Senior Psychologist Wigan Mental Health Liaison Service

Band 8a

Main area: Psychology Grade Band 8a

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Part time, 15 hours per week (Happy to discuss flexible working)

Job ref: 437-6900945-A

Site: Wigan Mental Health Liaison Team, Town: Wigan

Salary: £46,148 - £60,504 per annum

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 07/04/2025 23:59

Job overview

Applications are invited from enthusiastic Clinical / Counselling Psychologists who wish to work within the Wigan Mental Health Liaison Team, based at Royal Albert Edward Infirmary. This well-established multi-disciplinary team supports service users within the hospital who are experiencing an interaction of physical health problems and mental health crises.

You will be joining our existing 8b Psychologist and Assistant Psychologist, as well as becoming part of a well-established network of psychologists within our in-patient and home-based treatment teams.

Clinical work will involve conducting psychological assessments and interventions. Applicants will be able to demonstrate experience or a high level of enthusiasm for working with people with experiences of trauma and mental health needs. Experience of working within multidisciplinary environments will be an advantage. The post holder will need to contribute actively to team and multi-disciplinary working, so a high standard of written and verbal communication is required. Indirect work will involve the provision of consultancy, supervision and training to others. Regular clinical supervision will be offered by the Wigan MHLT Principal Clinical Psychologist.

This post is available on a permanent contract. Flexible working would be considered. Applications would be welcomed from more recently qualified or trainee psychologists who are interested in a Band 7-8a development post.

Main duties of the job

The postholder is required to collaborate and respond flexibly to a variety of clinical and service-level demands involving:

• Undertake rapid and highly specialist psychological assessments and formulations to guide the management and safe discharge of patients with mental health experiences including dementia, especially those who frequently attend the emergency department or are admitted to the acute hospital.
• Participation in multi-disciplinary decision-making regarding patients with psychological difficulties who are admitted to the acute hospital wards and emergency department.
• Development of the psychological elements of the Mental Health assessment of patients who are physically unwell.
• Delivery of appropriate brief psychological interventions as appropriate.
• Provision of appropriate information and education to families, carers and the care system.
• Use of psychological formulations to support resilience and reduce vulnerability in order to decrease the risk of repeated future crises.
• To deliver a continuing programme of training to Liaison service staff in psychological understanding of crises, assessment, formulation and interventions, as needed.
• To offer consultation and supervision to mental health liaison team staff in the development and utilisation of psychological and psycho-social formulations and in the delivery of any specific psychological or psycho-social interventions.

Working for our organisation

Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) Foundation Trust employs over 6,400 members of staff, who deliver services from more than 160 locations.

We provide inpatient and community-based mental health care for people living in Bolton, the city of Manchester, Salford, Trafford and the borough of Wigan, and a wide range of specialist mental health and substance misuse services across Greater Manchester, the north west of England and beyond.

Greater Manchester is one of the world's most innovative, original and exciting places to live and work. From the beauty of the surrounding countryside to the heart of the vibrant inner city with great shopping, entertainment and dining options.

Wherever you go you will experience a great northern welcome with people famed for their warmth, humour and generosity.

Our people enjoy their work, have opportunities to learn and develop their skills and are encouraged to generate new ideas that improve care for our service users.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification

• Pay Enhancements – 30% additional for Evenings (8pm onwards) and Saturdays and 60% additional for Sundays and Bank holidays.
• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays rising to 29 after 5 years and 33 days after 10 years
• 1. Doctoral level (or equivalent) qualification in Clinical Psychology.
• 2. Current registration with HCPC or appropriate professional body.
• Additional postgraduate advanced training in one or more relevant therapy approaches e.g. Cognitive Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Solution Focused Therapy.
• Supervision Training

Skills and abilities

• Experience of using complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management and their application within crisis situations/states and within community and/or inpatient contexts.
• Experience of risk assessment, formulation and management
• Experience supporting staff exposed to distressing situations
• Leadership and Management Experience

Important Information about working for GMMH:

All positions within the Trust are subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks, for further information on the checks required please visit the NHS Employers website www.nhsemployers.org

Applicants are encouraged to apply for posts at Greater Manchester Mental Health who have direct experience of mental health, learning disability or drug and alcohol services either as a service user or a carer.

The Trust is also committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and requires all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We are aspiring to ensure our workforce is representative of the diverse communities that we serve, and we are strongly committed to removing barriers to employment for candidates from under-represented groups, for example BAME, Disabled and LGBT+ communities. If you would like to have an informal chat about the recruitment process for this role or would value some additional support, we’d love to hear from you.

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 Kay Hampshire Job title: Consultant Clinical Psychologist Email address: Kay.Hampshire@gmmh.nhs.uk Telephone number: 01942 631797

If you wish to discuss the role you may also contact Catherine Houseman on Catherine.Houseman@gmmh.nhs.uk.