Job Description

An exciting opportunity has arisen to work within the CNWL eating disorders service. We are offering a fixed term part time Senior Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/ CBT Therapist post within the Vincent Square Eating Disorder Service.



This position involves providing specialist therapies to clients across all sectors of care, although the majority of the work will be with outpatients.



This includes the provision of highly specialist psychological assessment and therapy, whilst also offering advice and consultation on clients' psychological care to colleagues and to other non-professional carers. The post holder will be responsible for line management and clinical supervision to attached supervisees while working autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the teams' policies and procedures. In addition, the post will require skills for audit, policy and service development and research within the area served by the team and service. The post holder will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team providing assessment and treatment to adults with eating disorders.



The post holder will be based at the Vincent Square Eating Disorder Service and will provide clinical and other services across the inpatient, day patient and outpatient programmes. Depending on service need, you may be expected to work flexibly across sites (Paddington, Chelsea and Harrow-on-the Hill clinics). Service provision within this scope may at times involve travelling to different sites within the catchment area.

Clinical:

To provide specialist assessments of clients referred to the 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, family members and others involved in the client's care).



To diagnose patients' eating and related psychiatric problems.



To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a client's mental health problems based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client's problems. To employ methods based upon evidence of efficacy across inpatient, day patient and outpatient settings.



To be responsible for implementing psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups. This occurs 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.



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 shaped the individual.



To integrate (with the psychological formulation) an understanding of the medical aspects of the eating disorders and associated medical conditions



To liaise with other clinicians involved in the patient's care, in order that appropriate physical checks and interventions are carried out to ensure the patient's physical safety.



To understand the role of relevant physical treatments (e.g. nutrition, pharmacology).



To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.



To provide specialist advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients' formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.



To provide expertise, advice and support to facilitate the effective and appropriate provision of psychological care by all members of the treatment team.



To contribute directly and indirectly 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.



To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients, and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.



To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of both uni and multi-disciplinary care.



To act as care coordinator, where appropriate, taking responsibility for initiating planning and review of care plans under enhanced CPA including clients, their carers, referring agents and others involved the network of care.



To lead on psychological thinking and psychological treatment provision in our inpatient ward and day programme.



Teaching, training, and supervision



To receive regular clinical and operational supervision from the team's Lead Psychologist and where appropriate, other senior professional colleagues.



To attend Staff Group with other colleagues in the service.



To develop skills in the area of professional post-graduate teaching, training and supervision



To provide line management to attached band 7 therapists.



To provide clinical supervision to band 7's and other MDT staff's psychological work, as appropriate.



To provide clinical placements for appropriate trainees, ensuring that they acquire 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.



To provide professional and clinical supervision of trainees and assistants.



To contribute to the pre- and post-qualification teaching of other professionals, as required by the head of specialty.



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



Management, recruitment, policy and service development



To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the team's operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.



To advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.



To manage the workloads of those you line manage and supervise, within the framework of the team/service's policies and procedures.



To be involved, as appropriate, in the shortlisting and interviewing of candidates for posts in the multidisciplinary team.



As negotiated and within time constraints, the post holder will be expected to attend relevant clinical meetings of local adult mental health services for individual patients.



To attend and contribute to the regular professional meetings of the Adult Psychology Specialty and other Departmental meetings.



Research and service evaluation



To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.



To undertake appropriate service development research and provide research advice to other staff and clinical trainees undertaking research.



To undertake project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service to help develop service provision.



To familiarise themselves with, and to comply with, the Trust's requirements on research governance.



IT responsibilities (other than those used for research)



The post holder will input and maintain, appropriate computer and manual clinical records and statistical data and provide this to the Service Manager/Head of Speciality when necessary.



The post holder will engage in relevant computer and IT training as required.



The post holder will be responsible for ensuring that those clinicians who they are responsible for/ supervise engage in relevant computer and IT training as required, and will input and maintain, appropriate computer and manual clinical records and statistical data.



General



To contribute to the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the post holder's professional and service managers.



To contribute to the development and articulation of evidence-based and evidence-generating clinical practice in psychology across the service, by continuing to develop the skills of a reflexive and reflective scientist practitioner. To take part in regular professional supervision and appraisal, and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the field of psychological treatment of eating disorders and related disciplines.



To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with professional codes of practice of the relevant professional body and with Trust policies and procedures.



To maintain up-to-date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the specific client group and mental health.