Clinical Psychologist

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board; Maidstone; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust seeks a fully registered HCPC Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to join the Kent and Medway Adolescent Hospital. The role sits within the MDT and Intensive Home Treatment context, delivering specialist psychological care to children and young people in an inpatient setting.

You will lead assessments, formulate treatment plans, supervise junior staff and coordinate placements, while contributing to CYP-IAPT outcomes and quality improvement activities.

Qualifications

• Qualified clinical psychologist registered with HCPC and trained in CYP settings.
• Postgraduate doctoral training in clinical psychology recognised by BPS/ equivalence.
• Experience delivering specialist assessments and autonomous treatment planning for children and adolescents.

Responsibilities

• Provide high-quality psychological assessments and formulations for children and young people.
• Lead therapeutic components alongside the MDT within inpatient settings.
• Supervise assistants, trainees and junior staff; coordinate psychology placements.
• Ensure seamless transitions between inpatient and community services.
• Use CYP-IAPT measures to monitor outcomes and support service evaluation.
• Engage in audit, research and training activities to improve care quality.
• Communicate complex information clearly to families and colleagues.

Skills

Clinical practice

MDT leadership

Clinical supervision

Care pathways

Outcomes monitoring

Research & audit

Communication

workload planning

Postgraduate doctorate training

HCPC registration

Experience with CYP

Education

Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy)

HCPC Practitioner Psychologist registration

Job description

We are seeking a compassionate, fully registered HCPC Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to join our dedicated team at the Kent and Medway Adolescent Hospital. Aligned with the QNIC-recommended structure for inpatient Children and Young People (CYP) units, this role offers a rewarding opportunity to deliver specialist psychological care within a supportive and forward-thinking inpatient environment. Working directly within the hospital's Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) and alongside the Intensive Home Treatment team, you will play a key role in ensuring a seamless care pathway for young people transitioning between inpatient and community services. You will collaborate with wider CYPMHS, the Kent and Sussex Provider Collaborative, and our specialist Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) Service to offer comprehensive support to service users, their parents, and carers. As part of our thriving Psychological Professions network at the hospital and across wider CAMHS, you will benefit from strong links with local training institutes and ongoing NHS England upskilling initiatives, with rich opportunities to shape service delivery and host clinical training placements. The post holder must hold a full, valid, UK driving licence and have access to a car/vehicle to use for business purposes (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).,

• Specialist Clinical Practice: Provide high-quality psychological assessments, formulations, and evidence-based interventions for children, adolescents, and their families, incorporating dedicated parenting support where appropriate.
• Therapeutic & MDT Leadership: Facilitate the therapeutic component of the ward programme alongside the hospital MDT, actively contributing to joint assessments and integrated treatment plans.
• Clinical Supervision & Placement Coordination: Provide regular clinical supervision to assistant psychologists, trainees, and junior team members, including taking responsibility for clinical neuropsychology training placements within the hospital.
• Seamless Care Pathways: Work collaboratively across inpatient and community settings--including CYPMHS and the Intensive Home Treatment team--to ensure smooth, continuous transitions for service users.
• Outcome Monitoring & Effectiveness: Actively use CYP-IAPT normed measures to track treatment outcomes, ensure clinical effectiveness, and uphold Trust policies and procedures.
• Research & Audit: Engage in research, audit, and quality improvement activities to evaluate and continually elevate service delivery across the unit., Please refer to the attached job description for the full details on the responsibilities and person specification. Basic awareness of IT and IT skills
• Specialist skill in the ability to communicate effectively, verbally and in writing complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside
• Ability to plan and organise own workload and time, Post-graduate doctorate level training in clinical psychology accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) or the BPS statement of equivalence
• Registered with the Health & Care Professions Council as a Practitioner Psychologist, Extensive experience of working with difficult, disturbed or challenging children/young people requiring skilled and complex interventions
• Experience of working as a qualified specialist clinical psychologist for a minimum of one year
• Experience of specialist assessment carried out autonomously in order to determine the most appropriate treatment plan from a range of options for the child/young person
• Experience of providing professional teaching and training for other professionals working with the client group within the service and within related agencies We are Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We care for the mental health and wellbeing of people across Kent and Medway and are rated 'Good' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Our teams support children, youngpeopleand adults with a wide range of mental health needs. We also provide specialist services, including all-age eating disorder services and neurodevelopmental assessments for children and young people, such as autism and ADHD. Because we work across the whole county and across hospital and community settings, we can make care more joined up and easier to access for the people we serve. Our vision is simple: we are here to help communities not just live with mentalillness, butlive well.It'swhywe'repassionate about working with communities to make mental health care better for everyone. Everything we do is guided by our values: caring, inclusive,curiousand confident. Join us if you share our passion for better mental health care and want to be part of a teamthat'sworking well together.