Assistant Psychologist in Sutton

We are seeking to recruit an enthusiastic Band 5 (1.0 WTE), working with children and teenagers who have cancer and with their families. This is an exciting opportunity to join an experienced multi-disciplinary medical and nursing oncology unit, where innovation, research, teaching and training are strongly encouraged. This is a very well-established psychology team, with excellent professional and compassionate staff, very well supported by our efficient and caring administration team within a cancer Centre of Excellence.

To ensure a fair application process, the post will remain open for (until 16 September) and will not close before this time.

Main duties of the job

• To assist the Clinical Psychologists in the department in the development, implementation and evaluation of clinical and research activities.
• To undertake clinically supervised work such as triage, liaison, assessments and interventions with children and young people who have cancer and with their families.
• To assist with research, service evaluations and audits.
• To be responsible for creating and maintaining databases.
• To collaborate on planning and implementing training days, workshops and groups.

Working for our organisation

The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is a world-leading cancer centre. Our role is to offer our patients the best cancer care available anywhere in the world, and to continue to make a global contribution to finding better ways of diagnosing and treating cancer. We employ over 4,500 staff in a diverse range of careers including nursing, medical, science, radiography, pharmacy, occupational therapy, finance and administrative services. We have two hospitals – one in Chelsea, London, and one in Sutton, Surrey – as well as a Medical Daycare Unit in Kingston Hospital.

At The Royal Marsden, we deal with cancer every day, so we understand how valuable life is. When people entrust their lives to us, they have the right to demand the very best. That's why the pursuit of excellence lies at the heart of everything we do.

At the heart of the hospital is our dedicated team. We offer a stimulating and dynamic working environment, a wide range of staff benefits, learning and development opportunities and clear career pathways. There are opportunities to work flexibly across a range of areas and specialities and we welcome flexible working requests from point of hire to support employees work life balance. We are looking for employees who aspire to excellence, share our values and can play a crucial role in our on-going achievements.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For further information on this role, please see the attached detailed Job Description and Person Specification:

• To undertake liaison and triage with patients referred to the team.
• To provide psychological support to patients on the waiting list by offering psychoeducation and signposting to alternative services.
• To undertake clinical work with children and their families under the supervision of a clinical psychologist.
• To participate as a reflective team member in the service’s Family Clinic.
• To co-facilitate therapeutic groups for children on the ward
• To undertake basic risk assessments with patients disclosing suicidal ideation or self- harm, and to take appropriate action, including seeking advice from the clinical supervisor or other senior clinician in the service.
• To communicate information concerning patients and their families in a skilled and sensitive manner, and to maintain accurate and up-to-date client records.

Person specification

Education/Qualifications

• An honours degree (2:1 or higher) in Psychology accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) or completion of a conversion course accredited by the BPS leading to eligibility for Graduate Membership of the BPS
• Post-graduate training in clinical and/or research areas

Experience

• Experience (full-time) of working as an Assistant Psychologist (AP) in the NHS (Band 4 or Band 5) or equivalent clinical experience (e.g. working as an AP in social care or private settings, or working as an IAPT Psychological Well-Being Practitioner (PWP)
• Experience of working in a clinical role
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the lifespan and presenting with the full range of clinical severity
• Experience of dealing with patients with suicidal ideation and/or self-harm
• Experience of working with children and families
• Theoretical and practical knowledge of neuro-psychology and experience in neuropsychological testing

Skills Abilities/knowledge

• Ability to work in a setting where the atmosphere may be highly emotive
• High level communication skills (written and verbal) and good report writing
• Experience of using computer packages including Excel, PowerPoint and SPSS
• An ability to initiate and implement audits, service evaluations and research projects
• Ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a children’s and young people’s psychological service
• Experience of scoring and interpreting psychological and neuropsychological questionnaires
• Knowledge of the needs and difficulties of people with physical illness and/or neuropsychological deficits

The Royal Marsden values diversity and is committed to the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority groups. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, LGBTQ+ candidates and candidates with disabilities.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we are working to create a workplace that enables all staff to reach their full potential. We are committed to this because we know that greater diversity and inclusion will lead to an even greater positive impact for the people we serve.

Due to the high volumes of applications we receive, we reserve the right to close any adverts before the published closing date once we have received a sufficient number of applications. We advise you to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment. Please ensure your information is accurate to avoid errors with processing your application

All applicants will be contacted by email to the address supplied on your application. Applicants are advised to check their email accounts regularly and to ensure that email filters are set to allow our emails.

Flu Vaccination – What We Expect of our Staff

At The Royal Marsden we have an immune compromised patient population who we must protect as much as we can against the flu virus. Each year, seasonal flu affects thousands of people in the UK. Occurring mainly in winter, it is an infectious respiratory disease capable of producing symptoms ranging from those similar to a common cold, through to very severe or even fatal disease.

The wellbeing of our staff and patients is of the upmost importance to us, and it is the expectation of The Royal Marsden that all patient-facing staff have an annual flu vaccination, provided free of charge by the Trust.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.