Consultant Psychologist in Health & Justice

CNWL; Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 74,000 - 86,000; Part time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking organization dedicated to delivering high-quality, trauma-informed care. As a Consultant Psychologist in Health & Justice, you will lead a team providing essential psychological services in a dynamic environment. This role offers the chance to shape mental health services, contribute to innovative programs, and support the development of your colleagues. With a commitment to personal development and a diverse range of opportunities, your expertise will make a significant impact on the lives of those in care. If you are passionate about making a difference in the mental health field, this is the perfect opportunity for you.

Benefits

Generous relocation package

Flexible working options

Access to CPD opportunities

Support for career progression

Free on-site parking

Qualifications

• Entry-level qualification in Clinical, Forensic or Counselling Psychology required.
• Registered with HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage psychology services for men at HMP Woodhill.
• Supervise and ensure professional standards in applied psychology.

Skills

Psychological therapy delivery

Psychometric testing

Clinical supervision

Multi-disciplinary teamwork

Cultural competency

Consultation skills

Research and evaluation

IT skills

Education

Professional Doctorate in Psychology

Post-qualification training in specialized psychology

Training in clinical supervision

Tools

Psychometric tests

Clinical assessment tools

Job description

Search here to find a new job, a new career, an opportunity
to up skill or to simply change your career direction.

Become part of our team.
We care for you as much as you care for others.

There’s a place for you at CNWL.

We’re passionate about delivering first-class patient-centred, safe and effective care, whether it is in a hospital setting, in a community clinic or in the patient’s own home. Patients are at the heart of everything we do.

Providing top quality care depends on our ability to employ the best people.
We’re always looking to recruit outstanding people who will go the extra mile to support our patients, colleagues, teams and the Trust. With every new employee we’re hoping to find our future leaders and we’ll support our staff by providing opportunities to develop your career.

With a diverse culture and equally diverse range of opportunities across mental health, community services, addictions, eating disorders, learning disabilities and more – whatever stage of your career you're at, there's always a place for you at CNWL.

Consultant Psychologist in Health & Justice

NHS AfC: Band 8c

Main area Health & Justice Services Grade NHS AfC: Band 8c Contract Permanent Hours Part time - 22.5 hours per week Job ref 333-D-HJ-1694-B

Site HMP Woodhill Town Milton Keynes Salary £74,290 - £85,601 per annum pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 19/01/2025 23:59 Interview date 31/01/2025

Job overview

Are you an experienced psychologist looking for a new challenge and the opportunity for change?

We are looking for applications from highly motivated and enthusiastic psychologists who are committed to delivering and leading high quality trauma-informed care & treatment. We are proud of the diverse services we offer in our healthcare provision at HMP Woodhill and we are excited to invite applications for this consultant role which will oversee and support the provision and development of our mental health services, including our respected and innovative Stabilisation Progress and Rehabilitation Programme (SPaR) designed to engage and help men with complex needs.

In Health & Justice you will be joining a large psychology department with an established ethos of development & innovation. At HMP Woodhill we have psychologists & arts therapy in our multi-professional mental health service, with this expanding to over 100 therapies staff across all of CNWL’s Health & Justice Sites and Services. We provide a wide range of therapies (CBT, MBT, EMDR, Psychodynamic counselling, arts therapies) and actively work with partners to provide timely and trauma informed systems of care.

The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients & service users when working in our healthcare settings.

Main duties of the job

We are keen that this role supports our mental health provision including the group and individual therapy offer at HMP Woodhill and actively supports the continued professional development of our teams. The duties of the role include Supervision, Service Consultation and utilising expertise to personally deliver therapy and assessments. You will join the trust wide H&J Consultant Psychologist team and hold shared responsibility with the group for the governance of our services and you will contribute to the shaping of Health & Justice services. At HMP Woodhill you will be part of our healthcare’s senior management team and contribute to the health and OPD commissioner interface and development of this service.

As a Trust we are committed to investing in our staff through a range of initiatives, both profession-specific and organisation wide. Psychological professions staff are able to access a range of trust-wide CPD initiatives. We have partnered with Bespoke and Contextual Consulting to provide some of the profession specific CPD, alongside additional CPD sessions we commission as part of CNWL CPD programme for Psychological Professions. CNWL also has seven established staff networks supporting a range of individual needs.

Working for our organisation

By joining CNWL’s Health & Justice Directorate you will be joining a large department of psychologists and psychological therapists that provide an array of mental health and OPD services across London, Surrey, Kent and Bucks. Our staff are dynamic and welcoming and the networking and CPD opportunities are central to our services ethos. We have active research forums and promote our services and work through academic and clinical forums. All staff receive regular supervision and are supported with career aspirations and progression. HMP Woodhill is easily accessible from London or the areas surrounding Milton Keynes and there is free on site parking for staff.

CNWL is recognised locally, nationally & internationally for providing high quality, innovative healthcare. We aim to employ in line with our values, our experts are frequently called upon to contribute to national health strategy & policy, and many models of our care have been adapted for use in other countries.

With us, you will get -

• A Trust committed to staff personal development, with a trust wide culture change and leadership programme that has staff wellbeing at its core.
• An opportunity to work for one of the top 10 NHS employers
• Variety of work
• Access to a variety of CPD opportunities

We encourage staff input and ideas in relation to moving services forward, improving care pathways and meeting the client group’s needs.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

· To lead, manage and plan the delivery of a highly specialist psychology and psychotherapy service to the men detained in HMP Woodhill and provide expert clinical input.

· To be responsible to the Lead Psychologist of Health & Justice Directorate for the monitoring and implementation of professional standards in the practice of applied psychology and psychotherapy in HMP Woodhill and for the systematic and effective provision of professional supervision.

