Senior Neonatal Clinical/counselling Psychologist

The National Maternity Hospital is seeking an experienced Senior Clinical Psychologist to join the Department of Neonatology. Primarily the role will focus on providing psychological support to the neonatal inpatient cohort, their families and NICU staff members. To support and empower families who are experiencing the trauma of a NICU admission. It has long been recognised that the experience of your baby being admitted to NICU whether for a short or prolonged period is associated with significant post-traumatic shock. The executive summary of the report entitled “Psychology Staffing on the Neonatal Unit” Recommendations for Psychological Provision - written by Neonatal Consultant Clinical Psychologists and Operational Delivery Networks across England Psychology Leads – July 2022 - opens with the following statement: “There has never been a stronger argument for the integration of psychological practice within physical healthcare. Given that strides have been made towards this provision existing for adult and paediatric acute care, and there is a critical additional vulnerability during an infant’s first 1001 days, the need could not clearer for babies, families and staff working in neonatal units. This is recognised in the Neonatal Critical Care Transformation Review (2019), the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Neonatology Workforce Report (2022) and powerfully in the Ockenden report – Findings, conclusions and essential actions from the independent review of maternity services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS trust. Our final report. London: House of Commons (2022)”. Research has shown that providing robust in-hospital psychological support to NICU families (parents, siblings and hospitalised infants) helps to mitigate against the development of PTSD, anxiety, depression and can improve the parentinfant/child relationship in the long-term (NeoReviews 2021 – Parental Stress and Mental Health Symptoms in the NICU: Recognition and Interventions) The NICU of the National Maternity Hospital comprises a 35 bedded unit (9 intensive care cots, 13 high dependency care cots and 13 special care cots). Over the coming year, the cot total will increase to 39 as an additional 4 intensive care cots are opened. There were 1337 admissions to the NICU in 2025 of which 113 infants were ≤ 1500g and/or ≤ 29 weeks. There were also 9 fullterm infants who required therapeutic hypothermia over the course of 2025. Each of these families, on their journey through NICU experience trauma to a greater or lesser extent. However, currently, the neonatal unit cannot offer these families any professional, psychological support specific to their neonatal THE NATIONAL MATERNITY HOSPITAL DELIVERING THE FUTURE v intensive care experience. There is a very clear clinical need for a neonatal psychologist who would become embedded within the neonatal unit and whose role it would be to work with our NICU families, to support them through their NICU journey. A neonatal psychologist also provides support to the neonatal patients by addressing “Infant Mental Health” aspects of their care. Furthermore, NICU staff benefit hugely from the support, guidance and counselling offered by a neonatal psychologist who is attached to their unit which in turn helps mitigate against NICU staff burnout. In recognition of this need, HSE Dublin and South East Regional Health Authority provided funding for this neonatal clinical psychology post as part of a wider NMH NICU expansion project. This new service is in line with national and international best practice (Psychology Staffing on the Neonatal Unit document July 2022, endorsed by BAPM). It also aligns with the Model of Care for Neonatal Services in Ireland (2015), the Model of Care for Paediatric Health Care Services in Ireland and Slaintecare. The Neonatal Department of the NMH serves a diverse population from Dublin, the surrounding regions and all across the country, offering multidisciplinary care that includes neonatologists, nurses and therapists. This collaborative approach ensures that each infant receives tailored support to achieve optimal developmental outcomes. The addition of neonatal psychology to this multi-disciplinary team will serve to enhance patient experience and further improve neonatal outcomes