Clinical Psychologist

We love what we do and we think you will, too!

At Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust (GHC), we provide joined-up mental health, physical health and learning disability services to people of all ages across Gloucestershire. We run community hospitals and provide care and support in people's own homes and in a range of other locations across the county.

We are on a mission to enable people to live the best life they can and we have a vision to work together to provide outstanding care. We put people at the heart of our services, focusing on personalised care by asking 'what matters to you'.

We're passionate about making sure that everyone can contribute to achieving our mission and we are continually working to support healthy and happy high-quality teams in all areas of the Trust.

Job overview

We are looking for an experienced and enthusiastic Clinical Psychologist to work at Charlton Lane Hospital in Cheltenham. Charlton Lane is a 48-bedded Later Life Mental Health Inpatient unit with three wards - two focused on functional illness and the third specialising in dementia.

The post encompasses a variety of roles including individual therapy and carer support as well as behavioural and neuropsychological assessment. The psychology service also supports psychological care in the hospital through the provision of training, supervision, consultation, formulation and facilitation of reflective practice with staff. The post holder will also provide supervision and leadership for other psychology colleagues working in the hospital including a band 4 Assistant Psychologist.

We are particularly keen that psychological care for patients with dementia is valued and emphasized, and that the post holder supports the ward team who work in this area.

The hospital benefits from good interdisciplinary relationships and a growing understanding of the role psychology can play. We have a dedicated therapy suite, secretarial support, office space and car parking with potential facilities for family therapy. Allied professional resources include a sensory room and committed OT and Physio services.

Main duties of the job

This post will suit an outgoing, mature and resilient person with an understanding of how to develop strong interdisciplinary relationships and a good reputation within an inpatient environment. Other useful characteristics will be a flexible, approachable and pro-active working style and a commitment to improving patient-focused and psychologically informed care.

We are keen to support the professional development of psychology staff and would encourage the post holder to consider and pursue further training opportunities in relation to leadership and/or relevant therapeutic modalities.

The successful candidate will join the collective group of Psychologists specialising in work with older people across the whole of Gloucestershire. The team currently comprises a Consultant Lead Psychologist, seven Clinical Psychologists and two assistants. We meet regularly for CPD, clinical and professional supervision and to work on joint service development and training projects. There are also good links with the local Clinical Psychology Training Course at Bath University with psychologists in Gloucestershire inputting to the Older Adult teaching programme, having trainees on placement and contributing to the selection process.

Working for our organisation

We have in excess of 5000 staff working over 50 sites, providing a diverse range of services. We strive to support an organisational culture that is welcoming, builds and celebrates inclusivity and diversity and provides a sense of belonging and trust.

The annual NHS Staff Survey gives our people the opportunity to tell us about their experience working at the Trust. For the 2023 survey just over 2800 colleagues gave us their views (58.5%). It was great to see from the results that colleagues are saying that:

• 89.7% believe they are making a positive difference to patients/service users;
• 73.3% would recommend the organisation as a place to work;
• 82.4% agree that care of patients and service users is the organisations priority;
• 76.7% would be happy with the standard of care for a friend or relative.

Our results put us as 5th nationally as a Community, Mental Health and Learning Disabilities NHS Employer of Choice and 1st equal amongst all NHS Provider Trusts in the South West. However, we know we have more to do and will continue to drive forward our commitment to making GHC a Great Place to Work.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We welcome discussion/applications both from those with the relevant experience and HCPC registration.

The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.

1. To carry a caseload and provide a direct service for psychological issues which demand more than a standard therapeutic approach. (e.g. low intensity psychological interventions may have been tried unsuccessfully, methods may need significant adaptation, particular challenges exist in maintaining a therapeutic relationship.)
2. To draw appropriately from a range of assessment tools and methodologies including relevant neuropsychological tests. To interpret and integrate complex data and information from a variety of sources to develop psychological formulations and identify the most relevant intervention strategy. To monitor and evaluate progress, refining formulations and interventions as necessary. To assess and manage risk within an appropriate psychological framework.
3. To evaluate and make decisions about assessment and treatment options taking into account theoretical and therapeutic models, highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group, and the views of other professionals involved.
4. To plan and prioritise workload, exercising autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment, and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based care plans.
5. To work primarily within a multi-disciplinary approach/team where a variety of opinion and expertise is brought to bear on a situation.
6. To maintain appropriate records in electronic or hard copy in line with Trust policies and Professional guidelines. To include workload data and word processing skills to produce client related reports.

Person specification Qualifications

• Registered as Practitioner Psychologist with the HCPC
• Post Graduate doctoral level training in Clinical Psychology (or equivalent Applied Psychology qualification), as accredited by the B.P.S.

Extent and Nature of Experience

• Receipt of at least 25 hours clinical supervision while working at a highly specialist level in a directly relevant area and in an increasingly autonomous capacity.
• Evidence in application of Psychological knowledge to improve and develop practice in work to date.
• Experience of maintaining working relationships and a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical aggression.
• Broad range of post-qualification experience.
• Examples of contributing to service development initiatives.

Personal Skills and Abilities/Attributes

• Emotional robustness to frequently work with the intense distress of others.
• Ability to work within a multidisciplinary team and promote psychological interventions as appropriate.

When joining us, as well as becoming part of a team that makes a difference, we also offer:

• Free car parking at many of our sites.
• 27 days leave plus bank holidays, increasing up to 33 days with long service.
• A broad range of training and development opportunities, including apprenticeships up to Level 7 qualification.
• A multi-professional preceptorship programme for all Newly Qualified Nurses, Nursing Associates, Internationally Educated Practitioners, Allied Health Professionals and Return to Practice Practitioners.
• Generous NHS pension and enhanced pay when if you work unsocial hours.
• Flexible, family friendly and agile working opportunities.
• Recognition and long service awards.
• Fast Track physiotherapy.
• Access to discounts and salary sacrifice schemes; including Cycle to Work, Car scheme and discounts on travel, leisure and retailers.

Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date. Good luck with your application.

For more information please see the attached 'Additional Information for Applicants' document.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

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.