Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical, Forensic or Counselling)

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Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical, Forensic or Counselling)

Band 8a

Main area: Adult Mental Health Grade Band 8a Contract: Permanent Hours:

• Full time
• Part time
• Job share
• Other

18.75 hours per week (Part time) Job ref 186-386-25-MH

Site: Highbury Hospital Town: Bulwell, Nottingham Salary: £53,755 - £60,504 per annum (pro rata for part-time) Salary period: Yearly Closing: 10/04/2025 23:59

Job overview

The Psychology Service for the Nottinghamshire Adult Mental Health Acute Care Unit provides high-quality psychological assessment, advice, and intervention within local adult acute mental health wards.

We are seeking a Qualified Psychologist with a keen interest in adult acute mental health to join our enthusiastic and supportive multi-disciplinary team.

The Acute Care Unit consists of a team of Qualified Practitioner Psychologists, CAP'S, Assistants, and Trainees. We pride ourselves on taking care of one another and nurturing personal and occupational well-being and growth. As a close-knit and supportive team, we recognise the importance of one another’s lives out of work and are considerate and flexible regarding the personal responsibilities that individuals hold. Recognising individuals’ strengths, ambitions for continual professional development, and learning are all high priorities for the leadership team, and opportunities for specialist training are supported financially and logistically.

Please note that candidates wishing for full-time employment may be interested in working part-time inputting into the ward setting and part-time working in our Mid & North Notts CRHT (TRACAMH407). Other colleagues in the service hold combined roles and find these positions complementary and suitably varied - please stipulate on your supporting information if you would like to be considered for a full-time position reflective of this arrangement.

Main duties of the job

You will work in inpatient services and will lead the ward in adopting a psychological approach. You will participate in individual assessment and formulation of patients’ needs, including a wide range of clinical presentations. Our service delivers a range of brief psychologically informed group interventions as we expand our inpatient treatment directory. There will therefore be opportunities to help shape, plan, oversee, and deliver group interventions whilst providing supervision and leadership to our assistant psychologists.

You will work directly with patients and indirectly to advise the multi-disciplinary team, e.g. providing advice at ward review meetings on psychological aspects of patient care.

Working for our organisation

#TeamNottsHC comprises over 11,000 dedicated colleagues who #MakeADifference every day. We deliver intellectual disability, mental health, community health, forensic, and offender healthcare services across Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and South Yorkshire. Our care is provided from over 200 sites, spanning community locations, acute settings, and secure environments, including prisons.

We are one of the largest mental health and community Trusts in the East Midlands and one of Nottinghamshire's biggest employers. We also host national and regional services, such as the National High Secure Deaf Service and the Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health.

We offer a variety of employee-led staff networks, including Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) groups, the Green Champions network, the Freedom to Speak Up network, the Health and Wellbeing Champions network, and the Menopause Champions network. These networks play a vital role in supporting our diverse workforce and promoting a culture of inclusivity.

The health and wellbeing of our colleagues is a top priority. We invest significantly in this through our in-house occupational health and staff counselling services, supported by a dedicated Health and Wellbeing team.

The Trust is committed to reducing its carbon emissions, with a specialised Energy and Environmental team working to ensure compliance with environmental legislation, enhance our environmental performance, and achieve our net-zero commitment.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The post holder will be based at Highbury Hospital, Bulwell Nottingham and will provide input to Rowan 1 ward, working half time with a male population. There will be a team of Qualified, Assistant, Clinical Associate, and Trainee Psychologists to provide professional support and additional clinical resource.

The posts are suitable for recently qualified individuals or those with some experience. We would welcome applications from current third year trainees with a view to them developing to 8a’s within the first 12-18 months through structured preceptorship and continual professional development support in order to develop their practice further.

The successful applicant will join an established, friendly, and supportive group of Psychologists and Assistants working into the inpatient wards across Nottinghamshire. The post is line managed within the profession and clinical supervision will be provided by a senior psychologist in the service. Flexibility to provide clinical supervision and specialist input across the Mid Notts and Highbury wards may be required, according to the demands of the service.

All our posts have a strong emphasis on Continuing Professional Development and there are monthly departmental meetings to ensure good networking, peer support, and consistency across the Care Unit, trust-wide. This includes inpatient, Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment (CRHT) and Rehab psychology services - ten qualified psychologist positions exist within these services.

