Practitioner Psychologist

This is a fantastic opportunity for an enthusiastic and skilled practitioner psychologist (psychology doctoral trainees in their final months of gaining their qualification will also be considered for this post) to join our Diabetes Psychiatry and Psychology Service (DPPS). The role involves providing specialist psychological assessment and treatment to adults with type 1 and complex type 2 diabetes and associated psychological difficulties.

In addition to direct work with patients, the embedded nature of this post will provide appropriate opportunities for consultation and teaching within the MDT setting. The wider adult diabetes service is provided by a welcoming, collaborative and highly regarded team of medical consultants, senior nurses and dieticians, with many actively involved in research. The diabetes service also has excellent research and development links with the Institute of Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience (IoPPN).

Established support structures are in place with the post holder benefiting from clinical and professional supervision. There are close working relationships from numerous medical departments within King’s College Hospital including peer support from a friendly and innovative group of psychologists and psychotherapists.

Although there are service needs to be accommodated, we are keen to consider and support flexible working patterns. This includes negotiating a mixture of both onsite and remote working where appropriate

Working closely with the highly specialist clinical psychologist, the Band 7 practitioner psychologist will be a key member of the adult diabetes multi-disciplinary team (MDT) delivering the following key duties:

• To provide a specialist psychology service to adults with diabetes including specialist assessment (including neuropsychological assessment if within the post holder’s competencies), treatment, planning, implementation and monitoring of outcomes, focusing on the identification and treatment of psychological issues which have negative impact on symptoms, adherence to treatment plans, and on more general physical and psychological well-being.
• To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
• To provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate.
• To undertake service evaluation, audit and research.
• To work as an autonomous professional within BPS and HCPC guidelines and codes of conduct and guided by the policies and procedures of the service, taking responsibility for own work including treatment and discharge decisions with support of clinical supervisor.

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of c£1 billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year and around 14,000 staff based across 5 main sites in South East London. The Trust provides a full range of local hospital services across its different sites, and specialist services from King’s College Hospital (KCH) sites at Denmark Hill in Camberwell and at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) site in Bromley.

King’s is committed to delivering Sustainable Healthcare for All via our Green Plan. In line with national Greener NHS ambitions, we have set net zero carbon targets of 2040 for our NHS Carbon Footprint and 2045 for our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus. Everyone’s contribution is required in order to meet the goals set out in our Green Plan and we encourage all staff to work responsibly, minimising their contributions to the Trust’s carbon emissions, waste and pollution wherever possible.

The trust-wide strategy Strong Roots, Global Reach is our Vision to be BOLD, Brilliant people, Outstanding care, Leaders in Research, Innovation and Education, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at the heart of everything we do. By being person-centred, digitally enabled, and focused on sustainability, we can take Team King’s to another level.

Job Purpose:

• To provide a specialist psychology service to adults with diabetes including specialist assessment (including neuropsychological assessment if within the post holder’s competencies), treatment, planning, implementation and monitoring of outcomes, focusing on the identification and treatment of psychological issues which have negative impact on symptoms, adherence to treatment plans, and on more general physical and psychological well-being.
• To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
• To provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate.
• To undertake service evaluation, audit and research.
• To work as an autonomous professional within BPS and HCPC guidelines and codes of conduct and guided by the policies and procedures of the service, taking responsibility for own work including treatment and discharge decisions with support of clinical supervisor.