Job overview

We have an exciting opportunity for a Band 5 Higher Assistant Psychologist, to join our enhanced and developing Forensic Psychiatry Community Service.

CPFT are one of six providers of specialist mental health and learning disability care in the East of England, working collaboratively to ensure there is a seamless pathway of care , that is closer to home for the communities that we serve. The Provider Collaborative also works closely with independent sector partners to make improvements to our services and the ways we deliver them.

This enhanced specialist service consists of a multi-disciplinary team, based between Cambridge and Peterborough,. The service works with adults diagnosed with a mental health condition and/or learning disability who present with a risk of significant harm to others, to achieve optimal management of risk and minimise re-offending.

Working closely with the individual, we produce tailored care plans together that is focused around their personal needs and risk. The service adopts a compassionate and trauma informed approach to promote relapse prevention and recovery, so enabling individuals to realise their full potential whilst supporting them to continue to build and live meaningful lives in the community.

Main duties of the job

The post-holder will be supervised to support the development of psychological case formulations and interventions (e.g., CFT, CBT, DBT, Trauma focused therapies, Relapse Prevention) and enhanced risk assessment tools (e.g. HCR20-v 3, SAPROF).

In addition, there are a number of clinically related administration and audit tasks attached to the post, and involvement in service evaluation and research. The post-holder will be required to work independently according to a plan agreed with a qualified psychologist and within the overall framework of the team’s policies and procedures.

You will be joining an experienced multidisciplinary team of professionals including psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, occupational therapists, social workers, support workers and administrators who all share a passion and drive for delivering high quality care and treatment to service users with forensic histories.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities

To assist the Senior Psychologists with assessments, the development of formulations and the planning and delivery of psychological interventions.

To provide direct psychological interventions to service users under the supervision of the Senior Psychologists.

To review and audit notes, summarising essential information.

To contribute to gathering information, as part of risk assessments undertaken within the service in line with Trust and inter-agency policies/procedures

To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary meetings, CPA reviews and ward rounds, including team meetings, team supervisions.

To gain wider experience of professional psychology within the NHS over and above that provided within the principal service area where the post-holder is employed.

To assist and develop research and service evaluations of a continuously developing service.

Please note for this role you will be required to travel independently around the county meeting strict time deadlines. You will need to hold a full UK driving licence* and have use of a vehicle. You cannot use public transport for this role as this is not a reliable form of transport and will not allow you to meet service needs. Please confirm in your application that you meet the specified criteria.

*DVLA have a number of reciprocal arrangements with overseas countries, for further information please visit the DVLA website

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Person specification:

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working with people with serious mental disorders, learning disability and complex presentations/ challenging behaviours.
• Experience of completing specialised psychological assessments.
• Previous experience of an assistant psychologist post or equivalent.

Desirable

• Experience of working with people with forensic histories.
• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team in a community setting.
• Experience of Psychological Structured Professional (SPJ) Judgement or Psychometric assessment tools.

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Ability to communicate sensitive information to patients, carers and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance.
• Competent in the use of software programmes such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Experience of developing and maintaining databases for the purposes of data-analysis e.g., use of Excel or SPSS for Windows.
• Good organisational and time managements skills.
• Ability to recognise limits of competence and seek support and supervision when needed.

Desirable

• Experience of working with structured risk assessment tools such as the HCR20/SAPROF
• A clear understanding of the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach to risk management within forensic services.

Physical Requirements

Essential

• Ability to travel independently around the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area meeting required timescales. A full driving licence and access to a vehicle is essential.
• Ability to work from home as required.

Education / Quailifications

Essential

• An upper second-class honours degree or higher in psychology.
• Entitlement to 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.