This is an exciting opportunity to join a thriving department of Psychological Medicine in a large University Hospital NHS Trust . We are looking for an enthusiastic and able individual to work in the adult clinical neuropsychology team.
As an integral part of the adult clinical neuropsychology team the postholder will provide neuropsychological assessment of patients referred within the Oxford Neurosciences Centre, by neurologists, neurosurgeons, clinical nurse specialists, GPs and AHP colleagues. The postholder will also take responsibility for providing psychological consultation and management to patients with brain tumours, as part of the brain tumour MDT.
The post holder will provide teaching and training alongside research and evaluation relevant to the above conditions .
The post holder will work closely with other health professionals ( e.g.neurologists, neurosurgeons, clinical nurse specialists, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists ) and will, at times, represent the team within the wider organi s ation .
The post holder will be a valued member of the Psychological Medicine Centre which encompasses Clinical Health Psychology, Children's Psychological Medicine and Psychiatry.
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research. The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.
Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community.
We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence, and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence.
These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel .
In 2023 NHS England launched its first sexual safety charter, and our Trust proudly signed it. We pledge zero tolerance for inappropriate sexual behaviour and commit to the ten core principles
Oxford University Hospital s promotes a safe, respectful hiring environment.
If you want to make a difference with us, come and join our team. Together, we will uphold the highest standards of care and professionalism.
CLINICAL
To u ndertake highly specialist neuro psychological and psychological assessment and communicate a clinical opinion to inform and/or develop a medical diagnosis and/or case formulat ion to guide psychological intervention/consultation . Assessment will be based on analysis interpretation and integration of highly complex information from a variety of sources including clinical interview, direct observation, questionnaire measures, neuropsychological tests, literature review, and psychometric assessment - incorporating medical inve stigations if relevant . To give an opinion based on this in cases where professional opinion may differ, and in which a judgment must be made about the significance of data where data may be unreliable/missing.
As an integral part of completing a neuro/ psychological assessment, to simultaneously exercise well-developed manual skills (i.e. accurate manipulation of a wide range of test material s, including physical materials) , where accuracy is important and it is often necessary to take account of interfering factors (such as patient distractibility, or level of comprehension).
To develop specialised plans for formal neuro/psychological intervention and/or management of the patient’s neuro/psychological difficulties , based on the individual assessment and formulation, and making use of an informed judgment of evidence of treatment efficacy and psychological principles.
To be responsible for implementing a range of neuro/psychological interventions, within and across teams, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining several provisional hypotheses .
To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options considering both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family, carers or group.
To support the work of the multidisciplinary team, providing training, supervision, and consultancy as appropriate .
To communicate effectively, empathically and clearly with patients and family members regarding neuro/psychological or medical matters which will regularly be highly complicated (such as explanation of multi-faceted clinical formulations including neuro/psychological principles, medical factors, personal and family psychological factors, and the implications of these), highly emotionally charged (such as eliciting/discussing experiences of trauma or childhood abuse), and which may require managing difficulties in understanding (such as cognitive difficulties ), or overcoming communic ation challenges with patient s who are experiencing high levels of anxiety , depression or symptoms in keeping with enduring mental health difficulties .
To communicate effectively and clearly with clinical colleagues regarding neuro/psychological assessments and interventions by organizing and sharing the highly complex information involved in a relevant and usable form in formal written and spoken reports, as well as in day-to - day liaison and consultation.
In carrying out the duties of the post, to exercise very high levels of mental concentration for prolonged periods (for example in consecutive psychotherapy sessions or prolonged neuropsychological assessment), regularly requiring sustained emotional concentration (for example in communicating highly distressing news or eliciting/discussing experiences of trauma or childhood abuse), while sitting in a constrained position for extended periods.
In carrying out the duties of the post, to cope with and manage behaviours that challenge , including verbal abuse and risk of physical aggression (for example from people experiencing high levels of distress or enduring mental health difficulties ).
To exercise standard keyboard skills and use a computer as necessary for clinical work, including literature searches, word processing, developing and maintaining training packs, information leaflets, inputting data, report writing, maintaining electronic patient records and other tasks as necessary for the efficient running of the service.
To record activity and outcome data as required by Psychological Medicine Senior Management Team
CONS ULTATION
To provide expertise and specialist neuro/psychological advice and consultation to other professionals in relation to patient assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and care (for example advising medical teams on psychological principles and research or acting as consultant to MDT colleagues in understanding and managing behaviour s that challenge ).
RESEARCH AND SERVICE EVALUATION
To take responsibility for keeping up to date with relevant clinical research
To identify , initiate and complete clinical research as a routine activity ( including collaborating actively with MDT colleagues on research projects).
To conduct and co-operate in audit/service-related projects (for example clinically relevant research as agreed by the Oxford Prosthetics Service, Spires Cleft Centre and Clinical Health Psychology Service) .
To use computer software in developing and operating systems for storage and analysis of data and creation of reports for colleagues in relation to audit activities and clinical research.
To supervise research and development activities of doctoral T rainee Clinical Psychologists, and Student Assistant Psychologists as appropriate .
TEACHING, TRAINING AND SUPERVISION
To participate in regular supervision in accordance with good practice guidelines and trust policy.
To participate in the trust’s annual values-based appraisal process.
To attend all relevant mandatory training when required .
To supervise doctoral T rainee Clinical Psychologists and be responsible for their training in all aspects of Clinical P sychology.
To supervise Student A ssistant P sychologists as necessary, and any other psychologists or professional colleagues associated with the post.
To pr ovide teaching on Clinical P sychology on the Oxford Training Course in Clinical Psychology as appropriate .
To provide teaching and training to other professional colleagues/staff groups on psychological matters as appropriate .
ADMINISTRATIVE/ORGANISATIONAL
To attend local service meetings , regional/national network meetings, and C linical H ealth P sychology meetings as appropriate .
To maintain accurate clinical notes and documentation for professional and legal requirements in line with OUHFT policy .
To take part in service/departmental policy implementation and development ( by for example actively working on policy implementation, as well as raising issues and proposing and discussing changes).
To plan and organi s e the work of trainees and assistants as appropriate , in addition to their own caseload, research and other responsibilities and liaise as necessary with other colleagues.
