Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.

The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for three consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.

Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an HCPC registered Band 8B Practitioner Psychologist to lead Cancer Psychological Therapies at BHRUT. 

The Post holder will be an HCPC Registered Practitioner Psychologist. The post is responsible for leading and managing the Cancer Psychological Therapies team, as well as developing the provision for palliative care patients across the BHR area. This service falls under the NELFT Clinical Health Psychology Service and is based at Queens Hospital and King George Hospital (part of Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals - BHRUT). The post holder will also have responsibility for a small single clinician service within the cardiac rehab team.

Main duties of the job

We are looking for someone as passionate about service delivery and development as they are about client care. The post holder will be a level 4 psychologist, with overall responsibility for strategic direction, service planning and development, operational management of Cancer Psychological Therapies, including service throughout, and team caseload management, management of level 2 clinical discussion groups, governance and outcome monitoring, reporting, project management, service development, representation at key meetings with stake holders and research/audit aspects.

This post will have responsibility for supervising and managing band 8a posts in Cancer Psychological Therapies, and oversight of band 7 posts, and trainee posts. The post holder will hold a small caseload of patients and offer advice and consultation on psychological care of highly complex cases to psychological professionals, non-psychologist colleagues, non-professional carers and family members. They will display expertise in the field through teaching, training, supervision and support to non-psychologist staff, helping to develop psychological mindedness in teams, especially within physical health hospital settings. There is a component of engagement with stakeholders including key relationships at NELFT and BHRUT, as well as liaison with other regional psycho-oncology services. Oversight of the Cardiac Rehab service and palliative care pilots at BHRUT also forms a small part of the role.

Working for our organisation

Starting with NELFT

NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop in sessions focusing in engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.

Probationary Period

This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff). 

High Cost Area Supplement - London

This post attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (minimum payment of £4,551 and a maximum payment of £5,735 per annum pro rata).

Certificates of Sponsorship

Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points based system. 

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Cancer Psychological Therapies service is a small, close-knit team of psychological clinicians, who are all passionate about the work that they do and have formed a strong support network with one another. Sitting within CHPS means that the postholder will be well supported by the Psychological Professional Lead for CHPS and the Deputy Director of Psychological Professions for Barking & Dagenham. There are also excellent opportunities for supervision and CPD, whilst working alongside highly skilled psychology colleagues with a wide range of specialisms and therapeutic modalities. 

Please see job description and person specification attached for full details of the main responsibilities of the role. 

Use of AI
Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.

Person specification

Knowledge

Essential criteria

Doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology, or equivalent accredited by the BPS and registered HCPC

Desirable criteria

Additional specialist training in advanced group, individual or family interventions including CBT Demonstrate further relevant specialist training/experience in pain management

Knowledge

Essential criteria

Knowledge or the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies as applied to clinical health /physical health settings

Experience

Essential criteria

Expertise and enthusiasm in line management and clinical supervision of psychologists, trainees and assistant psychologists Experience of delivering psychological therapy to a wide variety of client groups, ages, contexts and presenting problems, reflecting the full range of clinical severity, across the full range of care settings, within the NHS. Expertise in the assessment and management of clinical risk, such as suicidal crises, if they present within the acute hospital setting.

Desirable criteria

Experience of working with client groups and MDTs within physical health settings Experience of delivering psychological assessment and interventions with patients experiencing chronic pain and interest in working with oral medicine population

Skills

Essential criteria

Effective team working skills, including compassionate and supportive approach Ability to work with a high level of autonomy and flexibility within the bounds of the job description and professional competence Sensitivity to issues of equality with experience of the application of clinical or counselling psychology in different cultural contexts

Desirable criteria

Able to work in a busy and dynamic environment with the ability to work flexibly and to adapt at short notice. Well-developed skills in organisation and time-management.

Benefits

We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:

A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff. A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity. Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors. Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.