8b Principal Applied Psychologist - OA Hospital at Home Team

• Provide highly specialist psychological assessment, formulation and brief evidence-based intervention for older people with complex mental health, cognitive and dementia-related needs.
• Provide senior psychological consultation to the Hospital at Home multidisciplinary team, including complex case formulation, risk assessment, risk management and care planning.
• Lead the development of psychologically informed practice across the service, ensuring that psychological perspectives influence clinical pathways, operational decision-making and service redesign.
• Provide clinical and professional leadership to psychological practitioners and contribute to leadership across the wider Older Adult psychology service.
• Lead reflective practice, consultation, teaching and workforce development for multidisciplinary colleagues.
• Provide supervision to qualified psychologists, trainees, assistant psychologists and other psychological practitioners, as appropriate to the agreed establishment.
• Lead or oversee service evaluation, audit, quality improvement and research activity, using outcomes and service-user feedback to inform development.
• Build effective relationships across Older Adult urgent care, community, inpatient, memory assessment and partner services to support integrated pathways for older adults and carers.

• Be accountable for autonomous professional practice in delivering highly specialist psychological care to older people supported by the Hospital at Home Team.
• Undertake specialist psychological assessment using clinical interview, behavioural observation, psychometric and neuropsychological information, and multidisciplinary input.
• Develop and communicate complex formulations integrating biological, psychological, social and systemic factors.
• Deliver evidence-based psychological interventions tailored to individual needs and risk.
• Provide specialist advice on psychological aspects of risk assessment, safeguarding, cognitive impairment, behavioural distress and carer support.
• Work collaboratively with patients, carers and families, adapting approaches to meet individual needs.

• Provide expert consultation on highly complex presentations and support multidisciplinary decision-making.
• Lead the implementation of formulation-led, trauma-informed and psychologically informed practice.
• Ensure psychological perspectives influence service development, clinical governance and operational decision-making.
• Advise senior clinicians and managers on clinical risk, workforce development and service improvement.
• Represent psychology within relevant professional, divisional and partnership forums.

• Lead reflective practice and consultation for multidisciplinary colleagues.
• Design and deliver training relating to psychological formulation, dementia, mental health, behavioural distress, risk management, communication and carer support.
• Contribute to the development of psychological capability across the wider workforce.

• Develop and utilise outcome measures to demonstrate effectiveness and inform service development.
• Contribute to policy development, clinical governance, incident learning and implementation of evidence-based practice.
• Balance clinical responsibilities with consultation, leadership, supervision and service development within a 0.6 WTE role.

Essential

• Doctoral-level training in clinical, counselling or another relevant applied psychology discipline, or equivalent, accredited by the British Psychological Society.
• Current HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist.
• Minimum five years post-qualified experience as an applied psychologist practitioner.
• Evidence of substantial post-qualification specialist development relevant to older adults, complex mental health, dementia, neuropsychology, urgent care or leadership.

Desirable

• Experience of neuropsychological assessment and intervention.
• Experience in Hospital at Home, urgent care, admission avoidance or intensive community services.