Lead Psychologist

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There's a place for you at CNWL. We're passionate about delivering first class patient centred, safe and effective care, whether it is in a hospital setting, in a community clinic or in the patient's own home. Patients are at the heart of everything we do. Providing top quality care depends on our ability to employ the best people. We're always looking to recruit outstanding people who will go the extra mile to support our patients, colleagues, teams and the Trust. With every new employee we're hoping to find our future leaders and we'll support our staff by providing opportunities to develop your career. With a diverse culture and equally diverse range of opportunities across mental health, community services, addictions, eating disorders, learning disabilities and more - whatever stage of your career you're at, there's always a place for you at CNWL.

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Use their NHS.net email address in their TRAC profile

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Applications using personal email addresses (e.g. Gmail or Yahoo) will not be recognised, and the process simply won't work. There is also a charge to change new starter personal email addresses to their nhs.net email address.

Before you apply:

Log into TRAC and update your email to your NHS.net address

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CNWL (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust) has almost 8,000 staff providing integrated healthcare to a third of London's population, Milton Keynes and areas beyond. We involve service users, carers, the public, staff and partner organisations in the way that we are run.

Our catchment area spans diverse communities, with over 100 first languages spoken. It contains areas of great affluence as well as areas of much deprivation. We are committed to providing services that meet the needs of the people who use them, and we actively encourage involvement from local people who can help make a difference. We're proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME and people with disabilities to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.

We are recognised locally, nationally and internationally for providing high quality, innovative healthcare. We aim to employ only the best people, and our experts are frequently called upon to contribute to national health strategy and policy, and many models of our care have been adapted for use in other countries.

We offer a generous relocation package (subject to eligibility assessment) and flexible working options, including bank assignments for most roles. For more information on these and other benefits of working for us, see our Benefits, Reward and Wellbeing page.

CNWL NHS Foundation Trust are committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We follow safe recruitment practices to protect children and vulnerable adults.

Job overview Join Us at a Time of Exciting Change

Are you an experienced Clinical Psychologist ready to lead and innovate? We are seeking a highly motivated Professional Lead to join our Milton Keynes Autism Assessment and Community Paediatrics Service. This senior role offers the opportunity to shape a multidisciplinary autism pathway, ensuring timely, high quality assessments and post diagnostic support for children and young people.

About the role As Professional Lead Clinical Psychologist, you will:

• Lead autism/ASD assessments and neurodevelopmental formulations within a multidisciplinary framework.
• Provide expert psychological input and consultation across the team.
• Line manage psychologists and psychological practitioners, including recruitment, supervision, job planning and performance management.
• Deliver teaching, training and supervision to psychology staff and wider professionals.
• Drive service development, quality improvement and co production initiatives.
• Ensure compliance with clinical governance, safeguarding and Trust policies.

You will lead a small team of MDT practitioners offering assessment and brief psychological intervention, ensuring safety and quality of their work. You will inspire and support colleagues within a busy service and work closely with the MDT to deliver high quality assessments and interventions for children and young people.

Main duties of the job

• Lead Clinical Practice
• Oversee autism/ASD assessments and neurodevelopmental formulations within a multidisciplinary framework.
• Ensure high quality, evidence based psychological interventions for children and young people.

Provide expert consultation

• Offer specialist psychological input and advice to the multidisciplinary team.
• Support complex case discussions and clinical decision making.

Leadership and management

• Line manage psychologists and psychological practitioners, including recruitment, supervision, job planning and performance management.
• Maintain compliance with clinical governance, safeguarding and Trust policies.

Teaching and training

• Deliver training and supervision to psychology staff and wider professionals.
• Promote continuous professional development and best practice across the service.

Service development

• Drive quality improvement, innovation and co production initiatives.
• Lead implementation of digital tools and contribute to CNWL's Neurodevelopmental Pathway Transformation programme.

Hear directly from our leaders and their vision for psychological professions in the Trust here.

Learn more about working in Milton Keynes by following the link below.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities Main responsibilities Leadership & Governance

• Act as the professional lead for clinical psychology within the service.
• Oversee psychological governance and ensure compliance with Trust policies, clinical governance and safeguarding standards.
• Lead service planning and development for neurodevelopmental pathways across the county.

Clinical responsibilities

• Provide expert, highly specialist assessments for neurodevelopmental conditions, particularly autism.
• Ensure timely access to assessments, post diagnostic support and interventions.
• Work autonomously within professional guidelines, maintaining the highest standards of clinical care.

Team management

• Line manage psychologists and psychological practitioners, including recruitment, supervision, appraisal and training.
• Coordinate workload and support staff development to maintain service quality.
• Work closely with the Specialist Children's Service Manager, Service Manager and Clinical Director.
• Participate in CNWL networks related to ASD and Community Paediatrics.
• Provide consultation, training and teaching within and beyond the team.

Quality & Evaluation

• Lead quality improvement initiatives, service evaluation, research and audit.
• Monitor service effectiveness against key deliverables such as patient safety and care quality.
• Report regularly to the Service Manager and Clinical Director.

Equality & Inclusion

• Promote inclusive practices and foster good relations across diverse communities.
• Encourage applications from all sectors of the community to ensure the workforce reflects the populations served.

CNWL Neurodevelopmental Pathway Transformation This is an exciting time to join CNWL. We are implementing a new Neurodevelopmental (ND) pathway transformation programme, designed to improve access, consistency and quality of care for children and young people with neurodevelopmental needs. As part of this initiative, the autism assessment service is adopting innovative digital tools and platforms to streamline processes, enhance multidisciplinary collaboration and improve patient experience. The postholder will play a key role in embedding these digital solutions and contributing to the ongoing development and evaluation of the ND pathway transformation.

Person specification Qualifications

• Doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996), including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology. Two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan development psychology as accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS).
• Current registration with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical Psychologist).
• Further specialist post qualification training relevant to the client group.
• Formal training in the assessment of Autism, including ADOS-2 and ADI-R or 3DiR.
• Formal training in supervision of trainee clinical psychologists.
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