Band 8a Specialist Clinical Psychologist | West NHS Trust

Our 8a Psychologist for both our Specialist Older Adult’s Mental Health Team (SOAMHS) and our older people’s inpatient ward (Meridian) is going on maternity leave, so we are looking for an excellent clinician able to work in both the inpatient and community settings.

Although the psychology team works with psychological therapies with a proven evidence base, we also understand that to truly meet client needs, flexibility of approach is essential.

Our service users come from a wide variety of cultures and experiences, so there is a need to adapt any therapy to the needs of the client and creativity is therefore valued. You will play a key part in enabling the more therapeutic nature of support throughout the services as well as providing and supervising clinical interventions.

The community psychology team is small (0.5 b7 psychologist and 1 CAP), so you will be working with the whole range of mental health problems as well as the more acute presentations on the ward.

This post is based in both Meridian ward, Claybrook Unit by Charing Cross hospital, and St Vincents where SOAMHS is based alongside Hammersmith and Fulham CIDS (Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Service). Both sites are well served by transport and other amenities in Hammersmith.

On the ward you will support psychological thinking and develop and lead formulation sessions as well as providing assessment and therapy sessions for inpatients.

In the community you will promote psychological thinking within the MDT and the wider system around the patient through collaboration with partner agencies and supporting outreach within a wide range of community resources and organisations.

The post holder will have regular individual supervision from an experienced Clinical Psychologist. In turn they will also provide supervision to colleagues, including CAP and the ward Assistant psychologist as appropriate.

There is an emphasis on service development to ensure the needs of our patients are met and new ideas and evidence-based approaches are welcomed.

The psychology service across the Older People’s Mental Health Service in Hammersmith and Fulham, Ealing and Hounslow is informal and friendly and information, skills and ideas are regularly shared. This includes a range of therapeutic approaches and expertise. As the nature of the work we do and the client population is so diverse, flexibility of approach is essential to truly meet client needs.

The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. Please view as attached.

The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.

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