Clinical Psychologist

University Hospital Southampton NHS FT; Southampton; On-site; GBP 48,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust seeks a Clinical Psychologist to provide assessments and therapy for children and families across paediatric services at Southampton Children's Hospital. The role supports backfill during maternity leave, joining a 25+ psychologist department.

Candidates may be trainees about to complete Doctoral programmes, with enthusiasm for collaborative work in a large, supportive Trust that values development and flexible working when service needs allow.

Qualifications

• Doctorate in clinical psychology required.
• Registered with the Health Professions Council (HPC) as a Practitioner Psychologist.
• Strong communication skills, written and verbal, with diverse audiences.
• Experience of delivering psychological assessments and therapy with children.

Responsibilities

• Provide psychological assessments and therapy to children and families in the paediatric context.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams across services in Southampton Children's Hospital.
• Support continuity of care during maternity/backfill period.

Skills

Communication skills

Interpersonal skills

Team collaboration

Education

Doctorate in clinical psychology

Registered with the HPC as Practitioner Psychologist

Job description

Job Overview

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us.

Job Title: Clinical Psychologist

Contract Type: Fixed Term

Fixed Term Contract End Date: Part time role June 2027 & Full time role November 2027.

Purpose for Fixed Term: Maternity / Shared Parental / adoption Leave Backfill

Main duties of the job

his is an exciting opportunity to join our team as a Clinical Psychologist for a period of 9 months to cover maternity leave into a number of areas in our psychology department at Southampton Children's Hospital. We are looking for candidates interested in providing psychological input to paediatric diabetes, children with brain tumours and their families, specialist children's spinal service and specialist neuro-rehab service within Southampton Children's Hospital.

We are welcoming applications from Trainee Clinical Psychologists who will shortly be qualifying from the doctoral programmes, and who would like to start work in a large and supportive department of 25+ psychologists.

Working for our organisation

As one of the largest acute teaching Trusts in England, we offer learning and development opportunities to help you achieve the career you aspire to. UHS is rated ‘Good’ by the CQC and in the latest national NHS Staff Survey, we were in the top 10 acute trusts for staff engagement and for staff recommending the hospital as a place to work or receive care.

We support flexible working and will consider requests taking into account the needs of the service. UHS employees are able to access a range of NHS discounts, are entitled to a minimum of 35 days paid holiday (pro rata), and we offer a generous pension scheme.

Southampton is an attractive place to live and work situated on the south coast, with an international airport and direct trains to London. The New Forest National Park and beaches of the Jurassic coast are also right on our doorstep. The city offers living costs 30% lower than London and 17 schools rated outstanding by Ofsted.

We believe that using technology wisely shows strong time management and commitment to innovation. However, personalising your recruitment application to highlight your unique skills and experiences is crucial. Relying too heavily on generic, AI-generated content instead of drawing from your own strengths and accomplishments may lead to your application being rejected if multiple candidates present identical or similar information.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

In this role, your key responsibilities will include providing assessments and therapy to children and their families who are currently under the care of Southampton Children's Hospital. For Paediatric diabetes this will include specialist psychological assessment and therapy in primarily outpatient clinics. The key responsibilities when working with children with brain tumours and their families, specialist children's spinal service and specialist neuro-rehab service will include neuropsychological assessment and therapy. All roles will require close liaison and communication with multi-disciplinary teams where Clinical Psychology is highly valued.

You will work alongside other psychologists and the wider psychosocial team to provide psychological advice support and consultation, working directly with children and families and indirectly with staff in the hospital and across our network. We are looking for candidates who have experience of working with children and families especially if in a paediatric setting and enthusiasm for collaborative working.

Person specification

Qualifications, Knowledge And Experience

Essential criteria

• Doctorate qualification in clinical psychology
• Registered with the Health Professions Council (HPC) as a Practitioner Psychologist
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across a range of care settings, such as outpatient, community, primary care and in patient settings
• Experience of working with a variety of clients, representing 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
• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management

Desirable criteria

• Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. 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 the client group and mental health, mental capacity and disability
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups