Clinical / Counselling Psychologist / Psychotherapist / Therapist

An exciting opportunity has become available for an enthusiastic and experienced Highly Specialist Psychological Practitioner to join the Multi-Disciplinary Team in a newly created role with the Croydon Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Service. The service operates from a Community Centre on Whitehorse Road and at Croydon University Hospital.
Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia are red blood cell diseases which are passed from parent to child through genes. People affected mainly come from Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, Mediterranean countries, Eastern Europe and the Middle and Far East. When one unusual gene is passed on it is a healthy carrier state. When two unusual genes are passed on the individual can have chronic and life-threatening problems.
The Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Service offers fully integrated dedicated care for patients with haemoglobinopathies. Specialist Nurses, Consultant Haematologists and other Medical Staffing offer advice and support in the sickle cell clinics at Croydon University Hospital as well as at the Community Centre. The unique set up of the service to include community and hospital-based care provides excellent continuity of care., · To provide a specialist psychological service and interventions according to discipline to adults with sickle cell disease or thalassaemia including specialist assessment, treatment, planning, implementation and monitoring of outcomes, as well neuropsychological assessment if within the post holder's competencies
· To hold a focus on the identification and treatment of psychological issues which have negative impact on symptoms, adherence to treatment plans, and on more general physical and psychological well-being.
· To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
· To provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate, functioning as a lead specialist.
· To promote service evaluation, audit and research.
· To provide support to junior colleagues.
· o agree outcomes/results with operation/clinical/professional leads and to decide how they are best achieved.
· To be active in the provision of staff support within their area, including but not limited to Critical Incident Staff Support and Reflect-Support-Resolve. To participate, as a recipient, in staff support work when appropriate., The available guidelines recommend the following considerations for the role of a psychologist in adult sickle cell services. Psychological interventions are advised to be offered as standard care and as an adjunctive to medical treatment and nursing care in both hospital and community-based settings:
+ Provision of psychological assessments when indicated or at least annually,
and including an evaluation of subjective estimates and objective measure of emotional well-being and pain; physical and social function i.e. participation/non-participation or reduction in activities e.g. work, social (subjective estimates and objective measures); coping strategies and sources of support.
+ Use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy including ongoing one-to-one work and group work.
+ Neuropsychological assessment and management:
o Neuropsychological evaluation can establish the extent of cognitive damage, map this over time and offer treatment strategies.
o Support for patients who had an overt or silent stroke.
o Support for those without magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evidence of disease - cognitive impairments have been highlighted in adults with sickle cell disorder who have normal MRIs, suggesting the importance of neuropsychological assessments (Rawle et al., 2015; Vichinsky et al., 2010).
+ Consideration of comorbidity with other health or mental health conditions as well as neurodevelopmental difficulties or neurodiversity i.e. Autistic Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, Disorder of Intellectual Development, Developmental Delay.
+ Pain management interventions.
+ Interventions to help people build resilience and to enhance coping strategies.
+ Interventions to develop ways to manage symptoms such as anxiety, depression and anger.
+ Support for individuals to be able to engage in valued activity and roles and improve their quality of life.
+ Support for patients seeking health-related behavioural change such as quitting smoking.
+ Identification of severe mental health issues and referral to secondary mental health services.
+ Psychological support fort patient and carer support groups.
· Community workshops/education/teaching and liaison with third sector and other community organisations.
· Offering support to multidisciplinary teams including:
+
o Training
o Consultation
o Reflective Practice
o Supervision
The Trust is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect and dignity and in promoting equality and human rights. We aim to put this commitment into practice by:
+ Embedding our commitment to tackling inequality, eliminating discrimination and harassment; promoting equality of opportunity and fostering good relations in our everyday practice
+ Ensuring that all our services and all staff understand and support our commitment
+ We believe that people who use our services, their carers and our staff, should be treated with compassion, respect and dignity
Please note:
+ That all applications for this post will need to be made online
+ That you read and understand the Job Description and Personal Specification attached to the role. Your Statement in Support should reflect the requirements specified as your application will be judged against these criteria
+ That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received. We advise that you submit your application as early as possible
+ That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs
+ That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not successful
+ That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees
+ That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process
+ That we are a smoke-free Trust
SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion , Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe'

NHS AfC: Band 8a
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.
We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good'.
We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone's potential as change makers.
The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.
Our Values
We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I'm going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you'll be part of something special.
As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working., The Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Centre offers screening, advice on current treatments and counselling for affected individuals, their families and carers. There is a special group for parents of newly diagnosed babies and antenatal counselling for women at risk of having a child with sickle cell disease and Beta Thalassaemia. The Centre also offers home visits, a drop-in service for advice from nursing staff, welfare and benefits advice, education and training support, public awareness of sickle cell and thalassaemia.
The Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Community Centre works closely together with the local voluntary Croydon Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Support Group. It also works closely with the paediatric team based at Kings College London.
Croydon University Hospital is a specialist care centre for haemoglobinopathies and operates under the umbrella of the South Thames Sickle Cell & Thalassaemia Network. The services offer full outpatient, emergency and inpatient care for patients with Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassaemia. Outpatient services include full Annual Reviews, Hydroxycarbamide treatment and TCD clinics. Pathways are available within the network for automated exchange blood transfusions and iron overload monitoring and treatment. All patients have access to the network's multidisciplinary team approach.