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Head of Psychology Westminster | Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Posting date:	21 August 2024
Salary:	Not specified
Additional salary information:	£96,340 - £109,849 pa (pro rata P/T) inc HCAS
Hours:	Part time
Closing date:	20 September 2024
Location:	London, SW1V 2RH
Company:	CNWL NHS Foundation Trust
Job type:	Permanent
Job reference:	6567394/333-J-WE-0700

Summary

We want the people of Westminster to have a fully integrated and coordinated mental health system which focuses on people’s strengths and supports their whole health and wellbeing.

The role is both clinical, operational and strategic in nature with a focus on continuous improvement and transformation of service design across the Adult Mental Health system in Westminster.

The role is to lead, co-ordinate and, in large part, deliver support and services for adults experiencing mental health issues in the Borough. We believe in providing the right level of care and support at the right time so that people can flourish, contribute and live a healthy life of their choosing.

The post holder will be an exceptional leader actively encouraging and supporting the Borough to develop its people to meet the needs of the people of our diverse communities.

Leadership, governance and management of the CNWL psychology provision and the psychological professions staff within the Borough of Westminster. Specifically Adult Mental Health Community, Adult Acute and Crisis Services.

To ensure the provision of psychology across the borough takes a whole system approach with co-ordination of care for service users, especially for those service users with the most complex needs accessing multiple services. Collaborating with other psychological and AHP professionals including Psychotherapy, Arts Psychotherapy, Occupational therapy.

To ensure the provision of psychology across the borough actively addresses health inequalities and is anti-discriminatory to meet the needs of all the communities within the borough having a staff team that is competent to do so and is itself diverse.

To participate fully as a member of the multidisciplinary borough Senior Management Team. Working closely with the Brough Director, Clinical Director and other senior colleagues. Providing managerial and psychological expertise, advice and consultation to other members of the team.

To be professionally responsible for the delivery of psychological interventions across Westminster Mental Health Services including clinical oversight of all adult psychological therapy pathways. To ensure the services are accessible and acceptable to service users from all local communities and addresses health inequalities in the access to and provision of services.

Westminster is an inner London area with a mixed, diverse population with some of the wealthiest and most deprived areas of London. There is a high mental health morbidity and local commissioners are committed to a high spend on mental health services.

Westminster adult mental health service provides a range of mental health services for adults across the age range within the community and in hospital settings.
• St Charles Hospital with 8 inpatient wards; two adult PICUs, 4 adult acute wards and two Older Adult wards
• Community Mental Health Hubs, Health Psychology, Talking Therapies

· Psychology and Psychotherapy Services including Clinical Psychologists which are fully embedded in the CMHHs and inpatient unit, Arts Psychotherapy, and other specialist family and individual psychotherapies

· Early Intervention Service

· Joint Homelessness Team

· Home Treatment Team (HTT)

· Liaison Psychiatry

· Memory Service

The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.

Please review the attached job description for more details about the role

To provide and be accountable for a highly specialist integrated psychology service to people using Westminster Mental Health Services utilising a range of interventions based on sound theoretical principles and research evidence. This would be based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological (and neuropsychological) tests, self-report measures, rating scales direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client's care.

· To take a lead in the effective working of the services and ensure a psychologically informed framework for the service area that is culturally competent, anti-discriminatory and challenges health & social inequalities.

· To support the Westminster Complex Emotional Needs Pathway

· To be expert in the skilled administration of psychometric tests, including skilled manipulation of test materials; and to be able to supervise others in administration of psychometric tests.

· To provide expert psychological reports, including relevant formulation, opinion and interventions, in order to inform referrers and, where appropriate, service users.

· To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing & challenging situations and to support others involved in such situations.

· To select and deliver evidence based psychological treatments, monitor outcome and modify and adapt interventions, drawing on a range of theoretical options.

· To work as an independent and autonomous professional within professional guidelinesand Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) guidelines andthe policies and procedures of the service, taking full responsibility for own work including treatment and discharge decisions.

· To travel to various services, home visits, community placements, meetings, as appropriate and across the Trust when required.

· To contribute to the effective working of clinical teams, services in directorate/division and to a psychologically informed framework for the service/directorate. To undertake risk assessment and risk management for all individual clients and to provide both general and specialist advice for psychologists and other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management

· To be responsible for psychological interventions with carers (or families as appropriate) of referred clients.

· To communicate skilfully and sensitively highly complex and sensitive information, taking account of sensory and cultural barriers to communication.

· To act as a named worked taking responsibility for the overall care of service users where allocated.

· To co-ordinate (and chair) team clinical, service meetings to ensure effective functioning and review when appropriate.

· To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group, and follow trust policies relating to its management.

· To provide specialist advice and consultation to other members of teams for their provision of psychologically based interventions

· To ensure appropriate systems for the clinical and professional supervision of psychological professionals across the Borough.

· To ensure the development of the knowledge and skills base within the servicesby maintaining an active awareness of current developments in psychology and specialisms and by implementing knowledge gained in practice.

· To provide expert psychological consultation and professional and clinical supervision to colleagues and more junior psychologists and to contribute to a psychologically informed framework within the service/directorate.

· To be responsible for planning, organising, and the delivery of teaching and training of pre and post- qualification psychologists and specialist training to other professions within your service area.

· To ensure systems are in place for the provision of specialist clinical placements for trainee clinical and/or trainee counselling psychologists and others, in the directorate and services.

· To ensure systems are in place for the provision of access to CBT training/supervision for junior doctors undertaking training in psychiatry

· To provide supervision for the psychological work of other multi-disciplinary staff as appropriate.

· To receive regular clinical and professional supervision according toHCPC,BPS, relevant accrediting bodies and Trust guidelines.

· To participate as a senior clinician in the strategic long-term planning and delivery of high quality and accessible mental health services in the Borough, advising both service and professional management on those aspects of services where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.

· To be a senior member of the psychology and/or directorate management teams and to contribute to the work commissioned by these teams.

· To develop plans for addressing and reducing waiting times in the Borough. To develop plans for implementing the Trust’s psychosocial vision and for meeting the targets outlined within the vision

· To contribute to Trust and Directorate strategic development and implementation of new initiatives e.g. national guidelines including NICE, through membership of committees and/or working parties as required.

· To be responsible for systematic governance of meetings, and/or chair professional management meetings.

· To ensure a system is in place for the professional management and appraisal of psychological therapists,assistant psychologists and other professionals, as required.

· To initiate and implement service developments within the directorate/team to improve the quality of services, both within psychology and the broader services.

· To advise both service and professional management on factors adversely affecting service delivery and staff retention.

· To be responsible for managing the psychological resources available to services both in terms of professional management of psychological staff and psychological materials employed in the assessment and treatment of clients.






This advert closes on Wednesday 4 Sep 2024

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