Assistant Psychologist Peterborough, England
Job description
An exciting opportunity has arisen to recruit an assistant psychologist to join our community Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (FCAMHS). Consideration will be given to applicants who want to work either full time or part time. The FCAMHS community team base is in Peterborough and there is also a second base in Cambridge. The service is regional covering the East of England region (Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire).
This dynamic service established in 2018, works in partnership with wider agencies to ensure integrated care provision across health, social care, education and youth justice to optimise the outcomes for children/young people who present with high risk and/or concerning behaviours and where mental health and/or neurodevelopmental concerns are suspected. The job will involve supporting clinicians with advice and consultation with the possibility of observing and completing assessments undertaken as appropriate. The post holder will be responsible for the continuation of developments of the teams offer to those young people presenting with Learning Disability and/or Neurodiversity.
The post holder will be part of a multi-disciplinary team and will have the support of a Senior Leadership Team that includes a Consultant Psychologist and Consultant Psychiatrist. The post holder may have the opportunity to be part of psychology networks across the Trust and a specialist forensic peer supervision group.
The post holder will provide a specialist psychology service under supervision to children/young people and their families/carers. The post holder will support specialist psychological assessments for children/young people with highly complex presentations and psychological consultation to other professionals involved in their care. The post holder will also be expected to undertake service development projects and research as agreed with the Psychological Therapies Lead and Senior Leadership Team.
Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health & social care organisation dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion to improve the health & wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting & empowering them to lead a fulfilling life.
Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services not only via inpatient and primary care setting but also with the community. These services include Children, Adult & Older Peoples mental & physical health, Forensic & Specialist mental health, Learning Disabilities, Primary Care & Liaison psychiatry, Substance misuse, Social care, Research & Development.
To achieve our goal, we look to recruit high calibre candidates that share our vision & values. As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all sectors of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including disabled people & members of our ethnic minorities & LGBTQ+ communities.
Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities
1. To provide under supervision of a clinical/forensic psychologist psychological assessments of children who are referred to the service, based on appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological data from a variety of sources, including undertaking psychometric tests, self-report measures, rating scales, structured observations and supporting semi-structured interviews, with children/young people, family members/carers and others involved.
2. Under supervision contribute to appropriate psychologically informed formulations, consultation and advice based upon analyses of the range of available complex information concerning children/young people who are referred to the service and their particular risks.
3. Under supervision to contribute to specialist structured risk assessments, drawing on highly specialist knowledge of forensic factors.
4. To communicate highly confidential and personal information obtained through assessment, formulation and interventions, to the child/young person themselves, other involved professionals, their relatives/carers, and referring agents. To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, making judgements concerning what information to report and how and when to convey it, in the best interests of the child/young person.
5. To be active in risk assessment and complex risk management of children/young people who may be at risk to themselves and/or others, and/or may be vulnerable and at risk of physical, sexual or emotional harm.
6. Contribute to the production of clinical and forensic reports on children/young people, in a timely manner, that convey the complex analysis and recommendations to the relevant audience.
7. Where appropriate to support the safe and effective transitions for children/young people between the community and custodial/welfare secure settings so as to ensure the appropriate services are available and coordinated.
8. To shadow and where appropriate to advocate and constructively challenge on behalf of the child/young person and their family/carers in order to ensure they can access the appropriate support and services to meet their needs.
9. To contribute within boundaries of knowledge to the teaching/training of other professionals within child health and allied services
10. To promote team working, psychologically safety and constructive relationships
11. To actively participate in clinical and managerial supervision.
