Practitioner Psychologist

We welcome early career colleagues with high potential to join our cancer & pall care psychology team for a one-year post-qualification clinical fellowship in the specialty. We see this as an excellent opportunity to gain a formative experience, practicing a wide range of clinical and indirect activities within a well-established consultant-led team that is embedded in clinical MDTs across inpatient, outpatient and community settings. The psychologist will have close 1-1 training, supervision and joint working with the consultant psychologist, team-based learning with the team psychotherapist, Macmillan-sponsored learning and additional exposure to clinical health psychology via bimonthly Departmental clinical meetings. While the pace will be brisk and clinics full, there are no waiting lists, funding pressures or administrative barriers to distort how we work multimodally and compassionately with patients & carers - think of it as the specialist placement you always wanted. On
completion, you will have our full support and ongoing mentorship to find opportunities in NW sector / wider London psycho-oncology services.
This post is fixed term for 1 year, starting Aug-Sept 2026. In this period, it is expected that our Department (and thus this post and the clinical team) will be locally relocated to different hospital or borough location(s) as part of the redevelopment of Hillingdon Hospital, which will affect working locations and may affect working patterns for all of us., · To work efficiently and collaboratively as part of a consultant-led team that provide specialist psychological care to cancer and palliative patients and their carers, including specialist assessment, treatment, planning, implementation and monitoring of outcomes.
· To support the specialist community and hospital palliative care teams and cancer services at Hillingdon Hospital by providing a direct clinical service and via active contribution at multidisciplinary meetings.
· To work under the leadership and supervision of the lead clinical psychologist, and provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate to other professionals.

Working for our organisation
This developmental role within the cancer & pall care team will benefit from learning with a multidisciplinary team of a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, the learning & development resources of Macmillan Cancer Support, the additional structures and support of the wider Department of Clinical Health Psychology at Hillingdon Hospital that includes neuropsychology and health psychology specialists, and the extensive Psychological Professions development programme of CNWL NHS Trust, including full access to the CPD portfolio of 'Bespoke' and 'Contextual Consulting'., KR 1 Clinical and Client Care
· To provide specialist psychological assessments of patients and carers referred to the cancer and palliative care psychological support service based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources.
· To formulate and implement plans for the psychological treatment and/or management of a patient's psychological concerns, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.
· To implement a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis.
· 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 or group.
· To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.
· To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients' formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
· To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings and agencies serving the client group.
· To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
· To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care and to monitor progress throughout both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.
· To provide culturally appropriate psychological interventions with carers or families of referred clients when required.
KR 2 Contributing to team or service clinical functioning
· To contribute to the effective working of the cancer and palliative care psychological support service and to a psychologically informed framework for the service.
· To contribute to the team or service's delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.
· To be proactive in challenging discrimination and support the development of culturally competent services.
· To liaise with referrers, MDTs, GPs and other professionals involved with patients in order to develop and review supportive care plans.
· To maintain continuous contact and communication with colleagues & teams through MS Teams
· To attend and contribute to Departmental operational activities and initiatives (e.g. Away Days)
KR 3 Policy and service development
· To implement policies and procedures in own area of work, and to propose improvements or beneficial changes.
· To contribute to the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.
· To contribute to service development through undertaking and participating in appropriate projects.
KR 4 Care or management of resources
· To take care of, and use carefully, the Trust's equipment and physical resources.
· To ensure that the post-holder has sufficient resources by estimating future needs and requesting or ordering supplies as needed.
KR 5 Management and supervision
· To be responsible for the allocation and/or clinical supervision of the work of an assistant psychologist if required, under supervision from a more senior psychologist.
KR 6 Teaching and Training
· To provide specialist training in psychological approaches to care to psychologists and other professions as appropriate, under the guidance of the clinical lead.
KR 7 Record-keeping and Information Governance
· To ensure that all clinical and operational information is recorded as required by Trust policies and local procedures.
· To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry.
KR 8 Research and development
· To contribute to service evaluation, audits or research relevant to service needs.
KR 9 Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development
· To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior psychologist according to HCPC and Trust guidelines.
· To ensure own Continuing Professional Development in line with BPS and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements and the HCPC 'Standards for Continuing Professional Development'.
· To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current developments in professional and clinical practice and of relevant legislation and policies.
· To comply with the HCPC 'Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics' and 'Standards of Proficiency', and ensure professional development in line with these.
· To adhere to the BPS's Professional Practice Guidelines and Trust policies and procedures.
KR 10 General
· To travel to patient homes for clinical visits and to other community settings for meetings, within the Borough of Hillingdon and occasionally in the wider NWL area.
· To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group and follow trust policies relating to its management.
· To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations and to support others involved in such situations.
· To be prepared to work in person in a hospital inpatient and outpatient setting, following all hospital policies and procedures (e.g. dress codes, infection control) on the same basis as all other hospital staff.