Band 8b Principal Practitioner Psychologist - Enhanced Support Service

NHS; Derby; On-site; GBP 62,000 - 73,000; Full time

Job summary

An exciting opportunity exists for a Band 8b Principal Practitioner Psychologist within Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust at HMP Foston Hall. This role focuses on developing and managing essential psychological services aimed at improving outcomes for women in custody. Candidates should possess a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and extensive experience in clinical settings, particularly with challenging behaviors. Opportunities for personal and professional development are provided.

Qualifications

• Accredited Doctoral Level training in clinical psychology.
• Eligibility for Chartered Psychologist status.
• Minimum 4 years post-qualification experience.

Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day operations of the Enhanced Support Service.
• Conduct clinical assessments and develop support plans.
• Collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams.

Skills

Communication

Empathy

Resilience

Service Development

Risk Management

Education

Doctoral Level postgraduate professional training course in clinical psychology

Post-doctoral training in specialist areas of psychological practice

Job description

Go back Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust

Band 8b Principal Practitioner Psychologist - Enhanced Support Service

The closing date is 29 June 2025

A new and exciting opportunity has arisen within Secure Care and Offender Health division of Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust (BSMHFT) to work within the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway services within HMP Foston Hall. HMP Foston Hall is located in the rural area of Foston, Derbyshire, within easy commuting distance from north Birmingham, Derby, Nottingham, north Leicestershire and Staffordshire. It is a closed prison for adult women with capacity for around 290 women.

This role will involve re-establishing Enhanced Support Service (ESS) and a Dynamic Pathway as an extension to the CAMEO treatment service. Both services aim to reduce the negative impact of violent and disruptive behaviour in prisons using a small but dedicated multi-disciplinary staff team that works in partnership across prison, healthcare and psychology. ESS will work intensively with people in prison in a collaborative manner to develop motivation to facilitate better settlement, improved psychological wellbeing and in the long term, access to sentence planning services.

The successful candidate will be joining a large and diverse psychological therapies team within the division, consisting of clinical, forensic and counselling psychologists, arts therapists, specialist psychological practitioners and assistant psychologists. The division is committed to investing in staff and you will have opportunities for training, supervision and career development.

Main duties of the job

The postholder will work within HMP Foston Hall, taking charge of the day-to-day management of the ESS and Dynamic Pathway services. It will involve managing referrals into the service, undertaking clinical assessments and interventions as required and developing case formulations and support plans, in conjunction with other professionals involved. The successful candidate will need exceptional communication skills as well as an empathic and non-judgemental attitude towards the individuals within the service and within the prison environment. You will also need to be resilient and be able to work and make decisions in both an independent and collaborative manner. The successful candidate will have extensive experience of working with adults with personality disorder and challenging behaviour, in addition to those with other psychological difficulties, neurodiversity and complex needs and risks. An interest and experience of developing services will be an advantage. Leadership and service development experience is desirable, as well as managing and supervising a range of other professionals.

If you are ready for the next stage of your career progression, and able to compassionately challenge systems and staff to be better, hold integrity and also connect with the people around them, we hope that you speak to us and apply.

About us

Welcome to Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. Our 4000 clinical and support staff help us to improve mental health wellbeing and meet the needs of the 70,000 people we serve each year. We provide a range of mental healthcare services across Birmingham and Solihull, as well as specialised services nationally. We also offer medical, nursing and psychology training and are proud of our international reputation for both research and innovation.

Our population is culturally diverse, characterised in places by high levels of deprivation which create an increasing demand for our services and a necessity for us to make sure everyone can access the help they need. We are a team of compassionate, inclusive and committed people working together to provide excellent care to support our community. If you are looking for a place to belong, where you can make a real difference to people's lives, join our team where our warm welcome is waiting for you.

Job responsibilities

For further information about the main responsibilities please view the attached job description and person specification.

Please click on the link for a little insight into our services and our people

https://vimeo.com/benthompsonfilms/psychologyrecruitment?share=copy

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Satisfactory completion of a British Psychological Society accredited Doctoral Level postgraduate professional training course in clinical psychology (the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996), the completion of which includes the study of models of psychopathology, psychometric and neuropsychological assessment, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
• Eligibility for entry onto the Register of Chartered Psychologists
• Post-doctoral training in one or more highly specialist areas of psychological practice / therapy

Experience

• Assessed experience of working as a qualified clinical/forensic psychologist for a minimum of 4 years post qualification, with a minimum of at least 2 years at the Senior (highly specialist) level.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, with clients of all ages across the lifespan and of wide-ranging presenting problems that reflect the full spectrum of clinical complexity and severity
• Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
• Experience of working therapeutically with 'difficult to treat' and or 'hard to reach' groups and clients in community settings
• Experience of safeguarding and risk management across several agencies, including appropriately escalating concerns

Skills

• Highly developed theoretical and practical knowledge of the field of clinical psychology, consistent with doctoral level professional training and further post qualification study, training and supervised experience during a minimum of 4 years as a qualified psychologist
• Skills in providing consultation and advice from a psychological perspective to members of other professional and non-professional groups.
• Awareness and understanding of the differential needs of people from black and minority ethnic groups and of the service issues arising within a multicultural urban area.
• In depth knowledge of information governance legislation and information sharing practices across agencies

Personal

• Ability to interact effectively with staff from all disciplines.
• Capacity for tolerating frustration, change and high levels of demand with an ability to work effectively under pressure.
• Willing and eligible to apply for higher level security clearance

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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

Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust

£62,215 to £72,293 a yearper annum, pro rata