Principal Clinical / Counselling Psychologist

We have an exciting opportunity for a senior Psychologist to lead the provision of psychological services in the Acute and Urgent Care Pathway in Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster. . The post-holder will manage a psychological service to the Adult wards based within the St Charles Mental Health Centre . The unit primarily works with patients who are resident in Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster (KCW). The post holder will work with a team of qualified and assistant psychologists.

The service is committed to embedding trauma informed practice and to supporting staff wellbeing. The post holder will work closely with colleagues in the Urgent Care pathway including the Home Treatment Teams. The post holder will also work closely with colleagues in our Community Hubs to provide continuity of care and collaborative care. The post holder will have access to a supportive team and a well-established Continuing Profession Development (CPD) programme.

The job will require innovation and creativity. The right candidate will demonstrate resilience and an ability to manage risk robustly and collaborate proactively with the MDT. They will play a key role in the senior management team , working with other team members to support the team to function effectively and sustainably. The right candidate will be highly motivated and enthusiastic, using this post as an opportunity to develop their broader leadership and professional skill set.

The post-holder will co-ordinate and manage psychology provision to the Adult wards based within the St Charles Mental Health Centre based in North Kensington. The service has four open acute wards, a male-only Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and a female only PICU. The unit primarily works with patients who are resident in Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster (KCW). The post holder will lead and co-ordinate a team of qualified and assistant psychologists working across the inpatient unit.

The postholder will also co-ordinate and manage psychology staff providing input into the Urgent Care Clinical Pathway, including Home Treatment Teams and other Mental Health Crisis Assessment services.

A key task of the role will be to implement the trauma informed approach (TIA) across acute mental health services ensuring that trauma informed care is fully embedded in the service model and staff are trained to deliver TIA in a systematic way with clearly defined processes to support TIA.

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.

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) is one of the largest trusts in the UK, caring for people with a wide range of physical and mental health needs. We have approximately 7,000 staff who provide healthcare to a third of London's population and across wider geographical areas, including Milton Keynes, Kent, Surrey and Hampshire.

The catchment area spans diverse communities, with over 100 first languages spoken. It contains areas of great affluence as well as areas of much deprivation. We are committed to providing services that meet the needs of the people who use them, and we actively encourage involvement from local people who can help make a difference.

CNWL is recognised locally, nationally and internationally for providing high quality, innovative healthcare. We aim to employ only the best people, and our experts are frequently called upon to contribute to national health strategy and policy, and many models of our care have been adapted for use in other countries.

1. To lead and co-ordinate a psychology service across the adult acute pathway within Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster.
2. To support in the ongoing development and implementation of the trauma informed approach (TIA) within KCW acute mental health services.
3. To contribute to a program of supervision and training for staff from all disciplines with the aim of embedding TIA, psychologically oriented patient care and increased delivery of evidence-based psychological interventions to patients.
4. To support ward managers and senior clinical staff in the development and implementation of TIA and in the development of skills of junior nursing staff and associate practitioners to deliver appropriate low-intensity psychological and psychosocial interventions
5. To work alongside senior clinical and managerial staff to improve and maintain the quality of the acute experience and to enable acute staff to engage in pro-active, therapeutic and meaningful ways with patients.
6. To provide supervision and consultation to acute staff through appropriate forums including reflective practice groups and community meetings.