Consultant Practitioner Psychologist | Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust in Hollins

The Postholder will contribute to the Trust wide strategy for Psychological Therapies by working closely with the adult pathway lead, Specialist Directorate Psychological Therapies Network Lead and the senior psychosocial therapies leadership team to provide high quality safe and effective care for our clients. Additionally, the role involves promoting collaborative working between all key stakeholders, representing MVS within the strategic psychological therapy structure, contributing to new business proposals, supporting the trust’s high standards, and strategising veteran services development.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the Trust wide strategy for Psychological Therapies, working closely with the adult pathway lead, Specialist Directorate Psychological Therapies Network Lead and the senior psychosocial therapies leadership team to provide high quality safe and effective care for our clients.
• Promote collaborative working between all key stakeholders including client groups, the broader MDT, which would include local and national partners.
• Represent MVS in the strategic psychological therapy structure trust wide including the psychotherapeutic committee.
• Significantly contribute to identifying unmet need and contributing to the development of new business proposals aligned to MVS.
• Support the trust to retain its position as an organisation that provides some of the highest standards, and most respected military veteran mental health and psychological care available in the UK.
• As part of the collaborative MVS leadership team contribute to strategic Development & Business Planning for Pennine Care’s veterans services.
• Be responsible for developing, reviewing and refining the service pathways for Veterans, families/carers and reservists (non‑mobilised) for both MVS/ and contribution to joint service joint pathways with key stakeholders and collaborative partners.
• Take overall clinical responsibility for the development and implementation of the clinical care pathway through the MVS.
• Take overall clinical responsibility for the advice, consultation, training and guidance to the staff in the MVS.
• Ensure that therapists and other staff within the MVS have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding and supporting the treatment of clients via expert clinical consultation and supervision systems.
• Plan, implement and monitor a range of highly individualistic and complex psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, using a synthesis of explanatory models and provisional hypotheses.
• Provide clinical supervision to practitioners from the MVS and to external individuals and teams within a structured supervision framework.
• Contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the team’s operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.
• Organise and deliver psychological therapies within the trust.
• Govern psychological practice within services including record‑keeping standards.
• Identify service priorities and advise Service and professional Management on aspects of the Service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
• Act as a Link Person in Veterans’ mental health within the trust to liaise with teams and attend clinical meetings, where appropriate, to offer an informed psychological perspective on client care, appropriateness of referrals to MVS and support staff in working with ex‑armed forces personnel.
• Identify training needs and develop and present relevant training/workshops to staff teams.
• Take a lead role in team meetings and have a lead clinical role within meetings in formulation‑based discussion and care planning.
• Participate as a senior clinician in the development of high‑quality services, advising both the RHS hub associate director and RHS hub medical clinical lead on psychological issues within the pathway to ensure quality services for clients relating to veterans’ mental health.
• Provide advice on specialty clinical standards, skills mix, safe evidence‑based clinical practice and resources.
• Incorporate psychological thinking into key documents such as the business plan, people strategy and quality strategy, and ensure this information is shared with all members of the psychology team.
• Support the Operational services lead in writing cases for new business.
• Recruit and select additional psychologists.
• Lead on the systematic governance of psychological practice within the RHS hub.
• Deputise for the Adult Pathway Lead and/or the trustwide clinical and professional lead as requested and when appropriate.
• Contribute to pre‑ and post‑qualification teaching of Clinical and/or Counselling Psychology, as appropriate.
• Provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate.
• Attend regular continuing professional development training days held within the Trust, locally and nationally.
• Ensure personal compliance and that of the team in relation to CEST training; attend regular in‑house training on PMVA breakaway techniques, life support, child/adult safeguarding training and supervision skills.
• Ensure that yearly refresher courses are completed where appropriate.
• Ensure the provision of specialist clinical placements for trainee clinical psychologists and other psychological therapists, ensuring they acquire the necessary clinical and research skills competencies and experience, and contribute to assessment and evaluation of these competencies.
• Contribute to the development of knowledge and skills base within the directorate by maintaining an active awareness of current developments in psychological therapies and applying knowledge gained in practice.
• Plan, organise and deliver teaching and training for pre‑ and post‑qualification psychologists and specialist training to other professions in the services.

Benefits

• Generous annual leave entitlement for Agenda for Change and Medical and Dental staff.
• Flexible working opportunities to support work/life balance.
• Access to continued professional development.
• Involvement in improvement and research activities.
• Health and wellbeing activities and access to an excellent staff wellbeing service.
• Access to staff discounts across retail, leisure and travel.

Equality & Diversity Statement

All individuals regardless of race, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership are encouraged to apply for this post. We would also encourage applications from individuals with a lived experience of mental illness, either individually or as a carer.