Assistant Psychologist

Job overview
Please note, at this stage, the role is open only to internal staff (including NHSP and Agency staff currently on placement within our organisation) and staff substantively employed within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts and the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB). Any individual who is at risk of redundancy will be given priority, provided they meet the essential criteria.
The main responsibility of this role is to participate in the provision of Psychological Services to people with offending histories and / or behaviours that challenge within the Low Secure Learning Disability and Mental Health Services in Dartford.
Bringing to bear clinical and data analysis skills, you will be developing a role already established within the team to work closely with service users, ward staff, and the wider team in supporting the delivery of a comprehensive psychology service in the units and evaluation of the services. The post will involve working closely with other agencies, including Community services and the Criminal Justice System.
0.5 days per week will be dedicated to supporting research, QI and service evaluation projects within the service.
The hardest part of the job is to co-ordinate a number of inter-related, and often time consuming tasks within the time and resource demands of the service.
The post holder must hold a full, valid, UK driving licence and have access to a car/vehicle to use for business purposes (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).

Main duties of the job

• All of the following tasks are undertaken under the supervision of a qualified psychologist:
• Take an active role in conducting assessments, including administration and score of appropriate psychometric assessments.
• Gather and collate information and reports in order to contribute to the development of clinical and risk assessment, formulation and treatment planning.
• Undertake structured risk assessment and formulation.
• Take an active role in developing formulations.
• Contributing to patient care plans.
• Deliver psychological interventions in group or individual format as required.

Working for our organisation
We are the Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We care for the mental health and wellbeing of people across Kent and Medway. Our teams support adults with a wide range of mental health needs. Because we cover the whole county and both hospital and community settings, we can make care more joined up and easier to access for the 1.8 million people of Kent and Medway. Rated 'Good' by the CQC, we care for over 2,000 people in our hospitals and 54,000 in the community each year.
Our vision is simple: We are here to help communities not just live with mental illness, but live well. It's why we're passionate about working with communities to make mental health care better for everyone. And everything we do is guided by our values caring, inclusive, curious and confident.
Join us - if you share our passion for better mental health care and want to be part of a team that's doing well together.
Check out our Dartford site

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Take part in reflective practice groups on the ward.
• Take part in audit, evaluation, service improvement and research projects.
• Provide administrative support to the psychologists, including tasks such as literature searches, collation of information and development of resources.

Please refer to the attached job description for the full details on the responsibilities and person specification

Person specification

Training, Qualifications and Registration

Essential criteria

• Good honours degree in Psychology (at least 2:1) recognised by the British Psychological Society

Desirable criteria

• A Master's degree in psychology or forensic psychology

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of working with people with learning disability and / or other neurodevelopmental needs.
• Experience of working with people with offending behaviour histories

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working in inpatient mental health services.
• Experience in research methods and collation of data

Knowledge and Skills

Essential criteria

• Ability to receive and communicate verbally and in writing, complex sensitive information in a manner appropriate to a range of emotive situations or audiences with significantly impaired communication abilities.
• Ability to analyse and manage a range of clinical assessment and/or research data in the light of relevant psychological theory.
• Ability to organise own workload effectively, prioritising a complex range of tasks and responsibilities to meet agreed deadlines.
• Standard keyboard skills and a sound understanding of IT packages.
• Ability to administer complex psychometric test materials.
• Graduate level knowledge of research design and methodology including a range of types of data analysis practiced within the field of psychology.
• Capacity to manage exposure to distressing and emotive situations.

Desirable criteria

• Some knowledge of literature relating to learning disability and behavioural or cognitive approaches

Important Information:
In cases where we receive a high volume of applications for a post, it may be necessary to bring the closing date forward. Please submit your completed application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
Due to the high volume of applications received, it is not possible to respond individually to your application. Should you not hear from us within six weeks of the vacancy closing, please assume that your application has not been successful.

Probation Period. New employees external to the trust are subject to a six-month probationary period.
To deliver an effective service it is essential in some of our roles that you are able to travel between work bases in a timely manner.
Production of false or forged documents/qualifications in order to obtain employment is a criminal offence and will be reported to the Police.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check.
Certain roles are subject to criminal record checks called Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. Therefore, you will be required to submit a completed Disclosure form to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust are signed up to NHS England's Sexual Safety in Health Care Organisational Charter
The trust takes a systematic zero-tolerance approach to tackle any unwanted, inappropriate and/or harmful sexual behaviours within the workplace and in our care provision. We are committed to sexual safety which encompasses prevention, support and decisive action against perpetrators. We are committed to keeping y