Clinical/Health/Counselling Psychologist

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust; Kendal; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 63,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS Trust is seeking a Clinical/Health/Counselling Psychologist for the Cancer & Long Term Conditions team in Kendal. Responsibilities include providing psychological assessments and therapy to patients. Candidates must be HCPC registered, with experience in health psychology. The salary range is £55,690 to £62,682 annually. The role offers 27 days of holiday, NHS discounts, and further training opportunities.

Benefits

27-day holiday scheme

NHS discounts

Salary sacrifice schemes

Qualifications

• HCPC registered practitioner psychologist.
• Further training in a specialist field.
• Prepared for post-qualification training.

Responsibilities

• Provide therapy and indirect care to patients.
• Collaborate with professionals across healthcare.
• Contribute to service aims integrating primary and secondary care.

Skills

Specialised psychological assessment

Experience with patients having long-term health conditions

Knowledge of psychological therapies

Teaching and training skills

Ability to use Microsoft Office

Education

Registration with HCPC

Doctoral degree or equivalent training in psychological practice

Job description

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust

Clinical/Health/Counselling Psychologist

The closing date is 21 November 2025

The post holder will work within the Cancer & Long Term Conditions team, based in South Cumbria, part of the Department of Physical Health Psychology.

The Department offers specialist psychological input across Cumbria to patients with health problems, and associated psychological difficulty.

PHRP aims to promote psychological wellbeing for patients with LTCs, for example COPD, coronary disease, diabetes, cancer needs.

This post holder will work within this comprehensive pathway built on a biopsychosocial model. The pathway will work across secondary and primary care with interface with acute services, providing therapy and indirect care to patients with a combination of physical health problems and psychological problems.

This post will contribute to this service aim and promote:

• Integrated working in primary and secondary care, across the health economy/ICC
• Collaborative work with other professionals
• Teaching
• Training
• Supervision

Main duties of the job

Please see the full job description and person specification for a comprehensive list of roles and responsibilities.

About us

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust has an ambition to deliver outstanding hospital and health services to half a million people. Established on 1st October 2019, the Trust is creating a centre of excellence in providing rural and remote healthcare and provides a wide range of community and acute services throughout north Cumbria and beyond. We employ more than 6,500 members of staff.

Our 5 key principles demonstrate our belief in the delivery of ‘safe, high quality care every time’.

• Being a clinically led organisation
• Quality and safety at the heart
• A positive patient experience every time
• A great place to work
• Managing our money well

We are serious about supporting a diverse workforce that reflects our local community and are very much focused on being an inclusive and compassionate place to work.

We are working together to deliver our ambition to be the greenest region in England by 2030. We expect all staff to support this by familiarising themselves with the Trust’s sustainability initiatives such as waste and recycling, going paperless, videoconferencing, sustainable transport and others.

Job responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification for further information regarding the role and the essential and desirable criteria required to be met by applicants.

Please note, due to changes implemented by the Government to the UK immigration policy, individuals who require a Health and Care Visa or a Skilled Worker Visa may no longer be eligible for sponsorship where the UKVI salary threshold is not met or if the occupation is not included in the updated Immigration Salary List (ISL). Applicants must check their eligibility to be employed in any role they are interested in applying for, prior to completing an application for employment. Any applicants who do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be progressed.

If you are applying under the Disability Confident Scheme or Armed Forces Covenant and you meet all the essential criteria for a post, you will be guaranteed an interview.

Relocation assistance may be available for successful applicants moving to the region for certain posts.

Disclosure and Barring Service

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

The cost of the DBS must be met by the successful candidate(s) through salary deduction.

DBS charges are as follows (if applicable to the post):

• Standard Check: £21.50 + administration cost of £5.90 = £27.40. Deducted from salary over a 4 month period or a one‑off payment.
• Enhanced Check: £49.50 + administration cost of £5.90 = £55.40. Deducted from salary over a 4 month period or a one‑off payment.

Benefits

• 27‑day holiday scheme rising to 33 after 10 years
• NHS discounts*
• Salary sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work*
• Vivup is a free, confidential counselling and information service to assist with personal or work‑related problems

*Subject to eligibility

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Registered with the regulatory body, e.g. BABPC, RCN or HCPC
• Either: Clinical Psychologist: HCPC registered practitioner psychologist, BPS accredited clinical psychology training; or Health or Counselling Psychologist: HCPC registered health or counselling practitioner psychologist, with experience in clinical practice working with patients with health problems and long‑term conditions; or Cognitive Behavioural Therapist with completed appropriate training in CBT therapy, e.g. Diploma accredited by BABCP, equivalent to a Doctoral degree or higher level of professional knowledge, training and experience.
• Further training or experience in the specialist field.
• Prepared to undertake substantial post‑qualification training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice, at least equivalent to a post‑graduate diploma, or equivalent professional development.
• Training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychological interventions.
• Post‑qualification training in evidence‑based therapies e.g. EMDR, CFT, ACT.
• Core profession (e.g. Mental Health Nurse, Practitioner Psychologist or Mental Health Social Worker).

Knowledge and Experience

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across a range of care settings, e.g. outpatient, community, primary care and inpatient settings.
• Experience of working with patients with a wide range of psychological problems, e.g. community mental health, long‑term health conditions.
• Experience working with a wide variety of client groups across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity.
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in clients with physical health difficulties and emotional distress.
• Highly specialist knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies, for example EMDR, ACT, CFT or CBT.
• Knowledge of research methodology, research design and data analysis in psychological intervention.
• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
• Experience in the area of service of this post.
• Experience of the application of psychological approaches in different cultural contexts.
• Experience of working with groups of service users.
• Experience of team working.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
• Knowledge of the biopsychosocial model and its application in a clinical setting.
• Knowledge of current local and national drivers and models for services and developments within the NHS.
• Skills in using complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management that frequently require sustained and intense concentration.
• Well‑developed skills in spoken and written communication of complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non‑professional individuals and groups.
• A commitment to working in a compassionate way with colleagues and clients alike.
• Awareness of one's own psychological health and the capacity to take responsibility for appropriate preventative and/or therapeutic strategies.
• Ability to use computers efficiently for word processing and email. Knowledge of Microsoft Office functions and a willingness to further develop these as required.
• Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi‑media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
• Ability to use computers to generate spreadsheets, graphs, etc.

Other Requirements

• Awareness of one's strengths and limitations.
• Ability and willingness to work flexibly across all service locations in Cumbria as appropriate and required by the service.

Salary

£55,690 to £62,682 a year (pro rata)