Maternity Clinical Psychologist

Job Overview

We are seeking to appoint an enthusiastic and suitably qualified and experienced Clinical Psychologist to join our Adult Psychology and Psychological services in BCUHB. This is a new post and a significant Service Improvement initiative. It is a permanent post with an emphasis on ensuring good maternity services for women with psychological distress related to the maternity context such as obstetric loss, needle phobia, obstetric trauma and previous rape or abuse, are able to access appropriate and recommended psychological interventions.

Links have been made across BCUHB Maternity services and this dedicated outreach post will develop the appropriate outreach psychological work within maternity services themselves. With close links to the established MDT Perinatal Mental Health Services you will ensure the required joined up working with mental health services, improve collective and seamless pathways, and responsiveness of more comprehensive person centred mental health care wrapping around mothers and babies.

As well as providing direct clinical input in maternity services a core function of the psychology service will be the provision of a psychological service for staff including consultation, supervision and training. The principles underpinning trauma informed practice and building compassionate health care systems underpin this service development.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will independently assess and work with a specialist caseload within maternity settings. A key role will be to develop a comprehensive approach to identify those at risk as they enter the maternity service, to help those who endure PTSD or depression due to or accentuated by their maternity and NICU experiences, and to support those who experience a perinatal loss. This would allow early identification of mental health difficulties and delivery of interventions appropriate for this earlier stage, and reduce difficulties escalating in complexity and risk for mothers and babies leading to more complex referrals into the Perinatal Community Mental Health Team. You will support and facilitate staff well-being within maternity services. You will contribute to clinical training and provide placements for Clinical Psychologists in training, provide specialist advice, supervision and consultancy to other professionals, undertake research and development activities.

The ability to speak Welsh is desirable for this post; English and/or Welsh speakers are equally welcome to apply.

Working for our organisation

If you relish a challenge, have a passion to help others or simply fancy a fresh start, then Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) North Wales, has all the right ingredients. The largest health organisation in Wales, providing a full range of primary, community, mental health, acute and elective hospital services for a population of around 700,000, across North Wales . Join our team and get the support you need, in line with our Organisational Values and ‘Proud to Lead’ competence framework.

Enjoy being part of working with engaged leadership at all levels, and be assured we are committed to promoting equality and diversity, and are proud to welcome applicants under the “Disability Confident Employer” scheme.

Please check your email account regularly. Successful applicants will receive all recruitment related correspondence via the email account registered on the application form.

Applications may be submitted in Welsh. Applications submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

You will be able to find a full Job description and Person Specification attached within the supporting documents or please click Apply now to view in Trac.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Good Honours degree in Psychology with eligibility for Graduate Basis for Chartership (GBC) with the BPS.
• Post-graduate Doctorate in Clinical/Counselling Psychology accredited by the HCPC (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996 as accredited by the BPS).
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialist areas of psychological practice.
  
  

Experience

Essential criteria

• Significant and demonstrable post-qualification experience of working as a HCPC Registered Practitioner Psychologist.
• Experience of working with people with perinatal mental health conditions in an NHS setting; problems presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, in-patient and residential care settings and maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems.
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working in both community and in-patient settings.
• Experience working within a multi-disciplinary context
  
  

Aptitude And Abilities

Essential criteria

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management, frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Ability to use the highest level of interpersonal and communication skills to convey and receive highly complex / sensitive information effectively, requiring empathy and reassurance, in a highly emotive atmosphere and the ability to overcome psychological resistance to potentially threatening information, whilst maintaining a high degree of professionalism at all times.
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialized psychological therapies in specific groups that are difficult to treat (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnosis, people with additional disabilities, etc.)
• High level of knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialist psychological therapies.