Highly Specialist Practitioner Psychologist - Cardiac Rehabilitation

Guys & St Thomas Hospital; London; On-site; GBP 61,000 - 69,000; Part time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking healthcare provider as a Highly Specialist Practitioner Psychologist in Cardiac Rehabilitation. This exciting role involves delivering evidence-based psychological interventions to patients recovering from cardiac events. You will play a vital part in enhancing patients' mental well-being while collaborating with a multidisciplinary team. This position offers the chance to contribute to the strategic development of cardiac psychology services and supervise trainee psychologists. If you're passionate about making a difference in patients' lives and thrive in a dynamic environment, this opportunity is perfect for you.

Qualifications

• Doctorate level qualification in psychology required.
• Experience in delivering psychological assessments and interventions.

Responsibilities

• Provide psychological support to cardiac patients.
• Develop and deliver individual and group therapy sessions.

Skills

Psychological assessment

Therapeutic interventions

Communication skills

Risk assessment

Supervision skills

Teaching and training

IT skills

Education

Doctorate in Clinical Psychology

Eligibility for Chartered status with BPS

HCPC Registration as Practitioner Psychologist

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Highly Specialist Practitioner Psychologist - Cardiac Rehabilitation

Band 8a

Main area: Psychology

Grade: Band 8a

Contract: Fixed term: 12 months (7/4/26)

Hours:

• Part time
• Flexible working
• Compressed hours

22.5 hours per week (Flexible working within the context of patient-facing service)

Job ref: 196-LIS9140

Employer: Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

Employer type: NHS

Site: St Thomas' Hospital

Town: London

Salary: £61,927 - £68,676 p.a. inclusive of HCA (pro rata)

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 10/01/2025 23:59

Job overview

We are seeking to recruit a highly motivated, experienced practitioner psychologist to the multi-disciplinary cardiac rehabilitation service at Guy's and St Thomas'. This is an exciting opportunity to join our expanding psychology service within cardiology. You will provide assessment, therapeutic interventions, educational consultations, and psychological support to people that have experienced a cardiac event and have mental health/psychological difficulties related to their event and/or management of their condition. The provision of 1:1 and group evidence-based psychological interventions to promote psychological well-being in physical health is a key requirement.

In addition to direct patient contact, you will have the opportunity to contribute more broadly to the strategic development and delivery of cardiac psychology services. You may also have the opportunity to provide supervision to trainee psychologists and postgraduate students.

Main duties of the job

1. To ensure the systematic provision of a high quality, safe and highly specialist psychology service for the cardiac rehabilitation service based at St Thomas’ Hospital.
2. To work autonomously developing pathways for psychology across GSTT and the wider directorate engaging with multidisciplinary teams within and across services and directorate when appropriate.
3. To work within a stepped-care model managing demand for clinical service and reporting and making recommendations regarding service provision.
4. To develop and deliver group and individual therapy and also consider using technology to enhance engagement built in an effective and cost-effective model of care.
5. To offer psychological assessment and formulation led and evidence-based treatment to cardiac patients.
6. To provide supervision of trainee clinical psychologists and junior staff inter and multidisciplinary if required.

Person specification

Knowledge/Qualifications

• Doctorate level qualification in clinical psychology, counselling psychology or health psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS.
• Eligibility for Chartered status with the BPS.
• HCPC Registration as Practitioner Psychologist.
• Experience delivering highly skilled psychological assessments, interventions, follow-up and data monitoring across at least 2 populations utilising at least 2 therapeutic models including CBT.
• Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.
• Experience of providing both group-based and individual interventions using evidence-based psychological approaches.
• Experience of providing professional and clinical supervision to qualified and pre-qualified psychologists or similar.
• Experience of working as a qualified practitioner psychologist with a wide variety of client groups, and across the full range of clinical severity.
• Experience in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups in various settings.
• Experience of teaching and training other professionals in psychological concepts.
• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of patients with physical health problems and a range of psychological needs of a complex nature.
• Experience of working as a qualified practitioner psychologist in a cardiology/cardiac rehabilitation service.
• Experience of delivering trauma-focused psychological interventions i.e. using CBT or EMDR.
• Experience of working within a multi-cultural environment.

Skills

• Advanced skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Highly developed communication skills, both written and verbally, with the ability to communicate complex, highly technical and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and a wide range of lay and professional persons within and outside the NHS.
• Specialist knowledge in a minimum of two evidence-based psychological interventions through supervised clinical practice and specialist training.
• Significant experience and ability to undertake risk assessment of client in relation to self and others, and refer on to appropriate services as necessary.
• Ability to supervise psychologists and psychology trainees having completed the relevant training.
• Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
• Ability to work independently as an autonomous practitioner with appropriate level of clinical and managerial supervision.
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly distressing and emotive material, as well as, challenging behaviours.
• Well-developed IT skills including data entry and analysis of research data using Microsoft programmes.
• The post holder may be required to travel between sites.
• Specialist knowledge and understanding of psychological impact of cardiac events and the psychological needs of these patients.
• Excellent presentation skills.
• Highly developed specialist knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in physical health.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to maintain periods of prolonged concentration frequently throughout the day as required for complex methods of psychological assessment and delivery of interventions.
• Able to walk around the hospital environment, and travel between bases.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitably according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or studies at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership.

Applications are welcomed from applicants with a disability. We can make reasonable adjustments and offer support and advice in a variety of ways throughout the application process. Equality of opportunity is our policy.

As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.

We are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work-life balance and to work in a way that is best for them and our patients. We will consider all requests to work flexibly, taking into account the individual’s personal circumstances as well as the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the onboarding process.

Your e-mail address is important to us - We communicate to all job applicants via the e-mail address which has been provided on the application form. Please ensure that you check your e-mail on a regular basis.

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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: Toby Whitehead

Job title: Clinical Lead - Cardiovascular Rehabilitation

Email address: [e-mail]

Telephone number: 02071880946

Alternative contact: Mina Arvanitopoulou - Lead Clinical Psychologist

Email: [e-mail]