Principal Clinical Psychologist

Barts Health NHS Trust; London; On-site; GBP 61,000 - 69,000

Job description

All our hospitals have their own unique identities while sharing the same standards and values

You can shape your story with us.

Whether you’re looking to gain experience in a large, fast-paced hospital or get out into the community, we have a range of opportunities that allow you to build your entire career in one trust.

For us, every day is different. We provide care to a diverse population of 2.5 million across east London – that’s 6,000 people every day, speaking over 60 different languages. Our patients are at the heart of everything we do, and we are committed to ensuring that people living in east London live healthy lives.

Site: Royal London Hospital
Town: London
Salary: £61,927 - £68,676 per annum inc (pro rata)
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 16/04/2025 08:00
Interview date: 28/04/2025

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers.

The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.

Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.

Barts Health supports the Pregnancy Loss Pledge and commits to supporting their staff through the distress of miscarriage.

Job overview

Applications are invited to join the Psychology Service in Infection & Immunity at Barts Health NHS Trust.

We would like to recruit an HCPC-registered Practitioner Psychologist who has specialist interests and skills in psychology as applied to HIV and sexual health. The primary purpose of the post is to provide assessment, consultation and psychological support to patients from our three HIV clinics across East London.

However, the successful applicant will also take a leadership role in providing specialist psychological support to the Female Sexual Wellbeing Service, an innovative service that involves joint assessment clinics with medical consultants in assessing women who have genito-pelvic pain (pain associated with penetrative sex). Contributing to psycho-educational workshops to promote sexual wellbeing for women will also be expected.

The post also involves the provision of specialist psychological support to My Body Back Project, an innovative service that assists women who have a history of sexual assault to access cervical screening, STI checks, coil fittings and removals.

The Psychology Service enjoys good close working relationships with the multi-disciplinary teams in Infection & Immunity. We are an energetic and supportive team offering excellent professional support, supervision and CPD. There is a wealth of specialist clinical expertise, and the service has an active audit, research and teaching programme.

Main duties of the job

This post involves the provision of specialist psychological support to patients from Infection & Immunity at Barts Health from across East London. This work will involve both HIV and sexual health services at Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel. Clinical provision will consist of psychological assessments and psychological therapy, in addition to psycho-educational workshops. Some amount of remote working will be expected, as well as onsite patient-facing work at Royal London Hospital.

The primary purpose of this post is to provide psychological support to patients from our three HIV clinics across the Trust. However, the post also involves working in our sexual health and psychosexual services.

The post holder will also contribute to our multi-disciplinary staff teaching programme to promote psychosocial knowledge and skills in responding to the psychosocial needs of our service users. The post holder will also provide supervision to clinical psychology doctorate trainees and/or psychosexual therapy trainees.

The post holder will also contribute to audit, research and service development. The post holder will further the practice of psychosexual counselling, by assisting in service development, audit/evaluation and clinical governance.

Working for our organisation

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers.

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.

We are dedicated to being an outstanding place to work and will work with you to get the best experience. We know flexible working is not a one size fits all and will mean something different to everyone. We are inclusive, so if you are interested in flexible working, please speak to the recruiting manager.

Person specification

Experience

• Significant experience of working as a qualified practitioner psychologist.
• Experience in working with physical health problems, such as HIV in an acute medical setting.
• Experience in working in sexual health and psychosexual services.
• Experience of MDT teaching and training.
• Experience of neuropsychological assessment in HIV settings.

Skills and Knowledge

• Doctoral level knowledge of clinical psychology including highly developed knowledge of lifespan developmental psychology, models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics, and neuropsychology, and two or more distinct psychological therapies.
• Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in patients with physical health problems, including HIV, sexual health, sexual risk and sexual assault.
• Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of psychosexual therapy to reduce sexual problems and promote sexual wellbeing.

Qualifications

• Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology (or equivalent, if trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS.
• HCPC registration.

As an Equal Opportunities Employer we actively support applications from individuals who apply under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme and will process your application as appropriate.

Barts Health is committed to safeguarding the welfare of children and to child protection. The Trust aims to ensure as far as is possible that anyone, paid or unpaid, who seeks to work in our organisation and who gains access to children, is safe to do so. As such, you may be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Check as part of the recruitment process if appointed to a post with direct access to children or vulnerable adults.

Barts Health promotes active travel as part of its goal to reach Net Zero. Each site is accessible by public transport and the Trust has a cycle to work scheme and some sites have Brompton Hire Pods.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

You’ll have access to a range of benefits including one of the best pension schemes in the UK, leisure and entertainment discounts and parental leave and childcare support schemes we’re really proud of.

We're also committed to ensuring that you are supported in gaining and developing the skills and knowledge needed to carry out your work safely and effectively, and to achieve your full potential. We offer a range of apprenticeships at all levels, as well as an extensive range of career development opportunities.