Working as a Clinical Psychologist in an Acute Hospital

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Working as a Clinical Psychologist in an Acute
Hospital

• Dr Jane Haworth
• Clinical Psychologist

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Clinical and Health Psychology Department

• 30 Clinical Psychologists working into various
  health areas and a range of age groups.
• E.g. Cardiology, Oncology, Renal, Paediatrics,
  Diabetes, Neuropsychology...

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My job

• Half-time - Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand
  Surgery.
• Half-time - Cleft Lip and Palate Team.
• Working across the life span
• In-patient and out-patient work
• Wide range of presenting problems

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Day 1

• Full day in the combined cleft lip and palate MDT
  clinic at Leeds Dental Institute.
• Screen for psychological problems / issues
  related to cleft condition or treatment.
• Identify patients who need and want psychology
  input and arrange separate psychology sessions.

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Case example from Day 1

• 10 year old boy
• Bone graft procedure arranged
• Child appears anxious and tearful
• Psychology sessions arranged to discuss fears
  about surgery

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Day 2

• AM - Research morning
• Writing up doctoral research for publication
• Literature searches for new research areas and
  reading journal articles.
• PM - Three patients from plastics service
• Seen for 50 mins each then time for note writing
  in between.

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Case example from Day 2

• 40 year old man
• Involved in motorcycle accident
• PTSD symptoms
• Low mood
• Grief
• Coping with multiple surgical procedures to
  reconstruct leg
• Issues around feeling different from others -
  scarring / feeling unattractive

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Day 3

• Phonecalls
• Referral meeting - discuss new referrals,
  prioritise and distribute
• Psychology Departmental Meeting
• Facilitate Reflective Practice Group for
  Specialist Cleft Nurses
• Cleft Team meeting

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Other Activities

• Attending conferences - updating knowledge or
  skills base
• Attending further training courses - e.g.
  Introduction to Supervising course
• Roles within psychology department - e.g.
  training committee, organising speakers for the
  department

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Summary

• Using all the core competencies / skills from
  training in an acute hospital setting -
  assessment, formulation, intervention, working
  with MDT, etc.
• Diversity of job (e.g. age of patients,
  presenting problems), working with other team
  members and the challenge of developing the role
  of psychology in medical settings.