PBS Practitioner (Challenging Behaviour)

South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 58,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust is seeking a Positive Behavioural Support (PBS) Practitioner to lead PBS on the Forensic LD‑A ward. The role involves training staff, delivering assessments and coordinating care within an MDT to improve outcomes for service users with intellectual impairments and challenging behaviours.

The successful candidate will bring PBS experience in clinical settings and be able to supervise others, with a strong emphasis on risk management and

Qualifications

• Experience implementing PBS on forensic wards.
• ,

Responsibilities

• Oversee PBS implementation on the LD‑A ward.
• To train LD‑A staff in PBS and develop plans.
• Provide specialist psychological assessments using clinical data.
• Offer consultation on care and risk management within the MDT.
• Attend Care Plan Review and CPA meetings as required.

Skills

PBS experience

Clinical psychology

Staff training

Risk assessment

Interdisciplinary work

Education

HCPC registered

Clinical/Forensic Psychology Doctorate

Job description

NHS AfC: Band 7

Main area Forensic Psychologist Grade NHS AfC: Band 7 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 294-FASP-8258348-EB

Site Shaftesbury Building, Springfield University Hospital Town Tooting Salary £58,133 - £65,261 per annum inclusive of Inner London HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 10/09/2026 23:59

South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We provide a full range of local mental health services to the Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth London boroughs, as well as specialist forensic mental health services, including specialised services such as national deaf adults and CAMHS inpatients and OCD.

We are committed to providing high quality integrated health and social care for local people with mental health problems in South West London and more specialist mental health services for people throughout the UK. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’ however we aim to be ‘outstanding’.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values; being consistent, compassionate, collaborative, respectful and open is at the heart of everything we do. Our mission is \"making life better together\".

When you join us, you’ll be part of something special – an innovative and rapidly growing organisation that is helping to redefine the Mental Health, education and social care landscape in the UK.

As a Trust, we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Positive Behavioural Support (PBS) Practitioner to work on the Forensic Learning Disability and Autism (LD-A) ward which provides specialist care and treatment to people who have an intellectual impairment, some of whom also have an autism diagnosis. All service-users have additional mental health needs, challenging/offending behaviour, personality disorder and/or a history of problematic substance misuse.

Positive Behavioural Support (PBS) will be the main approach used by all staff members for addressing challenging behaviour and risk on the ward. The post-holder will have significant experience of using PBS in clinical settings and experience of training others in this approach would be a distinct advantage. The successful candidate may be a qualified psychologist, occupational therapist, nurse or other allied healthcare professional. We are seeking a dedicated professional with experience of working with people with intellectual impairments with or without autism. Experience of working in forensic settings would be a distinct advantage.

The ward works closely with three other forensic mental health wards (one 15-bedded male medium-secure, one 15-bedded female medium secure, and one 15-bedded male low-secure), a Forensic Outreach Service (FOS) and a Forensic Intellectual and Neurodevelopmental disabilities (FIND) service.

Main duties of the job

We are seeking a dedicated professional to oversee the implementation of Positive Behavioural Support (PBS) within the Forensic Learning Disability – Autism (LD-A) ward. The successful applicant will be responsible for ongoing training of all LD-A staff members in PBS, so that assessments, plans and treatment are adherent to the model (and helpful for service-users). Previous experience of working within a PBS approach is therefore essential. Experience of delivering training in PBS to others or providing supervision in this approach will be a distinct advantage.

The post holder will also contribute to the psychology/occupational therapy/nursing input to the LD-A ward in conjunction with colleagues from your profession to provide the highest possible quality of care for service-users with intellectual impairments, with or without autism, challenging behaviour and/or offending histories, mental health problems and/or personality disorders and problematic substance misuse.

The post holder will also offer advice and consultation on service-users’ psychological/occupational therapy/nursing care and risk management to non-psychologist colleagues as well as other, non‑professional carers, working autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the Forensic Service’s policies and procedures.

Working for our organisation

We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.

We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’ - we aspire to be ‘outstanding’.

This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services.

We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.

We offer flexible working, career development and a variety of benefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To oversee the delivery of PBS by LD-A ward staff members, as the main model for assessment, engagement and treatment to the service users on the LD-A ward.


• To develop PBS plans with service-users and implement in conjunction with ward staff members and Forensic P&P colleagues.


• To provide specialist assessments of clients referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi‑structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client’s care.


• To formulate and implement plans for the formal treatment and/or management of a client’s mental health problems and/or offending behaviour, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client’s problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.


• To be responsible for implementing a range of interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, employed individually and in combination, adjusting and refining formulations drawing on several different explanatory theoretical models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.


• To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options considering both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.


• To attend Care Plan Review Meetings (ward round) and Care Programme Approach (CPA) meetings for clients on the LD-A ward to help coordinate PBS approach and psychological/occupational therapy/nursing input, with the help of the ward link psychologist and other members of the MDT.


• To attend Care and Treatment Reviews (CTRs) and other meetings with external agencies to help coordinate admission pathway and discharge planning.


• To provide specialist advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to the clients’ formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.


• To contribute directly and indirectly to a PBS‑based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all service‑users on the LD-A ward.

Person specification

Training & Qualifications

• Registration with the Health Care Professions Council as a clinical or forensic psychologist and either


• Successful completion of post graduate doctoral level training in Clinical or Forensic Psychology , as accredited by the BPS prior to July 2009 or approved by the HCPC from July 2009 or


• BPS accredited Masters in Forensic Psychology, plus Stage 2 of the Society’s Qualification in Forensic Psychology


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


• Knowledge of employment legislation

Experience

• Extensive experience of utilizing the PBS approach.


• 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 specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients with mental health problems, personality disorder and/or offence histories


• Experience of utilizing PBS with people with intellectual impairments with or without neurodiverse conditions.


• Experience of the training and supervision of others in PBS.


• Experience of work in an in‑patient rehabilitation, forensic or specialist personality

Knowledge & Skills

• Knowledge of the theory and practice of PBS applied to people with intellectual impairments with or without neurodevelopmental conditions.


• Skills in the use of complex methods of assessment, intervention and management


• Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively and well, 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


• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialized psychological therapies in relation to specific difficult to treat groups, (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc.)


• High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialized psychological therapies

At South West London St Georges Mental Health Trust we are committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Committed Employer, and welcome applications from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We are Members of Stonewall Diversity Champions and Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion.

As part of the Trust's commitment to Equalities and Diversity, the Trust supports the establishment of Staff Networks groups to promote diversity in the workplace:

• BME (Evolve) Staff Network


• DiverseAbility


• Mental Health Staff Forum


• Women's Staff Network


• LGBTQIA+

We are committed to supporting the Armed Forces Community and has signed the Armed Forces Covenant.

We provide reasonable adjustments to the interview process for any candidates with a disability.

South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust does not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process, including job applications, sponsorship arrangements, or employment offers. The contact details published on our official website are the Trust’s authorised contact channels and should be used for all recruitment communications, job applications, and verification of employment offers.

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.