working with complex caseloads in older people's mental health.

Responsibilities

• Oversee specialist clinical assessments and implement psychological interventions.
• Provide leadership and supervision to junior psychological professionals.

Skills

Clinical Psychology

Psychological Assessments

Neuropsychological Assessments

Evidence-Based Interventions

Communication Skills

Cultural Competency

Education

Doctoral level training in Clinical Psychology

HCPC registration

Tools

RiO

MS Office/Teams

Job description

This is an excellent opportunity to work in a varied role across a well-established Older People's Mental Health service which includes a Community Mental Health Team, a Home Treatment Team and a Memory Clinic which has been accredited by the Royal College of Psychiatry. We are looking to recruit an enthusiastic, highly motivated Clinical Psychologist dedicated to ensuring the delivery of high quality, safe and effective psychological assessments and interventions for older people with complex mental health needs and people with dementia.

The postholder will be able to work from both the team's basein Upton Hospital, Slough and from home, with visits to clients' homes in the Slough area. Travel across Berkshire for meetings and training will occasionally be required.

Experience/knowledge of working with diverse and disadvantaged populations would be helpful as would fluency in a language spoken by the local population eg Punjabi, Urdu or Hindi. The post holder will be expected to take a lead role in the psychological assessment and treatment of patients referred to the service; providing a range of psychological therapies and conducting neuropsychological assessments as part of the Memory Clinic pathway.

Main duties of the job

To oversee and undertake specialist clinical assessments and neuropsychological assessments

To oversee, develop and implement a range of evidence based psychological and/or psychotherapeutic interventions for individuals, carers, families, and groups.

To provide clinical and professional leadership and supervision to psychological professionals and other staff in the service to ensure a high quality, responsive and accessible psychological provision for service users, their carers and families.

To manage, supervise, and support junior psychological professionals and trainees and other members of the clinical team within their area of responsibility as delegated by the Consultant Psychologist or Service Manager.

To provide clinical and professional supervision, mentoring and coaching to other professionals as appropriate, and across the Trust where required. To maintain up-to-date knowledge with regards to legislative, national and local policies and issues in relation to older adults' mental health, dementia and the psychological professions.

To ensure that all members of the clinical team have access to a psychologically based framework through the provision of advice and consultation and the dissemination of psychological knowledge, research and theory.

Normal rota hours are 9-5pm, total 37.5 hours a week, and we offer a hybrid, flexible working pattern, within the needs of the service.

About us

Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health and community health services trust. Rated 'outstanding' by the CQC, we're committed to providing the best possible care to people across Berkshire. As an employer, we're committed to offering an inclusive and compassionate environment where our people share in a sense of belonging and are supported to flourish.

Our values at Berkshire Healthcare are:

• Caring for and about you is our top priority
• Committed to providing good quality, safe services
• Working Together with you to develop innovative solutions

Your wellbeing is important to us. Some of the benefits of working for us include:

• Flexible working options to support work-life balance
• 27 days' annual leave rising with service + opportunity to buy and sell
• Excellent learning and career development opportunities
• 'Cycle to Work' and car leasing scheme including electric vehicles
• Access to a range of wellbeing tools and services
• Discounts at hundreds of popular retailers and restaurants
• Staff networks for race, diversity, disabilities, the environment and armed forces community to support equality
• Generous maternity, paternity, adoption and special leave
• Free parking across Trust sites

Job responsibilities

The must haves for you to be considered for this role:

• Doctoral level training in Clinical Psychology, with current HCPC registration
• Significant experience in working in an evidence-based manner with complex caseloads and with older people and their families/carers who present with a high degree of complexity.
• Significant experience in working as a qualified clinical psychologist in an older peoples mental health setting.
• Ability to work with people with complex and comorbid presentations, including cognitive impairment and/or physical health conditions.

For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification.

We strongly encourage you to review how you meet the criteria in the person specification and write about this point-by-point in your supporting statement for the best chance of being shortlisted.

Were committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.

We have identified that this is a role where we have underrepresentation of ethnically diverse colleagues. As part of our commitment to inclusion and Unity Against Racism we offer guaranteed interviews to candidates who meet the essential criteria and identify as: Asian or Asian British, Black or Black British, Mixed and Other Ethnic Groups.We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please dont hesitate to call:Rashieda Ebrahim, Service Manager on 03002473001 or [e-mail] or Dr Katy Lee, Consultant Clinical Psychologist on 0118 904 7200 wholl be delighted to help.

Please note, if we receive a high number of applications, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.

Person Specification

Education/Qualifications/Training

• Post graduate doctoral qualification in clinical psychology (or equivalent for those who trained prior to 1996 or for those who completed their training overseas) which provides eligibility for Chartered Membership of the BPS (British Psychological Society).
• Registered and accredited with Health Care Professional Council (HCPC) as a Practitioner Psychologist
• Additional accreditations (or working towards these) to reflect to post qualification specialist training (e.g., BABCP, UKCP, ACAT, BPS).
• Proven ability in teaching and formal training in professional/clinical supervision.

Continuous Professional Development

• Evidence of substantial post-doctoral training, experience and expert knowledge in psychological models and therapeutic approaches with an evidence base within older people's mental health or dementia services.
• OR: Evidence of post qualification or specialist training to accreditable level in at least two areas of psychological/psychotherapy practice directly related to the clinical requirements of this post.
• Evidence of completing clinical supervision training for psychological therapy trainees (specifically Trainee Clinical Psychologists

Experience

• Significant experience working as a qualified Clinical Psychologist including demonstrable post-qualification experience at a highly specialist level in the field of older people's mental health or dementia.
• Significant experience of working in evidence-based ways with service users (and their carers/ families) presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the range of care settings; maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• Experience of dealing with highly distressing or emotional circumstances, such as serious mental illness, child and sexual abuse, exploitation and complex family dynamics.
• Experience of teaching and professional/clinical supervision, as well as experience of developing and leading the delivery of training programmes and supervision.
• Experience of service evaluation and implementing change from a national and local health or social care change agenda that impacts across services and professions.
• Experience of working with, and addressing, issues of diversity and equality, including experience of working with diversity, multiculturalism and equality of access to services

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Able to manage a demanding and complex caseload while supporting junior colleagues.
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to service users, their families, carers and other professional colleagues, both within and outside the NHS.
• Detailed and advanced knowledge of a range of evidence-based assessments and therapeutic interventions within the specialism of older people's mental health.
• Exceptional interpersonal and highly effective communication skills with the ability to support, engage and lead patients, clinicians and other stakeholder groups in change, development and improvement.
• Advanced IT skills and the ability to navigate various systems and software packages (such as RiO, Outlook, databases, MS office/Teams and the Internet).

Additional requirements

• Demonstrates the ability to sensitively respond to people's needs, particularly with reference to all aspects of diversity.
• Able to work flexibly as required and to travel independently between locations to fulfil the requirements and duties of this position.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

£64,337 to £74,415 a yearper annum (inc. of HCAS)