We have close links with DClinPsych courses at Nottingham/Lincoln (Trent), Leicester, and Sheffield, which offer opportunities for teaching and placements/supervision.

The Adult Mental Health Acute Care Unit provides services to the City (Highbury Hospital) and Mid and North Notts (Sherwood Oaks Hospital) regions. There are excellent transport links to the rest of the UK and easy access to the cities of Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, and Sheffield. AMH is a closely networked service of Practitioner Psychologists and Psychotherapists, focusing on delivering a range of therapeutic interventions to a complex client base. We are motivated to support recovery through least restrictive practice across our inpatient provisions. Family and carer engagement is deemed essential as we continue to improve how we support, involve and communicate with unpaid carers, families, friends, and siblings of those we care for.

The successful applicant will need to be highly motivated and able to work independently with complex cases, within the guidelines, policies, and procedures of the service and the Trust. They will need to be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council, or eligible for registration, and able to meet the travel needs associated with the post.

Person specification

Qualification

• HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist
• Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Trained in clinical supervision and the supervision of doctoral trainees

Experience

• Working as an applied psychologist within the designated service including a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and a range of clinical severity across a range of care settings
• Exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care as a care coordinator within the context of a multidisciplinary team
• Teaching, training and clinical supervision and field supervisor for doctoral theses
• Research and development
• Quality and service improvement and evaluation
• Experience of joint working with statutory, voluntary and private sector agencies
• Experience of working with individuals with neurodevelopmental difficulties

Training

• To have completed Doctoral Level training as a practitioner Psychologist (DClinPsych, DCounsPsych, DForenPsy)
• Trained in clinical supervision and the supervision of doctoral trainees

Knowledge

• Doctoral level knowledge of evidence-based practice relevant to the role, risk assessment and risk management, clinical governance, legislation in relation to the client group and mental health, audit and research methodology, social inclusion agenda
• Knowledge of trauma informed approaches

Skills

• Communicate highly complex and highly sensitive information effectively, to a wide range of people
• Adapt creatively the evidence base for interventions in mental health for clients with communication difficulties/learning disabilities
• Provide effective teaching, training and clinical supervision for the multidisciplinary team
• Work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team and undertake care coordination/lead practitioner responsibilities
• Undertake complex multi-agency working and liaise with multiple systems
• Utilise psychometric tests competently
• Identify, provide and promote appropriate interventions/means of support for carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and challenging behaviours
• Utilise appropriate clinical governance mechanisms within own work
• Use multimedia materials for presentations in professional, academic and public settings

Values and Behaviours

• All colleagues are expected to demonstrate at interview that they act in line with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Values: Trust, Honesty, Respect, Compassion, Teamwork
• All colleagues are expected to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and how it applies to their role. The Trust’s expectations are highlighted within our EDI Policy, and associated EDI and Human Rights legislation

Additional Information

• The closing date given is a guide. We reserve the right to close the post early once we have received a sufficient number of applicants, so we advise you to submit your application early to prevent disappointment.
• We will be requesting references by email. Please ensure you include email addresses and contact numbers for your referees to avoid delay in the recruitment process.
• The Trust believes in treating everyone with dignity and respect and encourages applications from all sectors of the community. We guarantee an interview to candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum essential criteria.
• Communication regarding your application will be sent via email; therefore, please ensure you regularly check your spam/junk folder.
• In submitting an application form, you authorise Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to confirm from your previous or current NHS employer and other prior employers; previous NHS service details and personal data held about you. This data will be transferred using NHS Electronic Staff Record and third party systems via an automated process and only used for the purposes of obtaining and maintaining accurate employment records, should you be appointed to the post. Should you require any further information please refer to our Privacy Policy shown on the Trust website, please click here for more information.
• For eligible posts, DBS disclosures are mandatory before commencement of employment. If you are in a position that is deemed a regulated adult and/or child care role, you will not be able to start your employment until we have received a satisfactory DBS Disclosure. The Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Convictions which would otherwise be considered as 'spent' will also be checked as part of an Enhanced DBS Disclosure.

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.

Name: Dr Zoe Whitaker Job title: Lead Psychologist, Inpatient Services Email address: zoe.whitaker@nottshc.nhs.uk Telephone number: 01159691300

If you have problems applying, contact

Address: Duncan Macmillan House
Porchester Road
Mapperley
Nottingham
Nottinghamshire
NG3 6AA
Telephone: 0115 667 0364 - Corporate/Mental Health Services