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Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust – Canterbury, Kent

To participate in the provision of psychological services to adults with learning disabilities who have complex needs (in particular, mental health difficulties and/ or challenging behaviour) and who live within the localities served by Kent & Medway NHS & Social Care Partnership Trust (KMPT).

Please note that the successful applicant can be based in Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, Gillingham, Dartford, Ashford, Canterbury or Ramsgate, so do apply if any of these locations suit you.

We welcome applications from candidates who are newly qualified or in the final year of clinical training and these posts can be a band 7- 8a preceptorship.

WHY SHOULD YOU APPLY?

• Close-knit, supportive team across Kent, with committed, experienced and passionate staff.
• Regular internal CPD sessions and reflective spaces
• Variety in caseload and work, including 1:1 work, family working, staff consultation and neuro-affirmative Autism and ADHD assessments.
• Opportunity for flexible and part-time working
• Support for innovative projects and personal interests, including research and publications.
• Regular and supportive supervision as standard – increasing or decreasing in frequency according to need.
• Good preceptorship support for newly qualified psychologists

Funding for further training and resources:

We support applications to KMPT external training budget:

Fully funded courses have recently included 4-day SAFE training (Systemic Autism-related Family Enabling), 4-day Systemic Workshops, ACT courses and the ABAI Conference.

Part-funded Courses have included: Master in Narrative Therapy and an Intermediate Systemic and Family Therapy Post-Graduate Diploma.

Access to placement support fund, which has been used to purchase books and resources of our choice and further training for the team as a whole.

To work as a part of a multidisciplinary health team for people who have learning disabilities.

In particular:

To be responsible for the provision of specialist Clinical Psychology services to adults with learning disabilities and complex needs (mental health and/ or challenging behaviour) who are living in the community in Kent, as a member of the Mental Health of Learning Disability service.

To undertake direct (assessment and therapeutic) and indirect (consultative, advisory and evaluative) specialist psychology interventions in line with best practice; taking substantial professional responsibility and exercising autonomous judgment in their professional practice.

To work closely with colleagues in MHLD and other services to ensure timely discharge back into the community for service users who are admitted to in-patient wards.

To ensure the clinical effectiveness of own practice and of service functioning by undertaking audit, research and other development activities relevant to the service.

To be responsible for providing training placements for trainee clinical psychologists in this specialism.

Come and work with us in the Garden of England where we combine exceptional professional development opportunities with a tremendous quality of life.

We are Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust (KMPT), providing mental health, learning disability and specialist services, serving 1.8 million people across the county.

The Trust (rated Good overall by the CQC and Outstanding for care) has 3,283 staff working in 66 buildings across 33 locations, covering an area of 1,450 square miles.

You will be joining friendly, passionate colleagues, rich in their diversity, who are committed to providing excellent care to our service users and their loved ones.

The MHLD service is divided into two hubs across Kent and Medway, both comprising psychology, psychiatry and specialist nursing staff. We are looking for a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist to work within the MHLD psychology team in West Kent, which includes experienced Clinical Psychologists, a Behaviour Specialist, and a Clinical Associate Psychologist.

CHALLENGES OF THE ROLE

Working in Learning Disability Services, with the needs of our clients being met through social care funding, leads to challenges; we often have to advocate for our clients to get their needs met within complex systems. We do have close working relationships with other professionals and services, and have formal processes to enable this as well.

Please see the job description for full details regarding the main responsibilities.