Assistant Psychologist

Job description

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For further information on this role, please see the attached detailed Job Description and Person Specification:

• To undertake liaison and triage with patients referred to the team.
• To provide psychological support to patients on the waiting list by offering psychoeducation and signposting to alternative services.
• To undertake clinical work with children and their families under the supervision of a clinical psychologist.
• To participate as a reflective team member in the service's Family Clinic.
• To co-facilitate therapeutic groups for children on the ward
• To undertake basic risk assessments with patients disclosing suicidal ideation or self- harm, and to take appropriate action, including seeking advice from the clinical supervisor or other senior clinician in the service.
• To communicate information concerning patients and their families in a skilled and sensitive manner, and to maintain accurate and up-to-date client records.

Person specification

Education/Qualifications

Essential criteria

• An honours degree (2:1 or higher) in Psychology accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) or completion of a conversion course accredited by the BPS leading to eligibility for Graduate Membership of the BPS

Desirable criteria

• Post-graduate training in clinical and/or research areas

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience (full-time) of working as an Assistant Psychologist (AP) in the NHS (Band 4 or Band 5) or equivalent clinical experience (e.g. working as an AP in social care or private settings, or working as an IAPT Psychological Well-Being Practitioner (PWP)
• Experience of working in a clinical role
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the lifespan and presenting with the full range of clinical severity
• Experience of dealing with patients with suicidal ideation and/or self-harm

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working with children and families
• Theoretical and practical knowledge of neuro-psychology and experience in neuropsychological testing

Skills Abilities/knowledge

Essential criteria

• Ability to work in a setting where the atmosphere may be highly emotive
• High level communication skills (written and verbal) and good report writing
• Experience of using computer packages including Excel, PowerPoint and SPSS
• An ability to initiate and implement audits, service evaluations and research projects
• Ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a children's and young people's psychological service

Desirable criteria

• Experience of scoring and interpreting psychological and neuropsychological questionnaires
• Knowledge of the needs and difficulties of people with physical illness and/or neuropsychological deficits

The Royal Marsden values diversity and is committed to the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority groups. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, LGBTQ+ candidates and candidates with disabilities.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we are working to create a workplace that enables all staff to reach their full potential. We are committed to this because we know that greater diversity and inclusion will lead to an even greater positive impact for the people we serve.

Due to the high volumes of applications we receive, we reserve the right to close any adverts before the published closing date once we have received a sufficient number of applications. We advise you to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment. Please ensure your information is accurate to avoid errors with processing your application

All applicants will be contacted by email to the address supplied on your application. Applicants are advised to check their email accounts regularly and to ensure that email filters are set to allow our emails.

Flu Vaccination - What We Expect of our Staff

At The Royal Marsden we have an immune compromised patient population who we must protect as much as we can against the flu virus. Each year, seasonal flu affects thousands of people in the UK. Occurring mainly in winter, it is an infectious respiratory disease capable of producing symptoms ranging from those similar to a common cold, through to very severe or even fatal disease.

The wellbeing of our staff and patients is of the upmost importance to us, and it is the expectation of The Royal Marsden that all patient-facing staff have an annual flu vaccination, provided free of charge by the Trust.

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