· To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.

· To ensure the conduct of research, service evaluation and audits relevant to the delivery of psychology and therapy services in HMP Woodhill and the Trust/specialty research agenda

· To be responsible for the good clinical governance, quality and appropriateness of the work of psychologists and psychotherapists in HMP Woodhill.

Please see attached document for full Job Description and Person Specification.

It is anticipated that Interviews will be via MS teams on Friday 31st January 2025

Person specification

Skills

• To deliver psychological therapy across cultural and other differences.
• To select and administer specialist psychological assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several sources, on which expert opinion may differ.
• To communicate skilfully and sensitively complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication including sensory, and emotional difficulties, cultural differences and hostility to or rejection of information.
• To plan and schedule assessment and interventions for individual clients and groups and carers, and to organise meetings such as CPAs and case reviews.
• To plan delivery of psychology and psychotherapy services to the client group and carers, involving partner agencies.
• To be expert in the skilled administration of psychometric tests, including skilled manipulation of test materials; and to be able to supervise others in administration of psychometric tests.
• Well-developed consultation skills to work with the multi-professional team or other professional groups.
• Well-developed IT skills including entry and analysis of research data and for teaching purposes.
• Skills in providing teaching and training to other professional groups

Qualifications

• Entry-level qualification in Clinical, Forensic or Counselling Psychology (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level additional training or, for forensic, MSc plus completion of the British Psychological Society’s qualification in forensic psychology stage 2) that has been accepted by the HCPC for purposes of professional registration.
• Additional training beyond entry-level qualification in a specialised area of psychological practice relevant to the delivery of healthcare psychology & therapy services within a criminal justice setting through formal post-qualification training (PG Diploma or equivalent), OR a combination of specialist short courses and/or an evidenced portfolio of supervised practice–based learning in a specialist area of clinical practice, assessed by a BPS National Assessor and an experienced clinical supervisor to be of equal level to a Postgraduate Diploma or higher.
• Completed training course in clinical supervision
• Registered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist, and evidence of continuing professional development as required by the HCPC.
• Attendance at relevant management training courses and events
• Accreditation as a supervisor in a psychological therapy (e.g. EMDR, CBT, DBT, SFT, MBT)

Experience

• Evidence of having worked as a clinical specialist under supervision in a forensic mental health, criminal justice or specialist men’s service
• Experience of undertaking leadership roles
• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature in a forensic mental health, criminal justice or specialist men’s setting where expertise in clinical risk management are required
• Experience of providing teaching and training to psychologists or other professional groups.
• Post-qualification experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities
• Experience of carrying out post-doctoral research, audit or service evaluation projects
• Experience of proposing and implementing service development projects that impact beyond own service area
• Experience of participation in recruitment
• Experience of supervising assistant and trainee psychologists having completed the relevant training
• Record of publications in either peer reviewed, academic or professional journals/books
• Experience of developing a trauma informed approach within a system

Knowledge

• Knowledge of the theory and practice of management and leadership.
• Advanced knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies for men with complex needs who may present high risk of harm to self or others
• Advanced theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment of trauma and mental health needs within a prison
• Advanced knowledge of psychological assessment and clinical psychometrics (for example, assessments of cognitive ability, neurodiverse disorders and risk of harm to others)
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities
• Doctoral level knowledge of psychological research methodology and complex statistical analysis
• Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care

Abilities

• Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team, contributing to effective team functioning and holding team roles
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate
• Ability to develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic meetings
• Ability to maintain concentration and to remain in restricted positions for long periods during observations, assessments and psychological interventions, and to deal with unexpected interruptions or changes during these
• Ability to manage emotionally stressful situations such as working with victims of abuse or trauma, or with people who engage in severe self-harming or aggressive behaviour.
• Ability to manage verbal aggression and hostility directed at self.
• Ability to work in a secure environment, in line with HMPPS and Sodexo policy and procedures and obtain and maintain enhanced security clearance
• Ability to travel across sites

CNWL (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust) has almost 8,000 staff providing integrated healthcare to a third of London's population, Milton Keynes and areas beyond. We involve service users, carers, the public, staff and partner organisations in the way that we are run.

Our catchment area spans diverse communities, with over 100 first languages spoken. It contains areas of great affluence as well as areas of much deprivation. We are committed to providing services that meet the needs of the people who use them, and we actively encourage involvement from local people who can help make a difference. We’re proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME and people with disabilities to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.

We are recognised locally, nationally and internationally for providing high quality, innovative healthcare. We aim to employ only the best people, and our experts are frequently called upon to contribute to national health strategy and policy, and many models of our care have been adapted for use in other countries.

We offer a generous relocation package (subject to eligibility assessment) and flexible working options, including bank assignments for most roles. For more information on these and other benefits of working for us, see our Benefits, Reward and Wellbeing page

Become part of our team. We care for you as much as you care for others.

CNWL NHS Foundation Trust are committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We follow safe recruitment practices to protect children and vulnerable adults.

Due to the high response levels we receive for some vacancies, we may expire any of them prior to the advertised closing date and advise you to submit your application as soon as possible.

Our Agenda for Change employment contracts are subject to a contractual 13 week probationary period.

If you are offered a job, information will be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Name Louise Minchin Job title Lead Consultant Psychologist for Health & Justice Email address [e-mail] Additional information

We are a friendly team and encourage any prospective candidate to contact us with any questions and/or to book an informal visit. [e-mail] is Head of Healthcare at HMP Woodhill.

You can also find more information on our services and the work we do within the Health & Justice Directorate please do take a look at our new website https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/health-and-justice

Our healthcare services work to a 7-day week working model, to ensure our patient's healthcare is managed and maintained to the highest of standards at all times.