Principal Clinical/Counselling/Forensic Psychologist

Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust; Dartford; On-site; GBP 1,000 - 3,000; Full time

Job summary

An NHS Trust in the UK seeks a Principal Psychologist to provide specialist clinical input for their new Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit for women. You will oversee psychological therapy, ensure service effectiveness, and support a diverse team. The ideal candidate will have clinical and managerial experience. This position includes a High Cost Area Supplement to the salary.

Benefits

High Cost Area Supplement

Qualifications

• Experience in clinical supervision and managerial responsibility.
• Ability to work autonomously in a dynamic environment.
• Enthusiastic approach to providing psychological therapy.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist psychological therapy to PICU patients.
• Ensure the clinical effectiveness of the service.
• Provide training and support to the multidisciplinary team.

Skills

Clinical leadership

Forensic psychology

Counselling skills

Psychological assessments

Job description

Overview

We are creating Kent and Medway's first, and only, NHS Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) for women. We are seeking a talented Principal Psychologist to help us deliver this vital service. The start date for this post will be January 2026, to allow for onboarding, induction, and training before the anticipated arrival of the first patient in April 2026. We are looking for an enthusiastic Clinical/Forensic/Counselling Psychologist with clinical and managerial leadership experience to provide specialist clinical input to the Female PICU. You will have an important strategic and liaison function to support the transition of patients between services. You will offer clinical supervision and have managerial responsibility for a number of Psychological Therapists and Applied Psychologists. If this sounds like the opportunity you have been waiting for, join our diverse and compassionate team committed to delivering excellent care and support for service users and their loved ones.

KMPT is serious about diversity and inclusion, and we are building this into our DNA. We warmly welcome applications from people from diverse backgrounds and we proactively encourage applications from under-represented communities for senior roles like this one.

Responsibilities

• Provision of Specialist Psychological Therapy to PICU patients.
• Undertake high quality direct (assessment and therapeutic) and indirect (consultative, advisory and evaluative) specialist psychology interventions.
• Ensure the clinical effectiveness of the service, taking on a leadership and service development role within the PICU service.
• Provide regular training to the multidisciplinary team (MDT) and professional support, guidance and supervision to psychological therapists in the service.

A PICU is a dynamic environment and there is an expectation that the candidate can take substantial professional responsibility and work autonomously. This includes psychological assessments, formulations and brief therapeutic work, groups, family and individual work, and assisting with positive behaviour support plans. Indirect work includes systemic work with staff, reflective case discussions and serious incident debriefs.

Qualifications

• Enthusiastic Clinical/Forensic/Counselling Psychologist with clinical and managerial leadership experience to provide specialist clinical input to the Female PICU.
• Ability to fulfil an important strategic and liaison function to support the transition of patients between services.
• Experience in clinical supervision and managerial responsibility for Psychological Therapists and Applied Psychologists.

Benefits

This role comes with a High Cost Area Supplement: 5% of basic salary, subject to a minimum of £1,303 per year and a maximum of £2,198 per year (divided into 12 equal amounts and paid monthly). The salary listed is inclusive of the High-Cost Area Allowance.