Principal Clinical Psychologist in Exeter

Job Purpose

To improve the psychological health & wellbeing of people with Learning disabilities and to provide psychological services to people who use services and staff in your area. This will be achieved in this post by: 1. Ensuring the systematic provision of a high quality psychological service to people with Learning Disabilities in Devon as a key component of Health and Social Care Partnership services. 2. Providing clinical leadership, co-ordination and supervision for staff, trainees and volunteers employed by or attached to the psychology service. 3. Taking a leadership role in the delivery and development of psychological therapies for people with Learning Disabilities 4. Carrying a specialist caseload of clients, and providing therapy, advice and consultancy to patients and professionals. 5. Working autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the team. 6. Receiving regular professional and clinical supervision in accordance to Trust policy and to Professional Practice Guidelines set out by the Health Professions Council/British Psychological Society. 7. Contributing to the management of psychology services in the locality.

Duties and Responsibilities

Communication and Working Relationship Skills The post holder will be responsible for overcoming a variety of barriers to communication when working with people who receive services who may be fearful of others, who may be experiencing high levels of emotional distress, unable to articulate their difficulties or who think within a very different frame of reference, requiring imaginative and sensitive approaches towards engagement. To communicate with a wide range of health and social care staff in community settings in a highly skilled and sensitive manner complex and sensitive information concerning the assessment, formulation and intervention plans for people who are under the services care. To provide support and guidance in the application of psychological principles and techniques and to foster reflective practice. To deal effectively with highly distressing service user and family situations (e.g. family breakdown, abuse, verbal aggression, challenging behaviour) and to support other staff in their responses to such situations (e.g. through supervision, debriefing).

Analytical and Judgemental Skills

Responsible for providing a psychological service to a range of people with learning disabilities experiencing a variety of serious psychological disorders and/or presenting behaviours that challenge. Carrying out specialist psychological, psychometric and neuropsychological assessments, the preparation of reports and the communication of complex, sensitive and distressing information to people who receive services and their families and carers. To effectively draw on a variety of sources to establish formulations of a persons difficulties, delivering highly specialist psychological interventions and contributing to a persons care plan. This is often required in the context of situations where much data will not be available due to the persons inability to express themselves and interventions may require the social and professional network of the person and where expert opinion may vary. To make highly skilled evaluations and decisions regarding intervention and about the psychological management of patients, including the management of risk. To provide advice and guidance through the process of consultation on psychological aspects of a persons care to the person, to colleagues, other service providers, supporters and families.

Planning and Organisational Skills

To plan and organise the work of psychology within the Multidisciplinary Team and to contribute to the development and improvement of the provision of psychological services for people with learning disabilities to best meet the organisations strategy and priorities. Responsible for planning and prioritising own workload and for balancing individual responsibilities for service user work with other roles within and outside the teams e.g. clinical audit, service development, consultancy and training. To implement Devon Partnership Trust policies and propose changes to practice, policies and procedures as required in acute inpatient services.

Responsibility for Patient/Client Care, Treatment and Therapy

Responsible for formulating and implementing plans for a range of evidence-based psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families, groups and service delivery systems. Being responsible for the adjustment and refining of psychological formulations, drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses based upon the analysis of each individual case. In addition to demonstrate awareness of diversity issues. Responsible for providing specialist advice and consultation to other service members on psychological aspects of learning disability and mental health; including appropriate treatment approaches, complex issues of engaging people with learning disabilities and maintaining change, and working with the wider systems which affect a persons wellbeing (e.g. family, paid carers).

Responsibility for Policy and Service Development Implementation

To interpret and develop policies and procedure for the provision of psychology and psychological therapy services for people with learning disabilities. To provide psychology leadership to the multi-professional planning, development and marketing of mental health and wellbeing services for people with learning disabilities.

Responsibility for Finance, Equipment and Other Resources

To maintain and apply psychometric tests and equipment in order to assess people with learning disabilities and evaluate progress.

Responsibility for Human Resources, e.g. Supervision, Training, HR Advice and Management

There is a requirement to support learners on a regular basis which includes the achievement and updating of profession specific training to the required standard to fulfil this role To lead and professionally supervise psychology staff, trainees and volunteers. To provide therapy supervision to non-psychology staff providing psychological therapies within the service for people with learning disabilities. To undertake delegated managerial responsibility for junior psychology staff. To provide psychology leadership in the IATT and Health and Social Care Learning Disability Partnership.

Responsibility for Information Resources and Administrative Duties

The post holder will be required to compile clinical reports, maintain accurate records using the appropriate IT system and be responsible for any other administrative tasks relating to their clinical work e.g. clinical audit and reports. The post holder is responsible for liaising with other team members and health and social care employees, both in verbal and written form in order to co-ordinate effective and appropriate care for people with learning disabilities.

Responsibility for Research and Development

To carry out research activities applying knowledge of research methodology and to contribute research knowledge and expertise to the research activities of other disciplines as required by the service. To take responsibility and develop effective means of auditing and evaluating the outcomes of individual work, team activity and clinics within the service. The post holder will be involved in identifying and implementing service developments which will enhance the treatment opportunities provided to service users and carers, through consultation and collaboration with managers, team members and locality wide facilities.

Freedom to Act

The post holder is accountable for their own professional actions, acting within Trust policies and procedures and Professional Practice Guidelines (HCPC). To work autonomously within clinical professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the governance of psychological practice with the Health and Social Care partnership for People with Learning Disabilities. To provide expert and specialist clinical psychologist expertise and advice guidance and consultation on psychological aspects of patient care to colleagues, patients, other service providers, supporters and families. Any Other Specific Tasks Required To ensure all clinical care and treatment provided by psychology is carried out under appropriate supervision and leadership. The post holder will ensure that they maintain their awareness of research findings concerning psychology, learning disabilities, assessment and therapeutic interventions. To supervise and provide a clinical placement for Trainee Clinical Psychologists on D.Clin Psych Course (Exeter/Plymouth Universities).