Principal Practitioner Psychologist - Autism Services

Band 8b

Main area: Principal Practitioner Psychologist

Grade: Band 8b

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week

Job ref: 350-CC6869943

Site: Willis House

Town: Whiston, Prescot

Salary: £62,215 - £72,293 per annum

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 06/01/2025 23:59

Interview date: 14/01/2025

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities. We are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and encourage applications from ethnic minorities, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals who are under-represented in our workforce.

Job overview

Are you an enthusiastic and dedicated Practitioner Psychologist with a passion for delivering high-quality, person-centred services? We have an exciting opportunity for you to join our team, where you can make a meaningful impact in the lives of autistic adults accessing mental health services at risk of placement breakdown or hospital admission. As a vital member of our multi-disciplinary team (MDT), you will provide specialist interventions aimed at achieving positive life outcomes for individuals. Covering the Mersey Care areas of Warrington, Halton, St Helens, Knowsley, Liverpool, and Sefton, you will enhance the support already offered by involved services.

Some of your key responsibilities will include:

• Contributing to the identification and management of risk
• Liaison and consultation with our partner agencies
• Conducting highly specialised assessments
• Supporting service development and delivery
• Collaborating closely with the Consultant Clinical Psychologist
• Liaising and consulting with partner agencies, including mental health providers and social care teams

Main duties of the job

To ensure the systematic provision of a high-quality specialist clinical psychology service to Improving Access to Autism (ASC) service users across a community primary care setting. To advise, supervise, and support the assessment and treatment provided by clinical members of the teams who provide psychologically based care and treatment within the ASC service. To work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the service/team.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to the service based upon the appropriate use, interpretation, and integration of complex psychological data from various sources. To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s mental health problems.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Doctoral level training (or equivalent) that confers HCPC registration as a practitioner psychologist.
• Post-graduate training and learning in a specific area of specialist knowledge and expertise equivalent to post-graduate diploma level.

Knowledge/Experience

• Experience of working with neurodivergent people and complex presentations.
• Substantial post-qualification experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients.

Values

• Accountability
• Support
• High professional standards
• Responsive to service users

Skills

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management.
• Ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex information.

Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply for all correspondence. Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview.