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
We are looking for an enthusiastic, compassionate and highly motivated Assistant Psychologist to join our community team, which provides mental health services to adults in West Suffolk and is based in Bury St Edmunds. The post sits within a supportive and collaborative multidisciplinary team dedicated to the delivery of recovery focused interventions for people with a range of mental health difficulties. It is an exciting time to join the team as we continue to develop our capacity to deliver psychologically informed interventions in secondary care, while provision in primary care is also being expanded and developed.
Main duties of the job
Main duties are to support the delivery of psychologically-informed assessments, formulations and interventions to service users alongside psychologists and other colleagues under the close supervision of a Clinical Psychologist. There will be opportunities for group and individual work as well as data collection, audit and evaluation of exciting new developments in the delivery of psychologically informed interventions within the team. A good understanding of psychological models and their application, as well as data analysis and report writing skills is desirable.
Working for our organisation
There are exciting changes happening within West Suffolk, in line with transformation plans that integrate mental health with physical and social care and bring services closer to communities and more accessible to those that use them. The team enjoys a good working atmosphere, which has been retained during remote and hybrid working. Colleagues support each other, and value each other’s contributions. You will feel an integral part of the multidisciplinary community team and enjoy relationships with psychology colleagues – including other assistants, trainees and Clinical Associate Psychologists - across local teams.
This post would be ideal for those who are considering applying to the Clinical Psychology Doctorate course. There is a strong commitment by the Clinical Psychologist to help prepare applicants for the Clinical Psychology Doctorate.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Main responsibilities to include:
Psychological assessment, formulation and intervention as appropriate under close supervision of clinical psychologist
Co-facilitating psychologically informed groups
Contributing to the practice of psychologically informed interventions within the team via teaching and developing resources
Evaluating outcomes and writing reports
Person specification
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Completed Psychology degree with graduate basis for registration
Desirable criteria
- Awarded 2.1 or above in degree classification
- Post graduate qualification in relevant field
- Additional training in relevant field (eg therapy or research and design)
Experience
Essential criteria
- Evidence of applying psychological theory in practice
- Experience of research, evaluation and audit
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working and communicating with people with high levels of need presenting to mental health settings
- Experience of working in a multidisciplinary team in a relevant setting
- Experience of delivering appropriate psychologically informed interventions one to one or in groups
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Able to refer to psychological theory when making sense of a person's experience
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of specific psychological models typically informing NHS practice
Skills
Essential criteria
- Competent using computer software to record and analyse data and produce written reports
- Ability to communicate sensitively and effectively with service users, carers and colleagues
Desirable criteria
- Good presentation skills - verbal and written
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.
