From being different to making a difference: developing the role of clinical health psychological services in the public health arena

Psychological therapists have a key role in providing care and transforming services in the NHS (National Health Service). I have always wanted to make a difference to those using, and working in, the NHS and from the onset of my professional career I have given the majority of my working life to working in public health settings. This context statement has given me the opportunity to step back and, with a reflexive stance, review the relevance and impact of my public works to the public domain. For Finlay (2013), reflexivity provides a window into the researcher’s lived experience and through this collection of public works I will attempt to share with the reader my personal and deeply meaningful experiences related to my professional development.

I will provide a description and background to the three main public work projects I have undertaken related to expanding the role of psychology in physical health settings in the NHS. These are:

• The development of a regional Dental Psychology and Oral Trauma Psychology Service.
• The promotion of psychological mindedness and the psychological well-being of palliative care staff through the development of clinical discussion groups.
• The promotion of suicide risk assessment, management and training in palliative and end-of-life health settings.

I will then provide a more in-depth and critical analysis of the public works, making use of Leadbeater’s (1997) concepts of effective entrepreneurship and leadership to demonstrate how I have made such an impact on my organisation and profession, and developed my own professional roles as a practitioner, manager and leader.

I will show how my public works have gone through a cycle of development (du Plock & Barber, 2015) in which I was able to successfully navigate through different and challenging stages to achieve set goals and my growing vision for clinical health psychology in the NHS.