Job Advert
NHS Fife Area Psychology Service is delighted to invite applicants to join our Clinical Health Psychology Team. We welcome applications on a full-time or part-time permanent basis from qualified Clinical Psychologists or Counselling Psychologists and from current trainees due to complete training in September 2023.
The NHS Fife Clinical Health Psychology Service is undergoing significant expansion and we currently have sessions available, working in the areas of M.A.C.H. Mental health After Covid-19 Hospitalisation Service (0.6wte) and the Blood Borne Virus Service (0.4wte). We are happy to tailor posts to the interests of applicants, so will consider applications to work full-time across both these areas, or part-time in one of these areas, if preferred. If you accept a post in our team there may also be opportunities to work in other areas of the Clinical Health Psychology Service to manage waiting times, if the need arises.
The post(s) we have available involve the Psychologist being embedded within a multidisciplinary team and the post(s) are supported by more senior Clinical Psychology staff in the Clinical Health Team who already work in these areas.
For some further details about the posts see below, or reach out to the relevant contacts named at the end of this advert;
M.A.C.H (Mental health After Covid-19 Hospitalisation) Service – Come and work with us in our innovative post Covid-19 Hospitalisation Service, which is led by the Head of Clinical Health Psychology. The service consists of the Fife Mental Health Lead for Covid-19 Hospitalisation, a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist, an Assistant Psychologist and an ICU Nurse. Together we actively reach out to people (identifying and screening everyone who has been hospitalised). Those that screen positive are offer assessment and possible treatment for ongoing mental health problems that have arisen as a result of hospitalisation due to Covid-19. The service also offers support and self management for Long Covid-19 symptoms. We offer inpatient ward based support and work closely with our ICU colleagues and the InSPIRE post ICU Rehab programme, following up patients who present with post ICU difficulties after an ICU stay with Covid-19. You will have opportunities to provide 1:1 assessments and brief and longer term psychological treatments, as well as co-facilitate the delivery of a Compassion Focused Therapy Fatigue Management Group. You will also provide supervision for the Assistant Psychologist in the team. There will also be opportunities to liaise with staff working in other MACH Services across Scotland through an innovative National Clinical Hub (a fortnightly on-line clinical case supervision/discussion and CPD forum) which is well regarded and attended by staff in all MACH Services across Scotland.
Blood Borne Virus Service - The NHS Fife BBV service is a multidisciplinary service made up of Consultants, Specialist Nurses, Specialist Pharmacists and Psychology. Our service works with patients who have received a BBV diagnosis (e.g. HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C) and coordinates their treatment and care. The Psychology branch of the services offers input around the emotional impact of receiving a diagnosis, undergoing treatment and living with their condition. We also provide formulation and treatment when mental health and emotional wellbeing difficulties are impacting on the person's ability to consistently engage with and adhere to their treatment. Together as a service we aim to help people live well (both physically and emotionally) with their condition. This role would involve MDT working, providing comprehensive formulations and delivering evidence-based treatment plans. We are also keen to move forward with some service audit and research projects, so the role would also involve working alongside psychology colleagues to progress these.
The successful applicants for the post(s) will join the wider, dynamic, well-established, supportive Clinical Health Psychology team, which includes Clinical Psychologists, CAAPs (Clinical Associates in Applied Psychology) and Assistant Psychologists. The wider Clinical Health Psychology Service consists of posts which are embedded within multidisciplinary medical teams across the additional areas of Rheumatology, Oncology, Intensive Care, Psychosexual, Respiratory, Adult Weight Management and Bariatric Surgery, Major Physical Trauma and the General Medical Psychology Service, which takes referrals for a wide range of other medical conditions. Clinical work is being conducted via video conference call, telephone, or via face to face clinics depending on need. Clinical work is conducted in clinics across Fife and the two main hospitals located in Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy. The full range of clinical presentations/complexity is represented and there are opportunities for group work, teaching and training and partnership work with other agencies.
The Clinical Health Psychology Service is part of the Fife Psychology Service, so you will have access to and work alongside psychology staff working in all the other major psychology specialties and there will also be opportunities for cross specialty research, professional development and contributing to that of others. You will have access to Fife Psychology Service CPD, as well as other CPD opportunities required for your post. There are also Fife Psychology Service specialist supervision groups available in such therapeutic modalities as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Schema Therapy, EMDR, Compassion Focused Therapy and many more. The post(s) will be based in one of the two Fife Psychology Service bases located at Lynebank Hospital, Dunfermline and Stratheden Hospital, Cupar.
The Fife Psychology Service is a large service with over 200 staff, comprising the full range of clinical and health specialties, with extensive involvement in training, research and service development. Close links with the Edinburgh, Stirling, Dundee and St. Andrews Universities’ D. Clin.Psych and MSc courses continue and research initiatives will be well supported.
We are in easy reach of Edinburgh, Stirling, Perth and Dundee, so many staff in the Clinical Health Psychology team choose to live outside Fife, either in the capital, or other towns and cities close by, and have chosen to come and work in Fife because of its reputation as a supportive and nurturing place to work.
For informal enquiries, please contact Dr Jackie Fearn, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Head of Clinical Health Psychology Service and Lead for the M.A.C.H. Service. e-mail: jackie.fearn@nhs.scot or phone on 01334 696336 or Dr Bethany Brown Clinical Psychologist, Lead for Blood Borne Virus Psychology Service, email: bethany.brown6@nhs.scot
A requirement of this post is to become a member of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme Prior to appointment.
NHS Fife is legally obliged to ensure all its employees are legally entitled to work in the United Kingdom. If you are not a United Kingdom (UK) or Irish National, you are required to confirm your right to work in your application.
NHS Scotland is committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce and eliminating unlawful discrimination. The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. To this end, NHS Scotland welcomes applications from all sections of society.