Job summary
- Main area
- Health Psychology
- Grade
- Band 5
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 310-CYPF-7334702-A
- Employer
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Addenbrookes Hospital
- Town
- Cambridge
- Salary
- £31,049 - £37,796 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 04/01/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Assistant Psychologist - Brainbow
Band 5
Job overview
We would like to recruit an enthusiastic, values led, Assistant Psychologist to our Brainbow team, part of the wider Psychological Medicine Team, based at Addenbrookes Hospital.
Brainbow is a multidisciplinary rehabilitation service in the East of England that supports children with brain tumors. It was established in 2013 as a partnership between three charities and Addenbrooke's Hospital. The service provides a range of therapies and support, including physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, clinical psychology, and education.
Main duties of the job
To support and enhance the professional psychological care of clients referred to the Brainbow service (paediatric rehabilitation team for children with brain tumours), providing neuropsychological assessment and psychological interventions under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist, working independently according to a plan agreed with a qualified psychologist and within the overall framework of the team’s policies and procedures.
To assist in clinically related administration, conduct of audits, collection of statistics, and development of audit and/or research projects, teaching and project work within the Brainbow service.
Working for our organisation
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health and social care organisation dedicated to providing high-quality care with compassion to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting and empowering them to lead a fulfilling life.
Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services, not only via inpatient and primary care settings, but also within the community. These services include children's, adult and older people's mental health, forensic and specialist mental health, learning disabilities, primary care and liaison psychiatry, substance misuse, social care, research and development.
To achieve our goal, we look to recruit high-calibre candidates who share our vision and values. As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all sectors of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including people with long term conditions and members of our ethnic minority and LGBTQ+ communities.
Please be advised we reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date should we receive sufficient applications.
Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all our job roles. If you apply for a role that we cannot offer sponsorship for, unfortunately, your application form will be rejected from the process.
For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at www.cpft.nhs.uk
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities
To undertake protocol based psychological assessments of clients applying mainly neuropsychological tests and also self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with children who have had a brain tumour and their family members. To work alongside other members of the Brainbow Team including the Speech and language Therapist, Specialist Teacher and Occupational Therapist.
To write reports that are based on a comprehensive assessment, under the supervision of a qualified Clinical Psychologist.
To undertake relevant research in the area of paediatric oncology, specifically children with brain tumours.
To assist in the formulation and delivery of care plans involving the psychological treatment and/or management of a children’s and families difficulties, under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist, in both community and inpatient/outpatient settings.
To assist in the coordination and running of therapeutic groups.
To assist in the development of a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings where care takes place.
To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary meetings.
To have excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, and will be able to communicate effectively within the MDT, complex professional systems and wider teams.
Person specification
Education and Qualifications
Essential criteria
- An upper second class honours degree or higher in psychology.
- Previous experience is a paediatric/mental health setting
- A second class honours degree will be considered if the candidate has previous neuropsychological or paediatric experience
- Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society
Desirable criteria
- Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis.
Experience
Essential criteria
- Work with people within an acute hospital setting with psychological difficulties and/or other disabilities
- Previous experience undertaking neuropsychological assessments
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working with children
Skills and Abilities
Essential criteria
- High level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive.
- Ability to communicate sensitive information to patients, carers and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance.
- An understanding of the needs and difficulties of people with mental health problems or other disabilities.
- An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a mental health context
- An understanding of psychology applied to health care.
Desirable criteria
- Experience using microcomputers for databases or data-analysis, especially SPSS for Windows.
- High standard of report writing.
- Experience of formulating and writing neuropsychological assessments
Knowledge and understanding
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of issues and models relating to family and parental adjustment to illness, loss and bereavement.
- Knowledge of the application of family centred counselling approaches to assessment and intervention.
- Understanding of issues within an acute hospital setting and multi-agency involvement
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of brain, behaviour relationships
- Knowledge of child development
- Knowledge of systemic approaches
Physical requirements
Essential criteria
- Ability to sit and concentrate for sustained periods of time
Other
Essential criteria
- Recognise people’s right to privacy and dignity, treating every person with respect
- Willingness to embrace integrated model and new ways of working.
- Willingness to be flexible in approach and attitude
- Ability to work in a team
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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Applicant requirements
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.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Philippa Lewington
- Job title
- Clinical Psychologist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01223 216 878
- Additional information
Angela Kirby - Clinical Psychologist - [email protected]
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