Band 5 Assistant Psychologist

Job description

Job summary

*** This job advert will close as soon as sufficient applications have been received. Please apply for this job as soon as you can, if interested. ***

We have an exciting opportunity for a Assistant Psychologists to join our children and families division neurodevelopmental pathway. We are looking for creative and enthusiastic Assistant Psychologist to support the delivery of clinical services. We are a specialist multi-disciplinary team and if you are passionate about supporting the development of services and to support the delivery of high quality input to neurodiverse people then we would love to hear from you.

Providing clinical services citywide, you will work with the qualified psychologists and multidisciplinary team to support the delivery of specialist psychological neurodevelopmental assessments for individuals, groups and families. We pride ourselves on our compassionate and inclusive ways of working with a strong agenda around equality and diversity at work and have a focus on staff wellbeing, both for ourselves as a psychology team, but also for our colleagues, clients and staff teams that we work with.

We are a friendly, city-wide team and you would be expected to travel throughout Birmingham.

Main duties of the job

Our psychology department is well established and we are looking for committed and passionate psychologists who will work with us to develop and grow psychology department within the Children and Families Division in the same vein. You will be joining an established wider group of friendly, committed and supportive Psychologists. The post holder will also be part of the professional network of Applied Psychologists working across Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, within our Learning Disabilities, Neuro Rehabilitation, Pain Management and Weight Management services.

Our psychologists work closely with colleagues within MDT to strive for care that is trauma informed, compassionate and formulation based. Birmingham is a diverse and multi-cultural community, we are mindful of the additional challenges that clients from marginalised communities may encounter when accessing our services. Our team is actively engaged in research projects and have strong links with Aston University and we are keen to facilitate opportunities for quality improvement projects.

The Psychology Service offers support and close links with other psychologists through facilitated reflective practice groups, CPD events and team meetings. There are good links with the local DClinPsy training courses and the MSCi pathway at Birmingham and Coventry Universities.

About us

Be Part of Our Team...

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BCHC) has more than 5000 staff working across Birmingham and the West Midlands in a wide range of community nursing and specialist healthcare roles. BCHC delivers over 100 clinical services, in people's homes, health centres, clinics and inpatient facilities. We deliver a wide range of services for children, young people, parents and families as well as adults and community services, two community hospitals, services for people with learning disabilities, the internationally recognised West Midlands Rehabilitation Centre and one of Europe's leading Dental Hospitals and School of Dentistry. We deliver all of this with a commitment to integrated, personalised care that is rooted in our local communities. We have an ambition to deliver outstanding, integrated care as one of the key NHS providers in the West Midlands.

If you want to 'Be Part of Our Team' and work with a Foundation Trust which is continuously striving for better care and healthier communities, we want to hear from you.

There may be some opportunities to work from home within your working week, in line with the needs of the team.

Job description

Job responsibilities

1. To undertake evidence based psychological assessments of children, including psychometric assessment, self-report measures, rating scales, direct structured observations and semi-structured interviews with children, family members and others involved in the childs support.
2. To assist in the formulation and development of childrens and families recommended support plans involving the psychological support and/or management of a childs difficulties, under the supervision of a qualified psychologist.
3. To assist in the coordination and running of pre and post assessment groups.
4. To work with other staff to assess children and review their histories, setting information and current presentation in preparation for multi-disciplinary reviews.
5. To assist in the development of a psychologically based framework of understanding and support to the benefit of all children and families in the service, across all settings where support takes place.
6. To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary meetings.
7. To communicate complex and sensitive information, including condition related information to children, families and staff within wider systems, as appropriate.
8. To record personally generated clinical observations and collect clinical data.
9. To work with clients with complex and emotive problems and be able to reflect on and contain own emotions.

Job description
Job responsibilities

1. To undertake evidence based psychological assessments of children, including psychometric assessment, self-report measures, rating scales, direct structured observations and semi-structured interviews with children, family members and others involved in the childs support.
2. To assist in the formulation and development of childrens and families recommended support plans involving the psychological support and/or management of a childs difficulties, under the supervision of a qualified psychologist.
3. To assist in the coordination and running of pre and post assessment groups.
4. To work with other staff to assess children and review their histories, setting information and current presentation in preparation for multi-disciplinary reviews.
5. To assist in the development of a psychologically based framework of understanding and support to the benefit of all children and families in the service, across all settings where support takes place.
6. To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary meetings.
7. To communicate complex and sensitive information, including condition related information to children, families and staff within wider systems, as appropriate.
8. To record personally generated clinical observations and collect clinical data.
9. To work with clients with complex and emotive problems and be able to reflect on and contain own emotions.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• An undergraduate degree in psychology.
• Eligibility for graduate membership of the British Psychological Society

Desirable

• Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis.

Other Job Requirements

Essential

• Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively
• Ability to reach scheduled appointments across the city in a timely fashion.
• Ability to travel independently Trustwide

Desirable

• Ability to undertake planned out of hours clinical activities relevant to the provision of psychological care pathways

Experience

Essential

• Relevant experience of postgraduate work with children with mental health and physical health care needs.
• Relevant experience pertaining to an Assistant Psychologist/Clinical Psychology Assistant Practitioner.
• Experience of working with children and young people with neurodevelopmental conditions.

Skills

Essential

• High level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive.
• Ability to communicate sensitive information to patients, carers and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance.
• An understanding of the needs and difficulties of children and families with neurodiverse presentations and mental health problems or other care needs.
• Understanding and experience of working in a multicultural context.
• An understanding of psychology applied to health care.
• An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a support context.
• Experience using IT for databases or data-analysis

Desirable

• High standard of report writing.

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Self-motivated.
• Positive, energetic, enthusiastic in outlook and able to set a good example
• Ability to manage under pressure; work to tight deadlines, evidencing excellent time management
• Able to work independently or as part of a team.

Person Specification
Qualifications

Essential

• An undergraduate degree in psychology.
• Eligibility for graduate membership of the British Psychological Society

Desirable

• Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis.

Other Job Requirements

Essential

• Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively
• Ability to reach scheduled appointments across the city in a timely fashion.
• Ability to travel independently Trustwide

Desirable

• Ability to undertake planned out of hours clinical activities relevant to the provision of psychological care pathways

Experience

Essential

• Relevant experience of postgraduate work with children with mental health and physical health care needs.
• Relevant experience pertaining to an Assistant Psychologist/Clinical Psychology Assistant Practitioner.
• Experience of working with children and young people with neurodevelopmental conditions.

Skills

Essential

• High level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive.
• Ability to communicate sensitive information to patients, carers and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance.
• An understanding of the needs and difficulties of children and families with neurodiverse presentations and mental health problems or other care needs.
• Understanding and experience of working in a multicultural context.
• An understanding of psychology applied to health care.
• An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a support context.
• Experience using IT for databases or data-analysis

Desirable

• High standard of report writing.

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Self-motivated.
• Positive, energetic, enthusiastic in outlook and able to set a good example
• Ability to manage under pressure; work to tight deadlines, evidencing excellent time management
• Able to work independently or as part of a team.

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 .

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. .
UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see

Additional information
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 .

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. .
UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see

Employer details

Employer name

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS FT
Address

Citywide

Walmley Health Centre8A Walmley RoadSutton Coldfield

Birmingham

B35 7QX

United Kingdom

Employer's website