Job summary
Highly Specialist Practitioner Psychologist - Sickle cell and Thalassaemia

This permanent post provides a highly specialist psychology service, aligned with the Trust's World Class Care Values, for inpatients and outpatients with sickle cell and thalassaemia. The role involves delivering specialist psychological assessment and intervention, and offering advice and consultation to MDT and ward colleagues, as well as liaising with other services involved in patient care.

The post-holder will provide consultation, supervision, training and clinical case discussions to the MDT, particularly the clinical nurse specialists. They will work autonomously within professional guidelines and Trust policies, taking delegated responsibility for the governance of psychological practice within their area. This includes contributing to service development, quality improvement and project work supported by data collection for regional reporting.

The role also requires the use of research and audit skills to support policy and service development within the sickle cell and thalassaemia teams.

The post-holder will interview, recruit (where appropriate) and supervise Band 7 psychological therapy staff, trainees and assistant/undergraduate psychologists. They will also offer supervision to other professional groups within the MDT and contribute to Trust-wide and regional meetings, as agreed with the site lead and Psychological Professionals Lead.

Main duties of the job
Working alongside the red cell lead psychologist, the post-holder will support the delivery of a high-quality specialist clinical psychology service for patients across the red cell pathway at North Middlesex University Hospital.

Key responsibilities include providing specialist psychological assessment and therapy, and offering advice, guidance and consultation on psychological care to non-psychology colleagues. Appropriate support will also be given to partners, carers and families involved in the patient's care.

The post-holder will work within professional guidelines and Trust procedures, exercising autonomous clinical responsibility where required. They will apply evidence-based psychological knowledge and research skills to support audit, research and agreed service development activities.

The role includes supporting staff caring for patients with red cell disorders across all clinical areas, including the haematology day unit, hyperacute unit, inpatient wards, emergency department, community hub at the George Marsh Centre, St Ann's Hospital and multidisciplinary clinics, as well as running specialist clinical health psychology clinics.

Routine daily use of personal computers and NMUH clinical IT systems is required.

About us
North Middlesex University Hospital provides care for around 500 patients with red cell disorders primarily sickle cell and thalassaemia. The multidisciplinary red cell service operates as a Specialist Haemoglobinopathy Team (SHT) within the East of England Network, liaising with the UCLH Haemoglobinopathy Co-ordinating Centre (HCC).

NMUH is located on the border between Haringey and Enfield at the most deprived areas of both boroughs, having very high levels of social and economic deprivation with associated high levels of physical and mental health problems.

NMUH has been selected as a site to trial a hyperacute unit where patients with sickle cell disease can bypass emergency care to avoid delays and to receive prompt specialist urgent care. This trial is being conducted as part of an NHSE sickle cell disease quality improvement programme.

The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK's biggest and most innovative trusts. Across three main hospitals, our dedicated army of staff care for over 1.6million patients, treat more than 200,000 in A&E, deliver over 8,000 babies and carry out more than 17million tests.

Our size, scale and influence offer you unrivalled career opportunities and a forward-thinking approach to working that works around your lifestyle. From flexible hours and generous benefits, to next level training, we make it easier to take your career to the top

For more information please follow linkhttps://www.royalfreelondonjobs.co.uk/

Job responsibilities
A full list of duties and responsibilities will be found within the job description and requirements for the role can be found within the person specification.

Education & professional Qualifications
Essential

• Post-graduate doctoral level training in psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 2000) as accredited by the British Psychological Society
• HCPC registration as Practitioner Psychologist.

Desirable

• Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice.

Experience
Essential

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including community, primary care, outpatient and inpatient settings.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity.
• Post-qualification experience of work within interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary environments.
• Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.

Desirable

• Evidence of post-qualification supervised clinical experience in assessment and intervention with patients with long-term health conditions, including techniques at a specialist level.
• Post-qualification experience of working in a medical team.
• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision of other qualified Psychologists and other professional disciplines.
• Experience in leading case conferences, complex case discussions or other patient-focused meetings.

Skills and aptitudes
Essential

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management.
• Knowledge of at least two relevant theoretical models and psychological interventions relevant to the care of patients with sickle cell and thalassaemia.
• Highly skilled in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the British Psychological Society/HCPC.
• Ability to form good working relationships with others in a multidisciplinary setting.

Desirable

• Formal training and/or experience in supervision of other psychologists.
• Experience in service development, leadership and management.
• Familiarity with SPSS databases (or similar) and statistical package.

Personal Qualities & attributes
Essential

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Ability to take responsibility for the work of others.
• Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.

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 (Opens in a new tab).

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 (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

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.
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 (Opens in a new tab).
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 (Opens in a new tab).
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).