Assistant Psychologist United Kingdom
Job description
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust provides child and adult mental health services, learning disability, wellbeing, older people's and eating disorder services across Norfolk and Suffolk.
At any one time, around 23,000 people in Norfolk and Suffolk are receiving care and attention from the Trust. We believe in whole life care - seeing people in the context of their whole lives, understanding the importance of good physical health, friends, family, spirituality, culture, home, work, education and a sense of purpose and achievement to experience good mental health.
Nearly 3,200 full and part-time practitioners care for our service users in hospitals, in the community and in their own homes, whilst an additional 900+ staff provide non-clinical support, including cleaning, delivering supplies, ward administration, information technology, human resources and financial services.
We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and want to reflect the diversity of our local communities within our teams. We welcome applications from all talented individuals with the relevant qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience.
We are committed to delivering quality driven mental health services. Every individual makes a valuable contribution. We are proud of our staff who have been commended for the care they provide. Do you value working positively, respectfully and together? If so, we’d love you to join us!
We will consider flexible working arrangements for our roles, please indicate in your application if this is something you require
JOB DESCRIPTION/PERSON SPECIFICATION
Please read the job description/person specification carefully and ensure your application reflects the knowledge, skills and experience needed.
YOUR APPLICATION
It is important that you complete a formal application form as CV’s alone will not be accepted.
TWITTER - The Trust now has it's own Twitter account for recruitment. Follow us on @NSFTjobs
PLEASE NOTE: If you use a hotmail, msn or yahoo e-mail account, you will need to check your "junk" mail regularly as these email providers will divert any communication from this Trust/NHS JOBS straight into your " junk" inbox.
Job overview
Passionate about the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people? We are excited to be recruiting an Assistant Psychologist to the Suffolk Mental Health Support Team (MHST). The MHST is based within education settings, ensuring children and young people receive faster access to earlier mental health support through direct work with children, young people and families and Whole School/College Approach methods. The successful candidate will play a key role in delivering and evaluating this service. We are a dynamic mental health team working in a creative environment: Suffolk has had MHSTs since 2020 and we continue to expand. You will need to be adaptable and have a passion for working with children and young people in education settings. This is an exciting new role in the MHST which you will be able to contribute to the development of.
Main duties of the job
MHSTs provide targeted and evidence-based interventions to support the management of mild to moderate mental health needs. As an Assistant Psychologist in the team, you will support:
- assessment, formulation and intervention with children, young people and their families and the education setting community
- the team to provide group intervention programmes
- with the research and evaluation that is critical to the team’s development
- with developing psychological resources used by the team
You will work closely alongside a team of mental health professionals, will utilise regular supervision sessions, reflective practice and training opportunities in the team to develop your practice and ensure a high level of clinical support is provided.
We have several teams across the county, this vacancy is to predominantly support the teams in the West of Suffolk. We have a similar role currently advertised covering our teams in the East of Suffolk, please see that advert for details.
Working for our organisation
A job in the Suffolk MHSTs will inevitably be challenging and demanding at times, but it will also be immensely rewarding and provide you with great opportunities to make a genuine difference to the lives of others. You will join a team that has developed a caring, creative and hard-working environment; your ideas about how this new service continues to develop and grow will be highly valued.
We will ensure that you continue to access training and supervision to develop your own practice and further your career ambitions.
Interviews will take place on the 19th and 20th April.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For further details regarding the role, please see attached job description and person specification.
Person specification
QUALIFICATIONS / RESEARCH
Essential criteria
- BPS accredited psychology degree (2:1, with evidence of relevant further study)
KNOWLEDGE
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of mental health/role of an Assistant Psychologist, some knowledge of psychological theory, knowledge of quantitative research, demonstrates an interest in working with children, young people and families
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of psychological theory / therapeutic models underpinning work with young people and children
Experience
Essential criteria
- Prior clinical experience e.g. Assistant Psychologist, Health Care Assistant, Support Worker, or similar
Desirable criteria
- Clinical experience in mental health related work. Experience of working in education or demonstrates ability to work across health, social care and/or education
Other
Essential criteria
- Care and specificity in application form
Desirable criteria
- Ambition to train as a clinical psychologist and/or membership of appropriate professional organisations
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
Apart from its legal duties in relation to equality and diversity, the Trust recognises and actively promotes the benefits of a diverse workforce and is committed to treating all employees with dignity and respect regardless of race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief.
Additionally, people with disabilities that fall under the Two Ticks - Guaranteed Interview Scheme will be offered an interview providing they meet the minimum criteria for the post (outlined in the Person Specification).
DISCLOSURE AND BARRING SERVICE CHECK (formerly CRB)
FOR POSTS WITH DIRECT SERVICE USER CONTACT - Please be advised that due to recent changes in the DBS Service, organisations no longer receive copies of DBS Disclosures – these are sent directly to candidates only. Therefore, it will be your responsibility, if successful, to ensure that this is taken to the appointing officer as soon as you receive it.
Alternatively, if you have subscribed to the update service, we will be able to check your status once we have your authority to do so.
The Trust has now introduced a DBS Update Service which is a contractual requirement. You need to subscribe when you have applied for your DBS clearance and there is a time limit to subscribe of 19 days after receipt of your DBS disclosure. Please ensure that this is completed within the set time scale.
This update service is an annual subscription at a cost of £13 to you. This will enable the Trust to have instant online access to your DBS record, with your consent, and so will remove the need for you to have to apply for this repeat check again.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
