Job Summary
NHS Talking Therapies in Mid Essex is seeking a highly motivated and creative Assistant Psychologist to join our well-established team. We are a dynamic and supportive Talking Therapies service, and you will be contributing to the delivery of psychological therapies in a primary care setting. We are seeking to recruit an Assistant Psychologist to support our co-located respiratory/Talking Therapies pathway in Mid Essex, and be involved in developing new long-term condition pathways We are seeking an Assistant Psychologist who will work under the supervision of the senior clinical team to support the integrated pathway between respiratory departments and our psychological therapy service. You will be co-located in physical health inpatient and outpatient settings, so will have an opportunity to work closely with physical health as well as mental health professionals.

The role will also consist of being involved in the development of new integrated pathways in Mid Essex, as well as assessing and treating service users with depression and anxiety difficulties in the Talking Therapies service under supervision.

Main Duties of the Job
You will have excellent data analysis skills and be competent in using Excel and SPSS. We are particularly interested in individuals who can demonstrate research skills, as a significant proportion of the work will also concern analysing outcome data and carrying out audits to help the team improve service delivery.If you are invited to interview, you must bring with you any academic qualification certificates and evidence you hold, as applicable. Offers cannot be made without this information.Please refer to the job description and person specification for further details of the role/responsibilities and requirements for this post.Applicants must be psychology graduates with at least a 2:1 degree and be eligible for graduate basis for registration with the British Psychological Society. You will also have excellent verbal and written communication skills, good organisational skills, and the ability to work both autonomously and as part of a team.Car driver (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010 which prevents you from driving)

About Us
Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT) is an outstanding organisation with ambitions to match. We are one of just five mental health trusts to achieve an overall rating of 'Outstanding' from the Care Quality Commission, and our aim is to be the leading provider of mental health and specialist learning disability services in the country.Our family of over 3500 members of staff provide health and social care for over 400,000 people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire, Essex, Buckinghamshire, and Norfolk, delivering these services within the community and several inpatient settings. We also deliver a range of nationally commissioned specialist services including Tier 4 services for children and young people, perinatal services, plus medium and low secure learning disabilities services.The care we provide makes a fantastic difference to the lives of our service users, their families, and carers - everything is underpinned by choice, independence and equality, with our Trust values embedded throughout:Our Trust values are:Welcoming. Kind. Positive. Respectful. Professional.These values are at the core of who we are, everything we do, and how we do it!Would you like to be part of the HPFT family? Would you like work with us to ensure our service users live the fullest lives possible they can? Would you like to be supported in your career to be the best that you can be?Then please read on...

Job Responsibilities

• The post holder will be a key MDT member on respiratory inpatient wards and in complex clinics.
• The post holder will assess suitability (in clinic etc), complete referrals and assess respiratory patients for psychological interventions and may support in the running of LTC rehab classes and group interventions.
• The post holder will continue to iterate and implement a user-centred design approach to the respiratory/Talking Therapies pathway. Including quantitative and qualitative auditing, interviewing, and recording referral/assessment outcomes.
• Research, training and presenting opportunities are likely to be part of the role. Post holders must feel competent and confident in delivering pathway information and service training more generally (supported by senior clinicians).
• The post holder will be around patients with complex/acute illnesses, some of which will be on end-of-life care. While supervision is provided, this must be taken into consideration when applying to the post.

You will need to have worked with individuals with mental health problems and have knowledge of common mental health difficulties (depression and anxiety disorders). You will be able to identify such difficulties and understand about recommended treatment options, to accept into the service or refer and signpost to local services as appropriate. You will have excellent communication and relationship-building skills and be able to work effectively as a team member, as well as with autonomy (but under supervision). Experience in acute/urgent care, with long term conditions will be an asset, as well as an interest in the link between physical and mental health and developing services and interventions to support this cohort.

If required, you will be prepared to work outside standard 9-5 office hours as part of a scheduled work-plan for one day per week (between 8am and 8pm, Monday-Thursday). This is a hybrid role, and the main base will be in Braintree, however, as part of the co-located pathway you will be required to attend other sites where respiratory clinics are run. There is an expectation that you will be at our base or in the community for two days per week, and the remaining days will be home-based working.

Person Specification
Qualifications

• Honours degree of higher in Psychology
• Entitlement to graduate membership of BPS

Desirable

• Further post grad training in relevant areas of psychology, mental health practice or research, design and analysis

Experience

• Worked with people with MH problems
• Understanding of and compliance with relevant professional standards and practice
• Use of computers for data analysis (excel and SPSS)

Desirable

• Working in primary care services
• Has undertaken audit in clinical services

Skills

• High standard of report writing
• Ability to communicate sensitive information to patients, carers and colleagues
• Ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a primary care context
• Can communicate effectively within MDT
• Able to interact with service users in a respectful and empathic manner
• Team working
• Interest in working with people with MH problems
• High level communication skills to manage sensitive conversations, and ability to work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive
• Ability to assess common mental health problems
• Understanding of importance of using evidence based psychological interventions in primary care
• Car driver
• Ability to work under pressure
• Able to manage own workload
• Self-reflective
• Ability to develop good therapeutic relationships with service users and carers

Desirable

• Fluent in languages other than english

Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.