Principal Clinical Psychologist - Older Adults

Principal Clinical Psychologist - Older Adults

The closing date is 30 November 2025

Up to 26.25 hrs - Band 8b

A fantastic opportunity has arisen for a Clinical Psychologist with experience and enthusiasm to work with our friendly, supportive and psychologically minded Older Persons Integrated Mental Health Team in West Lancashire. The postholder will provide highly specialist consultation sessions and deliver direct therapeutic interventions to our West Lancashire Older Adult service users.

The postholder will also be integral in providing guidance and direction to the team and other agencies working with highly complex older adult service users and is expected to lead and chair complex case meetings, psychological case formulation forums (CCCF's), professional meetings, etc. as required.

The postholder will provide clinical leadership to the team and work closely with the Older Adult Principal Clinical Psychologist within the Central Lancashire locality to ensure a high-quality psychological service is provided and delivered across both West and Central Lancashire.

We are looking for someone committed to multi-disciplinary team working who can provide professional and clinical leadership to our psychology and non psychology colleagues. The role will involve taking trainees on placement, supervising non psychology colleagues, teaching, training, reflective practice sessions and supporting psychological well being within the team.

Main duties of the job

The post is professionally attached to the locality older adult psychology team and wider network, both of which offer a friendly and supportive space, with a strong commitment to providing quality services for older people in Lancashire.

The Trust is committed to staff development and has invested in on going training and development opportunities including funding recent further therapy training and leadership courses. The postholder would receive regular clinical and professional supervision from the 8C Older Adult Locality Lead Clinical Psychologist and would be expected to attend the Older Adult 8b peer supervision group.

Due to the nature of the role, it is essential that the postholder has significant experience of working with the Older Adult population. Although not essential, it is desirable that the postholder has additional qualifications/skills or is willing to complete training in specific psychological interventions, for example, EMDR, compassion focused therapy, ACT, trauma focused work, etc.

About us

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including secondary mental health care across this area. Specialist provision comprises inpatient child and adolescent mental health services, perinatal mental health and forensic services. The Trust also provides a range of physical health and well being services in the community alongside partners in the Lancashire, Cumbria and Sefton area.

The Trust encourages flexible working, offering term time, part time, compressed hours, flexi time and career breaks. We encourage applicants to state their preferences on their application forms and discuss options at interview.

Person Specification Qualifications

• Doctoral level training in clinical psychology or equivalent for those who trained prior to 1996, including models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS.
• Significant experience of working within Older Adult Psychology or similar at a Senior level.

Knowledge

• Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
• Knowledge of legislation and its implications for the client group and mental health.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS by completion of a CPD log demonstrating a minimum of 40 hours per year.

Experience

• Experience of working as a qualified clinical psychologist.
• 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 exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and also within the context of multidisciplinary care planning.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and therefore a submission for Disclosure to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) is required to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer name

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust