Assistant Psychologist in Colchester

EPUT provides community health, mental health, and learning disability services to support more than 3.2 million people living across Bedfordshire, Essex, and Suffolk. We are among the largest employers in the East of England region, with more than 10,000 staff working across more than 200 sites.

Our vision and values:

• Vision: To be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care.
• Purpose: We care for people every day. What we do together, matters.
• Values: We Care, We Empower.

Job overview:

We are seeking to recruit a psychology graduate with an interest in neuropsychology, dementia care, and clinical health psychology for a full-time assistant psychologist post. The post is fixed term for 24 months, offering an excellent opportunity to develop knowledge and skills across these specialties, alongside experience of group work and service evaluation.

Main duties of the job:

• For the first 3 months, the post will be split between the Critical Care Unit (CCU) Psychology Service at Colchester and Ipswich Hospitals (Mon-Thurs) and the Memory Assessment Service at The King's Wood Centre (Fri).
• The CCU role will focus on a service evaluation project, collecting data and outcomes.
• You will support and enhance the psychological care of service users, completing neuropsychological assessments and co-facilitating group interventions under the supervision of a qualified Clinical Psychologist.

Working for our organisation:

EPUT are looking for motivated staff who share our Trust values of Care, Learn, and Empower. In return, EPUT can offer you a range of benefits and development including:

• Season Ticket Loans
• NHS discounts for staff
• Excellent Training facilities and opportunities
• Buying and Selling annual leave scheme
• The opportunity to work bank shifts and expand knowledge and experience in other areas
• Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work
• Day One Flexible Employer

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

• Service evaluation and audit via data collection, maintenance of databases, and analysis of patient-reported outcome measures and service user feedback.
• Completion of neuropsychological assessments contributing to the differential diagnosis of dementia in the Memory Assessment Service under close supervision.
• Co-facilitation of the psycho-education group for people with Mild Cognitive Impairment.
• To ensure the maintenance of accurate and timely documentation/records on all service users in line with professional code and Trust policy.
• To liaise with staff in a variety of settings, ensuring that teams can respond effectively and efficiently to the needs of people with cognitive impairment or dementia in their care.
• To attend MDT meetings when required to provide input and contribute to care plans.
• To assist in the continuing development of a high-quality service that is underpinned by evidence-based practice, NICE guidance, and MSNAP accredited care standards.
• To participate in weekly supervision with a qualified Clinical Psychologist.

Person specification:

• Education: Degree in Psychology 2:1 or higher, Postgraduate study in a relevant area.
• Experience: Experience of working in a healthcare setting, working in a team, involvement with research/audit/service evaluation/data collection, and working with older people, people with dementia, and people with long-term health conditions.

Please note - staff who are formally at risk within the organisation will be given priority in securing alternative employment.

Important Professional References: Make sure that as a part of your application you have professional references with business contract information covering your last three years of employment history.

Applications for Job Share are positively welcomed. Our Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We particularly welcome applications from people with experience of using mental health services.

The Trust has the right to expire vacancies prior to the closing date if they so wish. We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults, and expect all staff to undertake this commitment.

Although Covid vaccinations are no longer a mandatory requirement within the NHS, we continue to encourage and support the vaccination uptake as this remains the best line of defence against Covid19.