Neonatal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/Psychological Therapist

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1.      To provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to the psychological medicine service, based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including clients, family members and others involved in the client’s care.

2.      To develop psychological formulations of presenting problems or situations that integrate complex information from assessments within a coherent framework that draws upon psychological theory and evidence, and which incorporates interpersonal, societal, cultural and biological factors, as well as health needs and impact of health problems on the family.

3.      To develop and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a family’s psychological difficulties, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the presenting problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy.

4.      To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for families and groups, within and across teams, adjusting and refining psychological formulations, drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses..

5.      To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, psychological formulation, treatment and discharge of clients and manage and maintain a caseload in line with service guidelines.

6.      To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other multidisciplinary professionals, both within hospital and community settings, contributing directly to clients’ formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.

7.      To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across the designated area and agencies serving the client group. To promote excellent psychologically informed practice and a service consistent and compliant with the philosophy of person-centred and evidence-based practice.

8.      To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management in line with Trust and inter-agency policies and procedures.

9.      To communicate, in a highly skilled and sensitive manner, to patients / clients, family carers and others as appropriate, information that may be contentious or highly distressing concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of patients / clients under their care

10.   To provide psychological support and supervision for staff working on the unit. This may be in the form of group sessions by providing a safe space for reflection and providing tools and/or sign posting for further support. This will also include either supporting, or leading small group debrief sessions following an emotionally traumatic clinical situation.

11.   Use initiative and take responsibility for themselves and the quality of their work and the service they provide within the Neonatal service cross site. To plan and prioritise own caseload and coordinate clinical activities.

12.   Collaboratively evaluate the appropriateness of referrals and requests for input from a number of sources; accepting these as resources permit.

13.   To liaise with a wide range of agencies and services (community teams, nurseries, Education, Social Care, Child Protection, Housing and Benefits, G.Ps, medical Consultants, etc) for the purpose of providing ongoing case management and psychological advice within the region serviced by Bedfordshire Hospitals. To work in partnership with other disciplines and to maintain links with statutory and non-statutory and primary care agencies as appropriate.

14.   To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.

15.   To undertake appropriate audit of patients’ psychological needs as appropriate within national guidelines. To undertake research including, where appropriate, making ethics and/or funding applications.

16.   Provide teaching and training to staff on NICU/SCBU both formally and informally.

17.   To work in highly distressing or emotional circumstances on a daily basis, dealing with, for example, terminal illness, death and bereavement, refusal to comply with essential treatment, child abuse, marital conflict, family breakdown, frequent verbal and occasional physical aggression from carers. (Supervision and support is available)

18.   To respond rapidly and flexibly to emergency or crisis situations

19.   To participate in the development and preparation of clinical materials such as webinars, brochures, handouts, scripts, etc for use in the clinical services.

20.   Adhere to appropriate confidentiality guidance from the Trust, the HCPC and the BPS with respect to considering issues of risk, supervision and safeguarding.