Professional Lead - Specialist Psychosis, Adult Mental Health

Professional Lead - Specialist Psychosis, Adult Mental Health

Location: Exeter, EX2 5AF
Salary: £62215.00 to £72293.00
Date posted: 4th April 2025
Closing date: 25th April 2025

The principal purpose of the job is to improve the psychological health & wellbeing of adults with mental health difficulties who are using community Adult Mental Health services focusing mainly on the psychosis pathway (Early Intervention in Psychosis and Rehabilitation services).

A key responsibility of this role will be coordinating specific service areas of development and delivery within Adult Psychology services. Working at an operational level this will ensure the Psychology and Psychological Therapies (PPT) service improves access to psychological therapies, is an integrated part of all relevant clinical pathways, delivers high clinical standards, makes best use of its scarce resources and develops evidence based practice that meets needs and choices of people using the service. This role will have a specific focus on psychosis working closely with Early Intervention services in the main.

In conjunction with the Strategic lead, this role will be responsible for delivering a range of service developments under the Community Mental Health Framework and Transformation agenda. It also includes leadership on creating Psychologically Informed Environments and, in particular, Trauma Informed Care.

Main duties of the job

1. Day to day management of Psychology and Psychological Professions staff, primarily based in the Early Interventions in Psychosis Service.
2. Undertake service development and redesign projects and coordinate the resulting work, proposing and implementing policy changes and take a lead in psychosis services redesign.
3. Ensure that staff work within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within Early Intervention services.
4. Provide input to the local multidisciplinary community teams, and forming Multi Agency Teams, developing new ways of working across services and auditing the impact of team working.
5. Carry a specialist caseload of clients and offer advice and consultation on clients' psychological care to colleagues and carers.
6. The post holder will receive regular professional and clinical supervision.
7. Take a broad psychological approach to developing capacity of the workforce, inputting to planning and coordinating delivery of a range of activities that build capacity for psychological interventions including consultation, reflective practice, supervision and training.
8. Embed practice-based evidence and evidence based practice across service area.
9. Work collaboratively to ensure a whole systems integrated approach to service delivery and development, ensuring involvement and experience, social inclusion and race equality agendas inform and support their work.

About us

We provide mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity services, as well as a range of specialist & secure services for the wider south west region & nationally. We are passionate about promoting good mental health & wellbeing. We strive to use the expertise & resources within our organisation, and through our partnerships, to deliver high quality services that are safe & focused on people's recovery.

We are committed to developing a culture of coproduction, involving patients, families & carers in everything we do.

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications & experience - we recruit individuals who possess & demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. These include such attributes as showing a commitment to quality of care, improving lives of others, giving respect, dignity & compassion. We can bring those values to life in our everyday tasks by giving a smile; making time for people; challenging ourselves & others, & being open to new ideas.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer & applications are encouraged & welcomed from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics as governed by the Equality Act 2010. Part time & flexible working applications will be considered & supported, where possible. We particularly encourage applicants with lived experience of mental health conditions, neurodiversity or learning disabilities. We are a Disability Confident Leader.

Job responsibilities

The principal purpose of the job is to improve the psychological health & wellbeing of adults with mental health difficulties who are using community Adult Mental Health services focusing mainly on the psychosis pathway.

A key responsibility of this role will be coordinating specific service areas of development and delivery within Adult Psychology services. Working at an operational level this will ensure that community service users have improved access to psychological therapies, as an integrated part of all relevant clinical pathways; and that our psychological practitioners deliver high clinical standards, make best use of resources and develop evidence based practice, that meets needs and choices of people using the service. This role will have a specific focus on psychosis, working closely with Early Interventions Services and Rehab teams.

In conjunction with the Strategic lead, this role will be responsible for delivering a range of service developments under the Community Mental Health Framework and Transformation agenda. It also includes leadership on creating Psychologically-Informed Environments and, in particular, Trauma-Informed Care.

This will be achieved in this post through undertaking the following areas of responsibility:

1. To be one of a team of Professional Leads with responsibility for day to day management of staff primarily based in the First Episode Psychosis Service (STEP) and Rehab teams; and contributing to the coordination and smooth running of adult psychology services.
2. To support the Professional Head, Service Managers and the Practice Development and Strategic Leads by undertaking service development and redesign projects and coordinating the resulting work within the team, proposing and implementing policy changes within this domain and taking a lead in psychosis services redesign.
3. To be responsible for the management of Applied/Practitioner Psychologists working within the Adult directorate, delivering services to STEP and Rehab teams. Ensure that staff work within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within these services.
4. Provide input to the local multidisciplinary community teams, and forming Multi Agency Teams, developing new ways of working across services and auditing the impact of team working.
5. Carry a specialist caseload of clients as well as offering advice and consultation on clients psychological care to MH colleagues and carers, working autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the services policies and procedures.
6. The post holder will receive regular professional and clinical supervision in accordance to Trust policy and to Professional Practice Guidelines set out by the British Psychological Society or appropriate designated Professional Body.
7. Take a broad psychological approach to developing capacity of the workforce, inputting to planning and coordinating delivery of a range of activities that build capacity for psychological interventions both in community settings including consultation, reflective practice, supervision and training.
8. As directed by the Practice and Strategic Development Leads embed practice-based evidence and evidence-based practice across service area. This will include working with people using the service to ensure their involvement in service design and evaluation.
9. The post holder will work collaboratively to ensure a whole systems integrated approach to service delivery and development. All staff within the Psychology and Psychological Therapies service will be responsible for ensuring involvement and experience, social inclusion and race equality agendas inform and support their work.

Person Specification

Experience

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and psychological interventions for people with mental health problems across the full range of care settings, particularly for psychosis in community and in patient settings.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity.
• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
• Experience in undertaking leadership roles within clinical psychology/psychological therapy services in the NHS and in contributing to the development, implementation and evaluation of strategies and clinical policies in multi disciplinary, multi agency contexts; and supervising psychological therapists and undertaking line-management.
• Experience, and/or training in diversity awareness and social inequality.
• Excellent verbal, nonverbal and written communication skills.
• Strong leadership qualities, resilience and ability to handle ambiguity and uncertainty.
• Skills in managing conflict, negotiation & achieving consensus in complex situations in the pursuit of agreed strategic aims.
• Ability to integrate and manipulate complex data; interpret this information and write comprehensive reports.
• Ability to make highly skilled evaluations and decisions; and take a long term perspective.
• Proven organisational, planning and time management skills.
• Ability to work under pressure and cope with deadlines.
• Calm, methodical approach, friendly but concise.
• Good communication skills when presenting / facilitating to varying groups of people.
• Highly skilled in specialist interventions with the client group.
• Advanced psychological assessment and formulation skills including risk assessment.

Qualifications

• Qualified Clinical or Counselling Psychologist (D.Clin.Psychol. or equivalent), eligible for Chartered Clinical/Counselling Psychologist Status in the British Psychological Society Or Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology as accredited by the HCPC (or equivalent qualifications as assessed by the HPC) Or Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology (or equivalent as assessed by the HCPC).
• Registration with HCPC/UKCP/Other Specialist regulatory body.
• Further training or equivalent experience in working with Psychosis.
• Further training in at least one psychological therapy.

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.