Job summary
Community Assessment, Stabilisation and Treatment Team (CASTT) North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust 37.5 hours per week (1.0 WTE)

North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust is pleased to advertise an exciting opportunity for a Band 4 Assistant Psychologist to join our Community Assessment, Stabilisation and Treatment Team (CASTT), supporting our expanding Complex Emotional Needs Pathway.

This post offers an excellent opportunity for a psychology graduate seeking to develop clinical, research, and service evaluation skills within a specialist, trauma-informed service. The successful applicant will be supported by Clinical Psychologists and work as part of a welcoming and psychologically minded multidisciplinary team committed to delivering high-quality care for people experiencing complex emotional needs.

Main duties of the job
The Assistant Psychologist will play an important role in supporting ongoing service evaluation and research activity across the pathway. Key responsibilities will include:

• Supporting the collection and analysis of routine outcome measures.
• Assisting service users to complete questionnaires before, during and after intervention.
• Conducting semi-structured interviews to help evaluate patient progress and experience.
• Collating and analysing data and contributing to service evaluation reports.
• Supporting the development of research and quality improvement initiatives.
• Assisting qualified clinicians in delivering psychologically informed interventions, including opportunities to co-facilitate online Structured Clinical Management (SCM) skills groups.

The post also offers opportunities to gain experience across related services, helping the successful applicant develop a broad range of skills and experiences relevant to future professional development.

About us
As a Trust we remain bold and ambitious with plans for both service and system collaborative transformation over the coming years to improve the health and wellbeing of our local people through high quality care.

We pride ourselves on ensuring our team has their wellbeing put first and as such provide a range of wellness opportunities including flexible working.

We are committed to the Greener NHS national ambition to becoming the world's first 'carbon net zero' national health system by 2045. As part of this, sustainability is embedded in our strategy as one of our four key enablers. In order to deliver on this commitment, we recognise that we need a workforce that is as passionate as we are about achieving these goals, for the benefit of our service users, workforce, local communities and the planet alike.

The Trust is committed to ensuring that a diverse workforce is representative and inclusive at all levels. We would very much welcome applications from all under-represented groups including women, people with disabilities, people from global majority backgrounds, and those from the lesbian, gay, bi and trans communities.

The Trust is committed to the Step into Health scheme and actively encourages applicants from the Armed Forces Communities to apply.

Salary
£28,392 to £31,157 a year per annum pro rata
Band: Band 4
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time

Job responsibilities

• Regular individual clinical supervision from a Clinical Psychologist.
• Weekly multidisciplinary team supervision and reflective practice opportunities.
• Access to training and continuing professional development activities.
• Opportunities to develop skills and pursue areas of particular professional interest.

About the Team
CASTT is a specialist, trauma-informed service delivered by an experienced multidisciplinary team. We pride ourselves on providing a supportive, compassionate and psychologically safe working environment for both service users and staff.

The wider team includes Clinical Psychologists, a Consultant Psychiatrist, Mental Health Practitioners trained in Structured Clinical Management (SCM) and Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT), and a supportive Team Manager.

Staff wellbeing is a key priority within our service, and we actively promote a culture of collaboration, learning and mutual support.

Flexible Working
We operate a hybrid model of working and support agile and flexible working arrangements where service needs allow.

The successful applicant's base will be home-based, with patient contacts and team meetings delivered through a combination of face-to-face and online working.

Essential qualifications

• An upper second class honours degree or higher in psychology
• Eligible for graduate membership of the British Psychological Society

Essential experience

• Experience of work with people with mental health problems or disabilities, or other relevant problems.

Essential knowledge

• High level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
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.

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. From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.

Employer contact
Team Leader: Katie Sherratt, katie.sherratt@combined.nhs.uk

Employer details
Employer name: North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare Trust
Address: The Hope Centre, Stoke on Trent, ST1 2BX, United Kingdom
Employer's website: Apply through our website