Horizon Care and Education Group
Job Description
JOB TITLE:
Principal Clinical Psychologist
RESPONSIBLE TO:
Director of Therapeutic Services
PROFILE:
The purpose of the role is to provide specialist psychological
assessment and psychologically driven therapeutic support to
children & young people within residential care and schools and their
staff teams. This role will also be part of the Senior Leadership Team
who will have responsibility for ensuring smooth operational
development within Horizon Care and Education Group.
Horizon Care and Education Group
Job Description
July 2015
MAIN DUTIES
Core Responsibilities
To provide a specialist psychology input to young people and their families/carers in
residential care and educational setting, supporting and promoting positive mental health
and emotional well being
To work systemically with those settings and organisations across health and
social care and education supporting teams to develop practice and supporting
managers to develop services
Undertaking assessments of children and young people, developing a clear
psychological formulation of their difficulties and providing advice and guidance
regarding an individualised therapeutic treatment plan accordingly
Contributing to the development and delivery of psychological and
therapeutically lead staff training across the organisation
To offer specialist psychological consultation to residential and education staff
on an ongoing basis, developing a psychological formulation with staff teams and
supporting appropriate therapeutic plans for the young people in their care
To offer individual therapeutic intervention to children and young people where
it has been identified in the treatment plan that a specific therapeutic
intervention is required from a Clinician.
Practice Responsibilities
To be responsible for the provision of specialised psychological services at
various levels of intervention to clients within a variety of settings
To engage flexibly with clients and their carers/families to promote constructive
working relationships
To provide support, guidance, interpretation and knowledge to staff to develop
behaviour management and care plan strategies
To consult to staff teams and families working with dynamics and systems to
support clients.
To support, where appropriate, the work of other staff working with clients
through consultation and supervision
To liaise with Social Services, CAMHS, Schools, Child Protection, General
Practitioners, other NHS services and other staff in the provision of services to
clients
To produce assessments and other reports as required for each setting
Horizon Care and Education Group
Job Description
Where appropriate, to undertake psychological and psychometric assessments of
referrals using a range of tools and measures and produce reports as required.
Organisational
To attend regular team meetings and CPD days with other colleagues
To positively engage with both clinical and line management supervision
To maintain open and straightforward communication with colleagues and
provide information within the time and format required
Principal C l i n i c a l P sychologists will have additional responsibilities for the
supervision of other members of staff including Clinical Psychologists,
Psychological therapists, Trainee Clinical Psychologists and Assistant
Psychologists.
Administration
To maintain clinical records in the time frames required and provide statistical
returns as required
To be involved in monitoring and evaluation of the psychology service within the
organisation
To maintain expenses and other organisational records as required
To maintain confidentiality for and with clients (individual and organisational).
Research
Research in areas relevant to clinical work and community development is
encouraged and may be undertaken in collaboration with other professionals,
where appropriate.
Research undertaken within the organisation needs to be agreed and authorised
by the Director Of Therapeutic Services and the wider Executive team.
General
The post holder will be required to -
1. Ensure that Horizon Care’s policy on equality of opportunity is promoted
through his / her own actions and those of any staff for whom he / she has
responsibility.
2. Co--‐operate fully with the implementation of Health and Safety
arrangements, reporting any accidents/incidents/equipment defects to
his/her manager, and maintaining a clean, uncluttered and safe
environment for patients/clients, members of the public and staff.
Horizon Care and Education Group
Job Description
3. Adhere at all times to all Horizon Care policies/codes of conduct, including
for example:
1. Smoke Free policy
2. I.T Security Policy and Code of Conduct
3. Standards of attendance, appearance and behaviour
4. Safeguarding
4. All employees of Horizon Care are legally responsible for all records held,
created or used as part of their employment including clients, corporate
and administrative records whether paper based or electronic and also
including emails. All such records are public records and are accessible to
the general public, with limited exception, under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004
and the Data Protection Act 1998.
5. Take responsibility for his/her own ongoing learning and development,
including full participation in clinical and line management supervision and
appraisals, in order to maximise his/her potential and continue to meet the
demands of the post.
6. Represent Horizon Care’s commitment to providing the highest possible
standard of service to patients/clients and members of the public, by
treating all those with whom he/she comes into contact in the course of
work, in a pleasant, courteous and respectful manner.
7. Understand that this post may evolve over time and that this Job
Description will therefore be subject to review in the light of changing
circumstances. Other duties of a similar nature and appropriate to the
role may be assigned from time to time.
8. It is a standard condition that all staff may be required to serve at any
location within the assigned region, as needs of the service demand.
The above is not meant to be an exhaustive list but a summary of the important elements
of the role.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
It is the nature of the work of Horizon Care and Education that tasks and responsibilities are,
in many circumstances unpredictable and varied. All employees are therefore, expected to
work in a flexible way when the occasion arises so that tasks which are not specifically
covered in the job description have to be undertaken. These additional duties will normally
be to cover unforeseen circumstances or changes in work. If the additional responsibility or
task becomes a regular of frequent part of the member of staff’s job, it will be included in
the job description in consultation with the member of staff.
Horizon Care and Education is committed to quality, equality and valuing diversity.