Highly Specialist Practitioner Psychologist

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; City Of London; On-site; GBP 64,000 - 72,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in London is seeking a part-time Highly Specialist Practitioner Psychologist to join their psychosocial team in the Critical Care Department. The role involves providing specialized psychological services, clinical supervision, and contributing to team functioning. Ideal for an 8a psychologist or a capable 7 looking to advance their career. Salary ranges from £64,156 to £71,148 per annum pro rata.

Qualifications

• Registered with the HCPC as a Practitioner Psychologist.
• Evidence of continued professional development.
• Experience in supervising assistant and trainee psychologists.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist psychological assessments and interventions for patients.
• Contribute to the psychosocial team's effective working.
• Implement policies and propose service improvements.

Skills

Specialized psychological assessments

Clinical supervision

Multidisciplinary teamwork

Research methodology

Behavior change models

Education

Entry-level qualification in Applied Psychology

Completed training course in clinical supervision

Job description

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is offering a part-time (0.6 wtes) Highly Specialist Practitioner Psychologist position to join the psychosocial team within the Department of Critical Care. This maternity leave cover post is anticipated to run until the end of September 2026.

The role would suit an existing 8a psychologist looking to develop and enhance their skills working within a trauma-informed approach in a critical care environment, or an enthusiastic and capable band 7 psychologist looking to progress to an 8a role in an exciting area of clinical practice.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will provide a highly specialist psychology service to the Critical Care Units, including specialist screening, assessment, treatment, planning, implementation, and monitoring of outcomes.

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

The role includes providing clinical supervision and consultation, functioning as a lead specialist in the psychological aspects of care and treatment of CCU patients, and undertaking service evaluation, audit, research, and policy development.

Job responsibilities

KR 1 Clinical and Client Care: Provide highly specialist psychological assessments, formulations, and interventions for patients in the CCU service.

KR 2 Contributing to team or service clinical functioning: Contribute to the effective working of the psychosocial team and the CCU service, and help develop and facilitate a psychologically informed framework for the service.

KR 3 Policy and service development: Implement policies and procedures, propose improvements, and contribute to service development through projects and initiatives.

KR 4 Care or management of resources: Take care of and use carefully the Trust's equipment and physical resources, and ensure sufficient resources by estimating future needs and requesting supplies as needed.

KR 5 Management and supervision: Allocate and clinically supervise the work of more junior psychologists, and contribute to the appraisal and recruitment of junior psychologists.

KR 6 Teaching and Training: Undertake occasional teaching and training, contribute to the development of the knowledge and skills base within the CCU service, and disseminate research and service evaluation findings.

KR 7 Record-keeping and Information Governance: Ensure all information generated is recorded as required by Trust policies, maintain high standards of clinical record keeping, and report writing according to professional and Trust guidelines.

KR 8 Research and development: Initiate, undertake, support, and supervise regular complex service evaluation and audits, and provide expertise in a specialist research area.

KR 9 Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development: Receive regular clinical and professional supervision, ensure Continuing Professional Development, and maintain up-to-date knowledge of current developments in professional and clinical practice.

KR 10 General: Travel to sites across the Trust and area as required, be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behavior, and respond appropriately to emotionally distressing situations.

Person Specification

• Entry-level qualification in Applied Psychology (professional Doctorate or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level additional training) accepted by the HCPC for professional registration.
• Additional training in a specialized area of psychological practice through formal post-qualification training or supervised practice-based learning.
• Completed training course in clinical supervision.
• Registered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist, with evidence of continuing professional development.
• Evidence of having worked with people with medical conditions as a clinical specialist under supervision.
• Experience of working in multidisciplinary teams, specialist psychological assessment and treatment, and supervising assistant and trainee psychologists.
• Knowledge of theory and practice of specialized psychological assessments and interventions, legislation, and research methodology.
• Competence and/or specialist training in models of health psychology and/or behavior change.

The salary for this position is £64,156 to £71,148 per annum pro rata, including HCA.