Lead Principal Psychologist - DOPMH

An excellent opportunity has become available in the innovative and forward-thinking Psychology Professions department to provide psychological leadership within the Dementia and Older People's Mental Health service in CFT Cornwall.

• Providing psychology leadership with respect to evidence-based psychological interventions and treatments with a particular focus on enhancing the impact of psychology at individual, group, interprofessional teams and service level, while developing psychology's contribution as part of the wider Dementia and Older People's Mental Health Psychology and Psychological Therapies (PPT) Team.
• Leading, training, supervising and supporting less experienced members of the Clinical Psychology (PPT) team in the area of the psychology of dementia care and mental health provision to the wider multidisciplinary team.
• Lead specialist in older people psychological care and provide expert clinical leadership and co-ordination of the highly specialist Dementia and Older People's Mental Health service for older people with complex mental health and dementia presentations.
• To utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research. To propose and implement policy changes within the area served by the service.
• To represent the psychological professions in meetings with the wider Dementia and Older People's Mental Health services network, the rest of the Trust's services and with other stakeholders.
Main duties of the job You will work as one of three AfC 8B Practitioner Psychologists, as theLead Principal Psychologist for Psychological Therapies, leading the development of services for older people's mental health. This posts would suit experienced practitioners looking to make a difference, and a career change, and also practitioners who are looking for the opportunity to take this leadership step. The Psychology and Psychological Therapies department has strong and mature links with the two local DClinPsy training Programmes. With the University of Exeter we provide supervision for Clinical Associates in Psychology (CAPs), and with the University of Plymouth we provide supervision for DClinPsy trainees and interns. There is an expectation you will provide clinical placements to DClinPsy trainees from the University of Plymouth DClinPsy Programme. CPD and peer supervision are very important to us in CFT and in the Psychology and Psychological Therapies department. As such there will be opportunities to meet regularly with other psychologists and psychological therapists across the Trust for regular CPD events and discussions about issues relating to the provision and development of psychological services for Older Peoplewith mental health needs., To view a detailed job description and person specification including the main responsibilities of this role please see supporting documents.

Education / Qualifications and Relevant Experience,
• Doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS), including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS.
• Current registration with Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical).
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of highly specialised psychological therapies and assessment modalities in specific difficult to treat groups ( co-morbid / complex presentations ).
• Substantial experience of working as a qualified clinical psychologist with people with complex and challenging mental health presentations.
Desirable
• Formal training in the supervision of other psychologists including Doctoral Trainees.
• Additional further training in the use of specific psychometric and / or neuro-psychological assessment tools.
Knowledge and abilities Essential
• Knowledge of contemporary legislation relating to the delivery of mental health and psychological services and its implications for both clinical practice and professional management.
• High level skills in the clinical supervision of trainees, qualified psychologists and other professions working within psychologically informed care plans
  
  We're an NHS community and mental health provider Trust based in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. We deliver community and hospital-based care to improve people's physical and mental health. We also provide specialist support to people with dementia or a learning disability.
We are a people organisation and people matter to us. As part of the team, you'll help support the health and wellbeing of the people who live and visit this beautiful part of the UK. Over 4,000 people make up the Trust. This includes doctors, nurses, therapists, plus admin and support staff. We work in people's homes, in community clinics and bases. Some staff work from one of our 13 community hospitals. Our aspiration is to have great people, provide great care, be a great place to work and a great partner. Just over 568,000 people live here. A third of people who live in Cornwall are supported by acute hospital services in Devon. As a result, we also work closely with our partners in Devon. In the summer, and during other holidays lots of people choose to visit the area. This increases the numbers of people who use our services.