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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

You will be able to find a full Job description and Person Specification attached within the supporting documents or please click “Apply now” to view in Trac.

This post will enhance the multi-disciplinary structure of the clinical resources within the forensic inpatient units; a service for individuals with complex presentations and typically risk-related behaviour.

The post-holder will be providing a psychological service to our two male forensic inpatient wards: a locked rehabilitation ward and an open rehabilitation ward. The post is part-time of 22.5 hours per week. 

Based within St Cadoc’s Hospital the post-holder will work as part of the Forensic Psychiatry Service, which comprises of a forensic community mental health team, criminal justice liaison service, prison in-reach and inpatient services.

The post-holder will be expected to develop formulations and treatment plans to address the presenting difficulties of clients that are based on the units. Drawing from psychological models and robust psychological and specialist risk assessments, the post-holder will inform rehabilitation plans that build on the previous psychological work typically completed across treatment pathways. Opportunity to offer reflective practice, formulation groups and consultation with the aim to develop skills within the workforce, will be available. Further, the post involves more formal workforce development, including offering training and clinical supervision, as well as developing psychosocial environments. 

The post-holder will be joining a multi-disciplinary team where you will be supported by the Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Registered Forensic Psychologist based within the Forensic Psychiatry Service. This is an expanding service, with exciting opportunities in development. You will also be joining a thriving adult psychology speciality who meet regularly and provide a sense of professional identity and belonging. 

DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES 

Clinical Duties:

The post holder will:

·      Provide specialist psychological advice, guidance, and consultation to other professionals

·  Contribute directly to a client’s formulation, diagnosis and case management plan.

·      Formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s mental health problems and risk based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client’s problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.

·  Provide a key role in directly and indirectly contributing to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings and agencies serving the client group

·      Provide specialist psychological assessments of clients identified within the designated team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation, and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi structured interviews with clients and others involved in the client’s care.

·      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 shaped the individual, family or group

·      Undertake complex risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.

·      Be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.

·      Use well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing, complex highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients and other professional colleagues.

 Mental Health Information and Promotion 

The post holder will:

·      Receive regular clinical professional supervision from a senior clinical/forensic psychologist and, where appropriate, other senior professional colleagues

·      Develop skills in professional post-graduate teaching, training and supervision and to provide supervision to other professional staff’s psychological work as appropriate

·      Supervise the psychological work of assistant/graduate psychologists and staff from other disciplines, as appropriate

·      Provide clinical placements for trainee clinical and/or forensic psychologists ensuring that trainees develop the necessary skills, competencies, and experience to contribute effectively to good mental health care and to contribute to the assessment and evaluation of such competencies. 

·      Contribute to the pre and post qualification teaching of clinical and/or forensic psychology

·      Provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate

·      Contribute through consultation and training to the understanding of team dynamics and the impact of working with personality disorder in ways which strengthen the working of the team in the interests of risk management. 

Training and Development

The post holder will:

·      Participate in annual performance appraisal development review (PADR) providing evidence of achievement against agreed objectives and maintaining a professional portfolio of continuous professional development

·      Undertake all statutory and mandatory training in line with ABUHB policy.

·      Engage in individual clinical and managerial supervision as required.

·      Continue to develop skills in clinical supervision.

·      Support activity which expands the skills, competency and confidence of those working with individuals experiencing mental health problems

·      Be aware of, and keep up to date with, advances in the treatment for moderate to severe mental health problems.

·      Contribute to the training and support of other staff in psychological care

·      Participate in the induction, support, and training of new staff

Professional

The post holder will:

·      Recognise both the extent and limits of the role and only operate within limitations and own competence

·      Ensure the maintenance of standards of practice according to the employer and any regulating body, and keep up to date on new recommendations/guidelines set by the department of health (e.g. NHS plan, National Service Framework, National Institute for Clinical Excellence).

·      Ensure that client confidentiality is always protected.

·      Act in a manner that is non-discriminatory, ensuring service user’s dignity is always maintained

·      Contribute to service development initiatives being progressed in the service /team.

·      Keep up to date all records in relation to CPD. and ensure personal development plan maintains up to date specialist knowledge of latest theoretical and service delivery models/developments.

·      Attend relevant conferences / workshops in line with identified professional objectives in negotiation with allocated line manager

·      Demonstrate effective time management and organisational ability enabling delivery of planned intervention on a 1:1 and group basis as per individual job plan

Communication

The post holder will:

·      Contribute to effective communication with all parts of the forensic psychiatry service and partner services to ensure a positive patient journey

·      Be a ‘champion’ for therapeutic interventions and psychologically informed ways of working within their team and more widely

·      Contribute to regular team meetings, including providing information about interventions and resources that may support people with moderate to severe mental health needs and risk-related behaviour.

·      Receive and communicate sensitive information to service users in situations which may be highly emotive and where barriers to acceptance and understanding may need to be overcome, requiring communication and empathic skills

·      Represent and promote all aspects of the forensic psychiatry service locally

·      Regularly liaise with other members of the forensic psychiatry service, and colleagues, who are involved in a person’s care and support.

Record Keeping

The post holder will:

·      Complete all requirements relating to data collection within the directorate (including outcome monitoring systems and other evaluation as required)

·      Complete all appropriate documentation in accordance with legislation and organisational policies and procedure

·      Keep coherent records of all clinical activity in line with ABUHB policies and protocols/ Data Protection Act (1998) and Security and Confidentiality Policies.

General

The post holder will:

·      Contribute to the development of best practice within the service.

·      Maintain up-to-date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and procedures in relation to Mental Health and PCMHSS

·      Adhere to all ABUHB policies and protocols relating to health and safety

·      Use keyboard and information technology skills including word processing, email, intranet and internet for communication, correspondence and reports

·      Manage and maintain an electronic diary in a service defined format of all work activities, making it available for the use of the booking of service user appointments

·      Participate in research and development/audit undertaken by the service

·      Participate in the SCM-F development initiatives and take responsibility for specific projects with guidance.