Highly Specialist Practitioner Psychologist

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Highly Specialist Practitioner Psychologist NHS AfC: Band 8a Main area Psychology Grade NHS AfC: Band 8a Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 311-T647-26

Site Tameside General Hospital Town Ashton under Lyne Salary £55,690 - £62,682 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 09/02/:59 Interview date 25/02/2026

If you are Kind, Fair, Ingenious and Determined then we want you to come and join our

We are delighted to offer an exciting opportunity for a Highly Specialist Practitioner Psychologist to join our adult acute inpatient service in Tameside. This is a Band 8a role for a skilled and compassionate psychologist (Clinical, Counselling, or Forensic) who is passionate about working collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team and delivering high-quality psychological care in a dynamic and supportive environment.

This is a full-time, permanent position (1.0WTE), and represents investment for Tameside's adult acute inpatient service. The successful candidate will join the existing Principal Clinical Psychologist as part of an expanding psychology provision.

Our adult acute wards, Taylor and Saxon, provide specialist assessment, care and treatment for men and women with a range of mental health needs. Admissions typically occur via A&E, Mental Health Liaison, the Home Treatment Team, Mental Health Act Assessments within the community or from an outpatient clinic. Service users are often experiencing significant distress, mental health deterioration and/or crisis, requiring responsive and person-centered care.

The postholder will join a committed MDT team focused on delivering the best possible care, an acute psychology network for collaboration and peer support, regular supervision from a Principal Clinical Psychologist, opportunities for professional development, and the chance to make a meaningful impact in an environment that values psychological perspectives.

Main duties of the job As outlined in the job description, the main duties include:

• To hold a clinical caseload undertaking evidence-based psychological assessment, formulation, and intervention (individual and/or group). This may include a range of mental health difficulties at the point of crisis including experiences of psychosis, depression and/or Complex Emotional and Relational Needs (CERN)
• To work as part of the MDT and provide specialist psychological support, consultation and guidance and contribute to care-planning contributing directly to the assessment, formulation and intervention plan.
• To provide reflective practice, team formulation and training to develop a psychological understanding and context for patients and carers, that is formulation driven, recovery focussed and trauma and gender informed.
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual service users and to provide general advice to other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management.
• To undertake project management, including audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within and across the service to help develop and improve services to clients and their families.

Working for our organisation Our acute pathway provides an evidence-based, high quality service across adult acute wards, Home Treatment Teams and Mental Health Liaison Teams covering half of Greater Manchester. The Trustwide acutepsychology team meets regularly for team meetings, CPD and facilitated reflective group and has leadership from a Consultant Clinical Psychologist/Clinical Lead.

We are passionate about staff well-being and compassionate leadership. Our staff survey results support this. In the latest national NHS Staff Survey (2024) Pennine Care was ranked as the best mental health and learning disability trust in the North.

We support staff to work flexibly and recognise and respect the roles our colleagues hold outside of working hours. This focus helps us to retain staff and ensure people are happy in their place of work.

Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the top of our agenda. We know a diverse, inclusive and engaged culture is vital; that everyone's value should be recognised and respected.

There are also opportunities to link with local higher education providers and the research & innovation (R&I) team to engage with related research projects.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities For a more detailed overview of the roles job description and main responsibilities, please see the attached job description and personal specification.

Person specification Education / Qualifications

• Doctoral level training in clinical psychology, including specific models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychological assessments, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan development psychology as accredited by the BPS or postgraduate training in Forensic Psychology or Counselling Psychology).
• Current registration as a Clinical, Forensic or Counselling Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council.
• Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and / or other fields of applied psychology

Experience

• Experience of specialist psychology assessment and treatment across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in-patient settings
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• Experience of teaching training and / or supervision
• Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.

Knowledge

• Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.
• Knowledge of the practice implications of National guidance and policy, e.g. Nice Guidance, MHA, etc.
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnosis, people with additional disabilities etc.).
• High-level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to working age adults and mental health.
• Formal training in supervision of other psychologists.

Skills and Abilities

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to service users, their families and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Ability to teach and train others using a variety of complex and multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
• Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
• Strong interest and experience of working with service users with severe / complex needs.

Work Related Circumstances

• Use of a car or access to a means of mobility to travel across the Trust footprint in line with service needs
• Willing to carry out all duties and responsibilities of the post in accordance with the Trust's Equal Opportunities and Equality and Diversity policies
• Appointments to regulated and controlled activities require an enhanced DBS disclosure

Sponsorship Information - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.

After You Apply - Once your application is submitted, you'll receive updates via email. Shortlisting is based on how well you meet the criteria outlined in the person specification. Only shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview, and invitations will be sent by email.

If You're Offered the Role - If successful, the hiring manager will contact you directly with a verbal offer. They will then notify the Recruitment Team and submit the necessary paperwork. You'll receive a formal conditional offer via email

Pre-Employment Checks - To confirm your suitability for the role, we will carry out pre-employment checks in line with NHS Employment Check Standards. These include:

• Identity verification
• Right to work check
• Disclosure and barring service (DBS)/Criminal record check (dependent on role)
• Professional registration and/or qualification check
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