Macmillan Clinical/ Counselling Psychologist | Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust in Wednesbury

We are pleased to offer this exciting opportunity to join Walsall cancer services. This is a post which has been collaboratively developed by the Macmillan organisation and Walsall Healthcare. The role will involve working in the Palliative Care and Oncology Services providing psychological services to individuals with cancer and other life limiting conditions and their carers. The post is integrative of palliative and end of life care services and will work across the cancer pathway.

The postholder will be responsible for providing highly specialised assessments and programmes of psychological care for oncology and palliative care patients and their families. They will co-ordinate specialist service provision to oncology and palliative care and work collaboratively with the existing psychologist and other health professionals and non-professional carers, particularly Clinical Nurse Specialists, Cancer Care Navigators, and palliative physicians and therapists.

As well as managing their own patient workload they will be responsible for supervising the work of less experienced psychologists, trainee clinical psychologists and other health professionals in the specialist area. They will work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the palliative care service’s policies and procedures.

The post is a preceptorship at band 7 to 8a. A post holder appointed at band 7 will be supported in developing the necessary knowledge and skills with a view to fulfilling the requirements of the 8a post. A plan will be drawn up with the post holder to facilitate professional development over a period of approximately twenty four months.

Clinical Responsibilities:

• Provide a specialist clinical service to patients and their families who have been diagnosed with cancer and other life limiting conditions.
• Assess and interpret highly complex clinical situations and information from a variety of sources including psychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, structured observations and semi structured interviews with patients, family members and others involved in the patients care.
• Develop formulations and use psychological models and frameworks to provide patients and their families with specialised programmes of care, based on evidence of efficacy, to help them adjust to and cope emotionally with the often significantly distressing aspects of cancer as a long term condition or terminal illness.
• Organise, coordinate and facilitate therapeutic group work including self management groups and support groups, and develop other groups that may be of benefit for patients, in collaboration with the existing psychologist.
• Evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
• Develop trusting and empathic relationships with patients and be able to communicate highly emotive information with clarity and sensitivity.
• Exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.
• Participate in relevant multi-disciplinary teams and work collaboratively and in an integrated manner with other health professionals.
• Undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
• Take responsibility for prioritising work activities according to service and user needs and resources, and managing own clinical case load.

Management, Policy and Service Development:

• Work collaboratively within the NHS and multi-agency groups to advance good working relationships with local health, social care, hospital and hospice staff.
• Advise both service and professional management of implications of relevant local and national guidance for psychological provision of services for cancer and non cancer patients.
• Be proactive in identifying and proposing safety, quality and service improvements to the psychology service in oncology and palliative care.
• Take a lead role in developing the psychological care aspects of service-related projects and programmes.
• Take responsibility for maintaining satisfactory records of service operation in accordance with agreed protocols.
• Adhere to current policies in oncology and palliative care and all trust policy and procedures related to risk, health and safety and confidentiality of information.

Teaching, Training and Supervision:

• Provide leadership and direction on psychological issues in conjunction with the existing psychologist to staff across the integrated pathway for End of Life Care.
• Receive regular clinical supervision in accordance with good practise guidelines.
• Provide regular Level 2 clinical supervision for Clinical Nurse Specialists, Junior Doctors, and AHPs.
• Provide support to other staff working in challenging circumstances to manage the emotional demands of their clinical roles.
• Responsible for providing education and training in the psychological aspects of care to empower and enable other health professionals.

Research and Development:

• Undertake complex service related audit and evaluation with colleagues to help develop service provision.
• Initiate research relevant to palliative care and oncology services.
• Supervise psychologically related research of trainees, assistants and other health professionals.
• Disseminate results through presenting at case discussions, workshops, and conferences and/or through publication.

General Duties:

The information supplied above is intended to summarise the key responsibilities and duties of the role. The post holder may be required from time to time to carry out other reasonable requests and duties as required, consistent with the responsibilities of their Banding and development as agreed between employee and manager.