Higher Assistant Psychologist

Higher Assistant Psychologist working into the Older People’s Inpatient Psychological Service, Central Newcastle Older People’s Inpatient Pathway

This is an excellent opportunity for a psychology graduate looking to enhance their patient-facing assistant psychologist experience in an acute older people’s inpatient work setting. The successful candidate will gain experience of working alongside and being managed and supervised by an experienced clinical psychologist to enhance the psychological offer within the therapeutic ward milieu. This work will take place on one ward for Older People presenting with acute severe psychological distress and another ward for Older People with dementia, whose manifestations of psychological distress was presenting staff with a severe challenge to manage prior to admission.

This post is full-time. Hours will be worked as 5 days across a 7-day working week identified as necessary in a post-Covid NHS and will be based at the Centre for Ageing & Vitality (Castleside & Akenside Wards).

The main duties of the job are to assist & support the senior clinical psychologist in initial engagement, assessment and intervention activities across the two wards. Duties will include assisting with the planning and delivery of sessional psychological therapeutic activity and interventions, 1:1 gathering of psychological assessment-related materials and information and undertaking of basic brief psychological assessment measures, basic functional psychological formulations (5ps), as well as undertaking meaningful discussions with patients which help inform milieu-wide interventions focussed upon engagement, restoration and recovery. Duties may also include assisting with off-site restorative/recovery-focussed activities as directed by psychological formulation and other emergent professionally-identified psychology tasks as they arise. There will also be a requirement to undertake literature searches and reviews, audit and service evaluation work under the auspices of the senior clinical psychologist. CPD time will be allocated as part of the role and engagement with professionally-related local and national professional network activities will be encouraged.

We aim to attract and retain a diverse, talented and committed workforce, who are caring and compassionate, and therefore able to meet the demands of the modern NHS now and in the future. In return we can offer a dynamic working environment in which to build a career.

Applicants will be shortlisted for the job based on their application form and whether they meet the criteria described in the Job Description. They should be able to meet any travel requirements of the post.

Please find attached job description for full details.

Advertising date : 16th March

Closing date : 23rd March

We welcome your application.