Job summary
- Main area
- Chronic fatigue
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8b
- Contract
- Fixed term: 12 months (1 year)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 391-RFL-6902586
- Employer
- Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Royal Free Hospital
- Town
- Hampstead
- Salary
- £70,387 - £80,465 per annum inclusive of HCAS
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 14/04/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Band 8b - Principal Practitioner Psychologist
NHS AfC: Band 8b
Our trust has over 17,000 staff serving 2 million patients every year. It comprises Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital, North Middlesex University Hospital and more than 30 services in the community. This larger scale organisation provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to continue our pioneering work, particularly in finding ways to deliver even better care to our patients.
Our mission is to deliver world class care and expertise in our clinical services, underpinned by world class teaching and research and we will continue to measure our progress against our five governing objectives: excellent outcomes, excellent patient and staff experience, excellent value for taxpayers’ money, being safe and meeting our external duties, and building a strong organisation.
Everyone is welcome at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. We're proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME, gender equality, staff carers and people with disabilities and lived experiences to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.
Click here to view our video Welcome to the Royal Free
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Principal Practitioner Psychologist to join the ME / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome service at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. The ME/CFS service at RFL is one of the longest running in the country and is specifically aimed at the treatment of mild to moderate cases.
The post holder will work as part of a highly experienced and multi-professional core team consisting of psychology, physiotherapy, medics and a peer support worker, with a dedicated admin team, based at the Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead.
This post would suit a Practitioner Psychologist with experience working in physical health settings/ medical teams, ideally with experience of the specific needs of patients with fatigue and/or working with patients with other chronic health conditions across the lifespan. It is an opportunity for someone who wants to be involved in shaping a service, as the service is currently undergoing a re-design and the role will be to provide expert and specialist psychological input into this, as well as providing assessment, sign-posting and treatment/intervention (particularly as part of the group Fatigue Management Programme). You will be offering supervision and consultation on clients’ psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues within the MDT. The post-holder will supervise and manage qualified and trainee psychologists and other members of the psychosocial team.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will manage and lead the ME/CFS Psychology Service, consistent with the World Class Care values and objectives of the Trust including audit and evaluation of this pathway, development of the service based on new evidence and quality improvement initiatives as well as delivering the actual service alongside other clinicians (including triage, assessment and facilitation of the groups with colleagues from relevant specialties as appropriate).
To directly provide a psychology service to patients with ME/CFS (non-group pathway); providing highly specialist psychological assessments, formulations and treatments, complex risk assessments and advice on care (where psychological aspects are relevant), and offering advice and consultation on clients’ psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues and to other, non-professional carers, working autonomously within professional guidelines and within the overall framework of the service’s policies and procedures.
Working for our organisation
The Trust has recognised the value of and contribution of PTNC staff in delivering excellent care and outcomes and shown its commitment by investing in a more robust structure of governance and support from 2022. Priorities for the PTNC leads are focused on ensuring each clinician has the support necessary for their role, including access to varied specialist supervision, line management and professional development. They actively work to create a PTNC community that encourages dialogue, learning from each other and mutual support. Joint working with PTNC colleagues is supported where relevant to the clinical work both within and beyond the Trust boundary. PTNC leads are also raising the profile of its staff, showcasing good practice, innovation and research, with some PTNC staff holding research grants. Many of the PTNC staff have good working relationships with third sector organisations, are involved in teaching and training a variety of staff including their own profession and host trainees and other student placements in their services.
We are looking to welcoming new staff to the PTNC community, who share our values of working together and supporting each other.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see the attached job description.
Person specification
Education and professional qualifications
Essential criteria
- Post-graduate doctoral level training in psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 2000) as accredited by the British Psychological Society or recognised by HCPC
- HCPC registration as Practitioner Psychologist (health/clinical/counselling)
- Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice
Royal Free World Class Care Values
Essential criteria
- Demonstrable ability to meet the Trust Values
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including community, primary care, outpatient and inpatient settings
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity
- Post-qualification experience of work within interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary environments
- Post-qualification experience of working delivering group interventions in a physical health setting, ideally with ME/CFS.
- Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision of other qualified Practitioner Psychologists and other professional disciplines.
- Experience in service development and delivery, leadership and management
- Experience of leadership and management.
- Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts
- Experience in leading case conferences, complex case discussions or other patient focused meetings
Desirable criteria
- Evidence of post-qualification supervised clinical experience in therapeutic intervention and management of ME/CFS using assessment and intervention techniques at a specialist level
Skills and aptitudes
Essential criteria
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management
- Knowledge of at least two relevant theoretical models and psychological interventions relevant to the care of patients with ME/CFS
- Highly skilled in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups
- Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and quantitative data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health
- Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the British Psychological Society/HCPC.
- Formal training and/or experience in supervision of other psychologists
- Ability to form good working relationships with others in a multidisciplinary setting
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of group interventions and skills in engaging patients in group interventions
Desirable criteria
- Familiarity with SPSS databases and statistical package
Personal qualities and attributes
Essential criteria
- Excellent interpersonal communication skills
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team
- Ability to take responsibility for the work of others
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings
Other
Essential criteria
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice and service delivery
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Mari Campbell & Esther Hansen
- Job title
- Co-leads - psychological therapies and counselling
- Email address
- [email protected]
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