Detailed job description and main responsibilities

KR1 Clinical and Client Care

• To provide specialist psychological assessments, formulations and interventions for clients with neurodevelopmental conditions, both directly i.e. to the client and/or their carers/family and indirectly i.e. to other professionals in their network.
• To provide culturally appropriate psychological or psychotherapeutic interventions with carers or families of referred clients when required.
• To assess and monitor risk and draw up appropriate risk management plans.
• To provide reports, including relevant formulation, opinion, and interventions in order to inform referrers and, where appropriate, service users and their families.
• To select and deliver evidence-based specialist therapeutic interventions, drawing from a range of ideas and models, monitoring outcomes and modifying and adapting interventions as necessary, based on the highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, couple, family or group.
• To promote the psychological support for carers (or families as appropriate) of referred clients.

KR 2      Contributing to team or service clinical functioning

• To contribute to the effective working of NAAAPS and to a psychologically/therapeutically informed framework for the adult neurodevelopmental pathway services.
• To contribute to the service’s delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.
• To be proactive in challenging discrimination and support the development of culturally competent services.
• To liaise with referrers, GPs and other professionals concerned with clients to develop and review care plans.
• To liaise with the team, other neurodevelopmental pathway services and other professionals.

KR 3      Policy and service development

• To implement policies and procedures in own area of work, and to propose improvements or beneficial changes.
• To contribute to the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.
• To contribute to service development through undertaking and participating in appropriate projects.

KR 4      Care or management of resources

• To take care of, and use carefully, the Trust’s equipment and physical resources.
• To ensure that the post-holder has sufficient resources by estimating future needs and requesting or ordering supplies as needed.
• To ensure the cleanliness and safe functioning and use of equipment that will be used by clients or other persons.

KR 5      Management and supervision

• To be responsible for the allocation and/or clinical supervision of the work of an assistant psychologist if required, under supervision from a more senior psychological practitioner.
• To supervise trainees within own area of specialism after completion of the relevant supervision training.

KR 6      Teaching and Training

• To provide occasional specialist training in psychological/psychotherapeutic approaches to care to other professions as appropriate.
• To disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations and published articles.

KR 7      Record-keeping and Information Governance

• To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by Trust policies and local procedures.
• To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry.

KR 8      Research and development

• To undertake regular complex service evaluation, audits or research relevant to service needs.

KR 9      Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development

• To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior practitioner psychologist/psychotherapist according to discipline, professional body and Trust guidelines.
• To maintain own Continuing Professional Development in line with professional body and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements and the professional Standards for Continuing Professional Development.
• To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current developments in professional and clinical practice and of relevant legislation and policies.
• To comply with professional body Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics/Standards of Proficiency.
• To adhere to Professional Practice Guidelines and Trust policies and procedures.

KR10     General

• To travel to psychology meetings, home visits, community placements etc. as appropriate and across the Trust when required.
• To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group, and follow Trust policies relating to its management.
• To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations (such as challenging behaviour and abuse) and to support others involved in such situations through Trust-wide approaches including Critical Incident Staff Support and Reflect-Support-Resolve.