Oral Medicine Lead Psychologist

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an HCPC registered Band 8B Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to lead the Oral Medicine department as part of ongoing development of the innovative Dental and Oral-maxillofacial Trauma Psychology (DOT-Psychology) service.

The post holder will be based within the Adult (ADOT-Psychology) service and will provide clinical leadership for the Oral Medicine specialty, working closely with the 8a psychologist and the assistant psychologist to provide specialist psychological assessment and treatment of adult patients with oral medicine health conditions and their families. These include long term and recurrent conditions such as chronic pain, burning mouth syndrome or temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders amongst others. The post holder will have expertise in working psychologically with a range of psychological presentations, across the lifespan, with particular experience of working in clinical health settings.

The DOT-Psychology service is a large, close-knit team of psychological clinicians who work together to provide psychological input across the Royal London Dental hospital. There are excellent opportunities for joint working, supervision and CPD, whilst working alongside highly skilled psychology colleagues specialising in facial trauma, paediatric dentistry, orthognathic surgery and dental phobia, The post holder will be responsible for managing the service caseload and waiting lists, assessing and managing risk and initiating and leading on service development projects including establishing and maintaining close working relationships with our dental and medical colleagues. As a senior member of the team, they will also contribute to the leadership for the DOT-Psychology service supporting with the development of more junior staff and leading on wider service enhancement projects in line with the service vision and Trust values.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and highly motivated individual who demonstrates strong leadership skills, including organisation and flexibility. They will be comfortable working in physical health environments as part of an MDT, being confident working with a variety of psychological and mental health presentations, knowing when to offer individual support and when to work systemically with the dental team or with third party providers. The post holder will have a key role in providing consultation, liaison, training and psychological supervision to other HCPs including oral medicine consultants, dentists, nursing staff and other specialists working within the dental hospital.

DOT-Psychology is a NEFLT service providing clinical care to patients within BARTS Health Dental and OMFS Network at the Royal London and Whipps Cross Hospitals.

Barts Health Dental and OMFS service is a leading international specialist in dental and oral health care, offering regional dental care to patients from across London and surrounding counties. In addition to emergency dental care, treatment is provided for a diverse range of oral health issues, both routine and urgent.

Probationary Period

This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).

Starting with NELFT

NELFT place a great importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop in sessions focussing in engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction is held at head office in Rainham, Essex.