Principal Clinical Psychologist

Lancashire Care Foundation Trust; Preston; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Principal Clinical Psychologist for their Forensic Community Service in Preston. This permanent full-time role involves leading a team to provide psychological interventions for individuals referred through the court system, aiming to reduce reoffending through effective mental health treatment. The ideal candidate will have substantial experience in clinical psychology and a strong ability to manage complex cases within a multidisciplinary framework.

Benefits

Flexible working options

Support for work/life balance

Qualifications

• Doctoral level training in clinical psychology or equivalent.
• Substantial experience as a qualified clinical psychologist.
• Experience with a variety of client groups across the life course.

Responsibilities

• Provide clinical oversight and supervision for a team of Mental Health Practitioners.
• Engage with partner agencies to maintain relationships.
• Deliver treatment for complex cases and oversee assessment processes.

Skills

Clinical oversight

Psychological interventions

Team management

Engagement with partner agencies

Complex case management

Education

Doctoral level training in clinical psychology

Job description

Our Vision is to provide the best mental health, learning disability, autism and community based services for the populations we serve.

As an integrated mental health, learning disability and community Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including:
• Primary and secondary mental health care for children and adults including specialist inpatient child and adolescent mental health provision, perinatal mental health, forensic services including low and medium secure care.
• Specialist community support for children and adults with learning disabilities and autism, including intensive support.
• Community physical health and well-being services for children and adults.

The Trust was first established in 2002 and employs approximately 7,000 staff who provide care from more than 400 sites. The organisation offers opportunities for medics, mental health and general nurses, allied health professionals, psychology, administration and clerical staff, apprentices and volunteers.

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust supports flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as; term time, part time, compressed hours, home/remote working, and flexi-time.

For more information visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT.

Please note that further communication from Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCft) will normally be to the email address given on the application form. You should also ensure that email addresses and telephone numbers are provided for your referees, to enable LSCft to contact them.

Job overview

PRINCIPAL CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST Forensic Community Service (FCS), Guild Park, Preston

Specialist Network

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

A4C BAND 8b

Full-time (1.0 WTE)

Permanent Post

We would like to recruit a Clinical Psychologist with experience of all aspects of clinical/forensic settings. The post is permanent and will have its base in the Forensic Community Service (FCS) at Guild Park, just outside Preston. The post holder will work in the Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) team. The MHTR team is part of the Community Sentence Treatment Requirement (CSTR) programme, which is a partnership between the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Department of Health and Social Care (DOSC), NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE/I), Public Health England (PHE) and His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). The CSTR programme is designed to assist new areas to develop pathways to enable and facilitate the use of Mental Health Treatment Requirements (MHTRs). It aims to increase the use of MHTRs with a view to reducing reoffending among vulnerable individuals (particularly those with mental health and substance misuse needs) through effective and coordinated health and social care treatment requirements and to offer an alternative to custodial sentences. As part of the CSTR programme, our team is tasked with the specific aim of delivering primary care MHTRs in Magistrates Courts.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be the Clinical Lead for the team. As the Clinical Lead, they will provide clinical oversight and supervision of a team of at least eight Mental Health Practitioners whose role is to provide psychological interventions for individuals referred through the court who have been identified as suitable to benefit from a therapeutic intervention as part of their community sentence.

As this team is based on partnership working, an important part of the post holder's role will be to engage with and maintain relationships with relevant partner agencies. They will also need to oversee and evaluate the team's screening, assessment and formulation processes and model(s) of intervention (in accordance with the existing CSTR Programme Operating Framework). The Clinical Lead will also provide treatment for more complex cases.

The role of Clinical Lead requires the ability to work with clients who present with the full range of clinical needs and risk behaviours, and the ability to engage with, and respond to, highly complex clinical, professional and ethical challenges, and demands on clinicians and services. There will be opportunities to use audit and evaluation, to inform and develop practice and service provision. As part of the wider Psychological Services Team, the post holder will be expected to develop expertise in all aspects of forensic/clinical practice across the different services within Guild Park.

Working for our organisation

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including secondary mental health care across this area. Specialist provision comprises inpatient child and adolescent mental health services, perinatal mental health and forensic services including low and medium secure care.
The Trust also provides a range of physical health and well-being services in the community alongside a range of partners in the Lancashire, Cumbria and Sefton area.
Lancashire & South Cumbria Foundation Trust encourages flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as; term time, part time, compressed hours, flexi-time and career breaks. We encourage applicants to state clearly on their application forms this re-quest and discuss these options at interview.
For more information please visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached the job description and person specification for more information about this role

Person specification

Education

Essential criteria

• Doctoral level training in clinical psychology or equivalent for those who trained prior to 1996, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS.

Desirable criteria

• Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
• Knowledge of legislation, and its implications in relation to the client group and mental health.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS by completion of CPD log demonstrating a minimum of 40 hours per year.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Substantial experience of working as a qualified clinical psychologist.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting 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.
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for client's psychological care and treatment both as a professionally qualified care co-ordinator and also within the context of multidisciplinary care plan.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Please be aware, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) when submitting an application is monitored and if you have used AI to generate an application, you are required to declare this on your application form. Failure to do so, may result in your application being withdrawn.

We want to highlight the importance of integrity and authenticity in your application form, and ask you to use AI tools responsibly to ensure your application form is a true reflection of your skills, knowledge and experiences.

We are looking for you to demonstrate personal experiences of how you meet the essential criteria and as an NHS Employer, we value authenticity and honesty.

Please consider that AI-generated content may lack specificity and fail to address key criteria outlined in the job description providing impersonal and inaccurate information.

Please ensure that you read the person specification attached below as your application will be measured against this document.

Applications from job share partners are welcome and other forms of flexible working will be considered for all posts.

For all posts which require a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check please be aware of the Disclosure and Barring Service Code of Practice, a copy of which is available by logging on to the DBS website. If the post is subject to DBS disclosure, a charge will be made to the successful candidate(s).

You are advised to consider applying for LSCft vacancies as soon as possible as in some instances vacancies are closed as soon as a sufficient number of applications have been received. If you are not invited to interview within three weeks of the closing date then please assume that on this occasion you have been unsuccessful, as it is not possible to contact all unsuccessful candidates.

LSCft is committed to celebrating difference as an asset and we know that recruiting talent from diverse backgrounds helps to create a more flexible, creative and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from people regardless of age, disability (particularly those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion or belief or sexual orientation. Our goal is for the Trust to be truly representative of the communities we serve so we are particularly keen to receive applications from people in under-represented groups. If there is anything you'd like to discuss in relation to your application then please ask.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

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.

Documents to download

• JDPS (PDF, 680.3KB)
• NHS Staff Benefits - 2023 (PDF, 556.9KB)
• We Do More at LSCFT (PDF, 654.2KB)