Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical

·       To provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to the ND Team for the diagnostic assessment of ASD/ADHD, based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and specialist 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.

·       Where appropriate develop detailed formulations to inform and provide a psychological assessment report of a client’s mental health problems based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client’s problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.

·       Where appropriate be responsible for implementing a range of psychological assessments for individuals, carers, families and groups, 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.

·       Where appropriate make highly skilled evaluations and decisions about diagnostic presentation considering both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.

·       Where appropriate exercise full responsibility and autonomy for the assessment of and discharge of clients whose problems are managed as a psychologically based standard care plan, ensuring appropriate assessment, formulation, and evaluation, communicating with the referral agent and others involved with the care on a regular basis.

·       Where appropriate provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professional contributing directly to clients’ formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.

·       To ensure that all members of the clinical team have access to a psychologically based framework for the understanding and care of clients of the service, through the provision of advice and consultation and the dissemination of psychological knowledge, research and theory.

·       To undertake risk assessment and risk management for relevant individual clients and to provide both general and specialist advice for psychologists and other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management.

·       Where appropriate act as assessment co-ordinator, where appropriate, ensuring the provision of an assessment, appropriate for the client’s needs, arranging client’s care reviews as required and communication effectively with the client, his/her family and all others involved in care.

·       Where appropriate communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation, and evaluation plans of clients under their care and to monitor and evaluate progress during the course of both uni and multi-disciplinary care.

·       To provide advice to facilitate the effective and appropriate provision of psychological care by all members of the team.

·       To provide consultation about the psychological care of the client group to staff and agencies outside the Directorate and Trust.

Teaching, training and supervision

·       In common with all clinical psychologists to receive regular clinical supervision and professional management, according to good practice guidelines, from a senior clinical psychologist and where appropriate clinical supervision from other senior professional colleagues.

·       Where appropriate provide specialist clinical placements for trainee clinical and/or counselling psychologists, ensuring that they acquire the necessary clinical and research skills to doctoral level where appropriate, and competencies and experience to contribute effectively to good psychological practice, and contributing to the assessment and evaluation of those competencies.

·       To provide advice, consultation and training and clinical supervision to other members of the team for their provision of psychologically based interventions to help improve clients’ functioning.

·       Where appropriate provide pre and post qualification teaching of clinical and/or counselling psychology as appropriate.

·       To continue to develop expertise in the area of professional pre and post graduate training and clinical supervision.

Management, recruitment, policy and service development

·       To participate as a clinician in the development of a high quality, responsive and accessible service for patients and their families within the ND Team.

·       To participate in the systematic governance of psychological practice within the ND Team.

·       To be support the implementation of service developments and projects within the ND Team.

·       Where appropriate take responsibility for managing the workloads of trainee, assistant and graduate psychologists and other professional staff as required within the framework of the service’s policies and procedures.

·       Where appropriate assess the clinical competence of trainees and provide formal feedback to the relevant university training body.

Research and service evaluation

·       Where appropriate be involved in the planning and implementing systems for the evaluation, monitoring and development of the locality service, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit and ensuring incorporation of psychological frameworks for understanding and provision of high quality care.

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

·       Where appropriate undertake appropriate research and provide research advice to other staff undertaking research within the ND Team.

·       Where appropriate use appropriate means of analysis for research data (e.g. use of computer packages such as Microsoft Excel, Access and SPSS) for departmental or service projects supporting other team members.

·       Where appropriate communicate research/audit findings in a professional manner through use of IT packages (e.g. Microsoft Word and PowerPoint) for the preparation of documentation.

·       Where appropriate support the implementation of project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within and across the service to help develop and improve services to clients and their families.

Information Technology

·       To maintain comprehensive clinical notes and consultation records as defined in the operational policy, utilizing both case files and the services electronic patient record system.

·       To utilize electronic patient record data for implementation of audit and service delivery purposes to inform service developments.

Professional

·       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 programme, in consultation with professional and operational managers and within the KSF, BPS, and HPCP CPD best practice guidance and requirements.

·       To prepare for and attend an Annual Review/Personal Development Plan.  Chaired by the Psychology professional line manager, and involving any relevant senior clinicians. To provide evidence of CPD undertaken e.g. in the form of a CPD log book.  To collaboratively set aims and objectives and systematically monitor progress.

·       During the first two-three years in post to consolidate and develop clinical, research and supervisory skills through a structured CPD programme using the KSF framework.  To aim to then function as a highly specialist practitioner, this may involve a banding review.

·       To maintain the highest standards of record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional governance in accordance with professional codes of practice of the British Psychological Society and Trust policies and procedures.

·       To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both children and families and mental health

·       To attend and contribute to Clinical Psychology meetings and the development and articulation of best practice in psychology across the service, by continuing to develop the skills of a reflexive and reflective scientist practitioner, taking part in regular professional supervision and appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the field of clinical psychology and related disciplines.