Clinical Psychologist in Telford

Are you looking for a new challenge? Do you have the skills and experience to develop high-quality service provision with, and for, people querying an autism diagnosis? Then this is the job for you! MPFT are looking for a creative, passionate, innovative, and experienced practitioner psychologist to help develop the adult autism assessment service for people in Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin.

You will help us to develop the current adult autism assessment service in Telford and Wrekin and expand MPFT's adult autism assessment service into Shropshire County. Shropshire has two well established "Autism Hubs"; one in Telford and one in Shrewsbury. Both are part of the Community, Voluntary and Social Enterprise (CVSE) sector and are partners with MPFT in the delivery of our adult autism assessment offer. You will have close working relationships with colleagues in the Autism Hubs and be part of a multi-disciplinary team of practitioners within the adult autism assessment pathway, including other psychologists, speech and language therapists and occupational therapists.

Main duties of the job:

• The Clinical Psychologist will provide highly specialist psychological assessment for autism and deliver a service across Telford and Wrekin.
• The post-holder will provide highly complex assessments leading to psychological formulations and the development of care plans and risk assessments (where appropriate).
• The post-holder will undertake highly specialist diagnostic assessments of adults to include standardised assessments such as ADOS2 and ADI-R for the assessment of autism.
• The post-holder will work as a member of a Multi-Disciplinary Assessment Team (MDT).
• They will present complex assessment information in MDT meetings and work with colleagues in MDT to discuss whether individuals referred meet diagnostic criteria for ASD, whilst considering other differential diagnoses.
• The post-holder will provide highly specialist psychological input to the Adult Autism Assessment Team; including providing clinical supervision to less experienced psychologists and other members of the MDT assessment team.
• The post-holder will also provide advice and consultation regarding service user’s psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues and to others involved in the person’s care.
• They will work autonomously within professional guidelines and within the scope of the service’s policies and procedures.

About us:

Come and work with us at our award-winning NHS Trust, leading the way for trying new and better ways of working to help improve life for our local communities. We have around 9,000 staff who provide physical and mental healthcare, support for people with learning disabilities, and adult social care across Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Shropshire, and Telford & Wrekin. We also run regional and national services, including help for new parents (perinatal care), eating disorders, forensic services, sexual health, and support for people in prison with mental health, drug, or alcohol problems.

We offer great career development for both clinical and non-clinical roles, with ongoing training and support to help you learn and grow. We are "United in our Uniqueness" and committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels welcome and can be themselves, no matter their background or identity. We want our staff to feel supported and valued, and we aim to build a team that reflects the communities we serve. Together, we can make sure every voice is heard, and every difference is respected.

Please note, we may be required to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications. Please be aware that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in completing application forms will be monitored to ensure fairness and transparency. If you have used AI you must state this in your application.

Job responsibilities:

• To provide highly specialist psychological assessments, within the areas of agreed responsibility, for adults whose presentations are suggestive of a possible autistic spectrum condition, as part of a multi-disciplinary assessment process.
• To offer supervision and advice to other clinical staff within the Adult Autism Assessment Service.
• Assessments will involve the interpretation and integration of highly complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations, semi-structured interviews, and guided clinical inquiry methods with service users, family members and others involved in the service users care.
• To exercise autonomous professional responsibility, within professional guidelines, for the assessment, therapeutic treatment and discharge of adults and their families/carers.
• The post-holder will exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within their work.
• The post-holder will be responsible for adhering to relevant Trust policies and standards and will be accountable for professional and clinical actions.
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual service users and to provide advice to less experienced psychologists and other professions, on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
• To support other staff with risk assessment and risk management as a senior clinician within the Adult Autism Assessment Service.
• To 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 impacted on the individuals current presentation.
• To manage and prioritise own caseload in relation to service users whose problems are within the remit of the service and to keep the service manager informed of case-load, waiting times and other issues that affect the service.
• Through supervision to support other clinicians with caseload management, prioritisation.
• To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of service users under their care and to monitor progress during the course of their treatment within the service.
• To communicate highly complex and potentially highly contentious information in a highly skilled and sensitive manner in situations with service users who may be extremely hostile or highly emotional requiring the highest level of communication skills.
• To be involved in referral screening processes, duty calls, MDT service meetings and other service functions as required.

Teaching, training and supervision:

• The post-holder will receive regular management supervision from their line manager and/or service lead and clinical supervision from a clinical psychologist from the service.
• Supervisory arrangements will be agreed with the Team Manager and Professional Lead and in accordance with Trust policy and professional practice guidelines.
• To participate in an agreed programme of training and professional development towards developing advanced knowledge and practice in the field of Autism and/or mental health and psychological practice.
• To further develop skills in providing teaching, training and clinical supervision as required.
• The post holder will utilise their skills as well as developing the skill set of others within the team.
• The post-holder will provide clinical placements and supervision of Doctoral level Trainee Clinical Psychologists.
• They will also supervise Assistant and/or Graduate Psychologists or Clinical Associates of Psychology, and less experienced Applied Psychologists as required.
• STAR training will be required to be completed if not already achieved on appointment.
• To provide highly specialist advice, consultation and supervision to colleagues in the service and provide consultation to other professionals/agencies.
• To provide professional and clinical supervision and advice to colleagues from a range of disciplines.
• To offer supervision to Band 7 psychologists as appropriate.
• To provide specialist advice, consultation and training to staff working with this service user group across a range of agencies and settings.
• To gain additional specialist experience and skills relevant to the post and/or the service as agreed with the Service Lead and Professional Lead.
• To keep a log of CPD activities in line with HCPC requirements.
• In addition to help support the CPD needs, plans and implementation for the wider Adult Autism Assessment Service.
• To include supervision on the meaningful use of Outcome Measures and Feedback Tools in clinical supervision with colleagues to optimise clinical effectiveness.

(The post holder will be required to work in clinic and community settings including service users own homes (where appropriate and clinically indicated). Please see attached JD/PS for further details.

Person Specification:

• It is a condition of employment that the post-holder is registered with the Health & Care Professions Council and is eligible for registration as a Chartered Clinical Psychologist.
• Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS including two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
• Further training in a specific psychological assessment, model or intervention specific to the role remit/area of work.
• Qualification in one or more recognised and accredited diagnostic assessment/s for Autistic Spectrum Conditions.

• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, in-patient and residential care settings, including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• Assessed experience of working as a qualified clinical psychologist.
• Experience working therapeutically with autistic people with significant emotional or mental health difficulties, and their families/carers.
• Experience of specialist standardised assessments for ASC such as ADOS2 and ADI-R.

• A passion and enthusiasm for working with people presenting with ASC and their families and carers.
• A desire to champion and enable people with ASC.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.