Job overview

We are looking to recruit a highly motivated, organised and adaptable Assistant Psychologist (Band 4) to work within the Community Recovery Team, part of the Mental Health Recovery Pathway within Northamptonshire NHS Foundation Trust

The Community Recovery Team is a countywide specialist service that works with people with severe and enduring mental illness to reduce the likelihood of long term admissions to psychiatric hospitals, or supported accomodation placement breakdown. The team has small caseloads and offers intense intervention over 18months, delivered by multidisciplinary team members including CPN’s, OT, Psychology, a Drug and Alcohol worker and Recovery Workers. The team works directly with carers, accomodation placement providers, third sector organisations and other teams within NHFT. The clinical lead for the team is the Principal Clinical Psychologist.

Within the wider Mental Health Recovery Pathway there are three further teams - Meadowbank Rehabilitation Unit,  the Individual Funding Team and IPS Employment Service.  Psychologists from across the pathway meet regularly for peer support and CPD, led by the pathway's Consultant Clinical Psychologist.

Main duties of the job

The successful applicant for this post will work with the Clinical Lead to develop robust psychological formulations for service users, which guide team interventions. They will support the running of peer supervision sessions and case formulation meetings, as well as look at developing ways of sharing the formulations with service users and care teams. They will support the embedding and day to day application of the CHIME recovery model within the team and conduct research, service evaluations and audits to assess its efficacy. Much of the work with service users will be indirect, reviewing case notes, developing psychological understandings, and offering consultation. However, there will opportunities to provide skills-based support and psychoeducation to some service users, be involved in diagnostic assessments and develop psychologically informed groups, depending upon service need.

Regular clinical supervision will be provided by the Principal Clinical Psychologist in the team and management supervision by the Consultant Psychologist. There are a range of development opportunities due to the service’s role in training others, its strong internal CPD programme and commitment to reflective practice, and the integrated nature of Psychology Services across NHFT. It is essential that applicants have a recognised undergraduate qualification.

Working for our organisation

NHFT is an integrated primary care and mental health Trust, providing physical, mental health and specialty services in both hospital settings and out in the community. Because we put the person at the centre of all we do, we focus on delivering care that is as easy to access as possible. This means many of our services can be provided at home, work or in schools. We also provide health services to various prisons and detention centres in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

NHFT promotes a culture of learning to improve the care and safety of our patients and staff, which focuses on people who enable our Trust to be ‘outstanding’ by supporting opportunity, innovation, development and growth.