We are looking to recruit an apprentice Clinical Associate in Psychology (CAP) within the Acute Inpatient Service (five wards), Wotton Lawn Hospital in Gloucestershire.
Ideally, we are looking for people with experience of working with service users who present with acute and complex mental health problems but would welcome your application if you have other relevant experience.
Provision of specialised interventions under supervision will be part of the remit of the CAP, but the role will also support the provision of psychologically informed work across the whole service through indirect work, teaching and training.
As an apprentice, you will undertake Clinical Associate Psychology Masters training in conjunction with Plymouth University, whilst employed by and working in Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Trust. This is a masters level qualification for working with adults, recognised by the British Psychological Society. You will join a wider cohort of trainee Clinical Associate Psychologists from the South West region.
This is an 18- month apprenticeship with twelve months on programme learning and six months to complete the End Point Assessment. There is a requirement to complete and pass all elements of the apprenticeship to successfully register with the BPS as a Clinical Associate Psychologist.
To work within the psychological therapies team at Wotton Lawn consisting of two qualified clinical psychologists, an art psychotherapist, a qualified CAP and an assistant psychologist. To develop your competencies inline with the masters programme in order to achieve qualification.
We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people’s homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.
Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:
72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust’s priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.
This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.
Clinical
- To undertake specialised and protocol based psychological assessments - including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with service users, family members and others involved in the service user’s care
- To assist in the development of psychological formulations of complex clinical problems and the development and delivery of care plans, which include psychological treatment and/ or management of the service user problems including risk assessments.
- To determine appropriate psychological intervention, considering a range of potentially conflicting clinical information and dynamics under the supervision of a clinical psychologist.
- To design, implement and modify bespoke psychological interventions with service users and groups under the supervision of a clinical psychologist.
- To communicate confidential and personal information concerning psychological needs, obtained through assessments and interventions, to colleagues within and outside of the Trust and to the service user and their family
- To assist in the coordination and running of therapeutic groups.
- To work as a member of a multidisciplinary team and attend meetings as appropriate.
- To follow a person-focused and evidence-based approach and work in partnership with service users and their families/carers.
- To work in accordance with National NHS and GHC policies and regulations, as well as those of relevant professional bodies.
- To receive regular clinical supervision in accordance with programme requirements and good clinical practice.
- To assist in the planning, coordination and running of staff support forums such as reflective practice, case discussion, formulation and CPD workshops
- To maintain appropriate records in electronic or hard copy in line with Trust policies and Professional guidelines. Includes workload data and using word processing skills to produce service user related reports
Leadership / Management
- To assist in the design and implementation of service development projects within the service as required
Teaching, training and supervision
- In conjunction with the clinical supervisor and University Tutor, to plan and prioritise own workload, research and individual and group sessions.
- May assist with providing specialist training to other psychologists, trainees, assistants and other colleagues as appropriate.
- To assist in the development of a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all service users of the service, across all settings where care takes place.
Research and service evaluation
- To plan, monitor and evaluate own work, using clinical outcomes assessments, small-scale research methodology and statistical procedures.
- To plan and undertake formal MSc research, as agreed with the University programme staff as required by the Programme, complying with the requirements of research governance, evidence-based practice and ethical considerations.
- To assist in the design and implementation of service-based audit and research projects using appropriate methodology and statistical procedures, as agreed with the clinical supervisor.
- To undertake data collection, analysis, the production of reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes.
- To undertake searches of evidence-based literature and research to assist qualified clinical psychologists in evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
- To enhance own knowledge of clinical psychology, specific client groups and types of psychological difficulty through reading, literature searches and personal study.
Professional
- To manage work independently according to goals agreed at intervals with their manager, working independently on a day to day basis
- To work within guidance and direction of qualified Psychologist and guided by the Profession’s standards including the British Psychological Society (BPS) Code of Conduct, Ethics Guidelines for Chartered Psychologists, and registration.
Assignment and Review of Work
- Clinical work is assigned and reviewed by the clinical supervisor on a weekly basis. On a day-to-day basis, trainee’s work independently within set guidelines, referring as necessary to the clinical supervisor.
- Academic, research and clinical learning outcomes are assigned as per the curriculum of the MSc Course and end point assessment with accountability to the Director of the University Programme.
- Trainees are responsible for managing the competing requirements of both academic and clinical components of training.
