Clinical Psychologist

Psychologists are integral and valued key members of the Mental Health Care of Older People's multidisciplinary teams (MHCOP) in each borough across East London. Within and across the service, in line with National Guidance, psychologists are responsible and accountable for the provision of high quality, person-centred and culturally sensitive psychological services to older adults presenting to the service, their families and carers. Our goal is to alleviate psychological distress and promote psychological well-being, working alongside our multi-disciplinary team colleagues in the community and liaison into the centralised wards, where required through consultation, teaching and training.

This is an exciting time for Tower Hamlets older adults' services, with an innovative redesign of our diagnostic memory clinic offer currently underway. The particular focus of this post will be the provision of high-quality, specialist neuropsychological assessment and formulation into our newly redesigned Tower Hamlets memory clinics, working alongside multidisciplinary colleagues to provide a timely and holistic diagnostic service to service users and their families and carers.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be an active member of Tower Hamlets Mental Health Care of Older People's service, with a particular focus on delivering high-quality, specialist neuropsychological assessments and formulation under the Tower Hamlets Memory Clinic. Key responsibilities include:

• Providing specialist neuropsychological assessment of adults and older adults presenting to TH memory clinic using appropriate methodology and to integrate this information into a neuropsychological formulation.
• Consulting with and providing specialist guidance to significant others including carers and families of service users.
• Offering advice and consultation on psychological and neuropsychological care to members of the interdisciplinary team, other relevant healthcare professionals, carers, and significant others.
• Communicating in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation, and treatment plans of service users under the care of the service and to monitor progress during treatment.
• Attending interdisciplinary team meetings and providing a specialist psychological perspective in the interdisciplinary formulation of appropriate treatment plans.

About us

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Job responsibilities

Kindly refer to the job description and person specification that is attached to the vacancy profile.

Person Specification Education/ Qualification/ Training

• Postgraduate Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS (2)
• Registration with the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC).
• Breakaway Training.
• Relevant specialist older adult training or qualifications including neuropsychological assessment skills
• Additional relevant clinical and/or managerial knowledge and skills acquired through formal training, long or short courses, formal supervision (individual and/or group), structured self-study or experience (or a combination of these) to an appropriate level approved by the Head of Psychology and demonstrated by certification, documented supervision logs, management appraisal documentation and/or assessment at interview

Experience

• Clinical/Counselling Psychologist in NHS settings.
• Experience of working in a mental healthcare setting with older adults who experience severe mental health problems and/ or dementia including neuropsychology assessment and therapy with this client group
• Experience of neuropsychological assessment, formulation and treatment in a relevant clinical or health setting
• Experience of working as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Experience of the CPA system.
• Experience of providing a clinical service to a multicultural population, including use of interpreters.
• Experience of supervising others' clinical work.
• Understanding of the supervisory process.
• Able to deliver teaching and training events.
• Able to contribute a psychological perspective in work with other professionals
• Experience of developing and delivering highly specialist psychological interventions and teaching
• Post qualification work with this service user group.
• Experience of working with couples, families and groups.
• Use of psychological models for consultation with staff teams, notably relating to behaviours that challenge

Knowledge and Skills

• Able to provide & receive highly complex, sensitive or contentious information in a highly emotive and sometimes hostile atmosphere, in a range of relationships and settings
• Able to use specialist skills of empathy to overcome barriers to understanding and acceptance.
• Sensitive and respectful approach to the needs of people with severe and enduring mental health difficulties, their families and carers.
• Able to build good working relationships with other professionals.
• Awareness of national policy and guidelines as related to dementia and older adult mental health
• Able to draw upon a broad theoretical knowledge base in the analysis of highly complex facts or situations to arrive at appropriate formulations
• Able to compare and select from a range of intervention options, (minimum of two therapeutic orientations) based on formulation
• Able to provide brief and longer term therapeutic interventions.
• Able to understand the complexity involved in working with people with severe and enduring mental health difficulties. Understanding of the CPA system. Awareness of government frameworks and guidelines relating to mental health, e.g. NSF, NHS plan, Treatment Choice in Psychological Therapies
• Able to plan, organise, prioritise and manage own complex workload.
• Able to contribute constructively to the work of an MDT.
• Able to work to agreed targets and monitor work.
• Driving.
• Active research interests. Record of published research.

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.

£56,276 to £63,176 a yearPer annum pro rata inc HCA