Job overview

The Community Paediatric Team assesses and supports children and young people with Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Disabilities. The team collaborates with local authorities, social care, and healthcare professionals to improve outcomes and develop local strategies. The team is based at the Children’s Centre, Dorset County Hospital.

The Clinical Psychologist will contribute to the Development & Behaviour Pathway, providing neurodevelopmental assessments for children and young people referred to Community Paediatrics. Key responsibilities include:

• Managing new referrals, including initial grading and multidisciplinary triage.
• Acting as a coordinator and liaising with other services for children and young people.
• Delivering specialist psychological assessments (e.g., ASD and cognitive assessments, general development assessment) using a range of tools and methods.
• Providing expert psychological advice and consultation to professionals involved in care planning.
• Managing a clinical caseload autonomously, including assessment, treatment, and discharge.
• Signposting or referring families to appropriate services (e.g., CAMHS, parenting support) when neurodevelopmental diagnosis is not the primary need.
• Delivering teaching and training to healthcare professionals.
• Supervising trainee psychologists and supporting service development through research, audit, and clinical governance.

Main duties of the job

To work as an independent practitioner psychologist providing specialist psychological assessments, specifically ASD, with consideration to other differential diagnoses including but not limited to intellectual disability or developmental trauma, of children/young people 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 provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients’ formulation, diagnosis and treatment or management plan.

To make decisions regarding levels of risk (e.g. suicidal ideation and intent, deliberate self-harm, physical risk to self or others, Child Protection issues) based on professional guidelines and to make any necessary referrals to other services e.g. CAMHS or social care.

Provide specialist consultancy to members of the multi-disciplinary care teams regarding understanding the psychological needs of their patients.

Participate in the triaging of referrals made to Community Paediatrics.

 Please see full JD & PS for full details.

Working for our organisation

At DCHFT, we pride ourselves on the care we provide for our patients, and on the culture, we are creating for our staff. We work hard to create a fair, inclusive environment for our staff.

Our Mission is to provide outstanding care for people in ways which matter to them, and our vision is Dorset County Hospital, working with our health and social care partners, will be at the heart of improving the well-being of our communities.

We are a Trust that celebrates diversity, and we are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We welcome applications from people in all under-represented groups.

We understand that some applicants may choose to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist in preparing their application materials. While this is not discouraged, we kindly remind candidates that all submissions must be truthful and accurately reflect your own experiences and suitability for this role.

Personal integrity and authenticity are central to our recruitment process. We value honesty and appreciate applications that are genuine and representative of the individual behind them.

UKVI Sponsorship: This role is eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). We welcome applications from individual who require sponsorship to work in the UK. Sponsorship will be offered subject to meeting UKVI eligibility criteria.