Senior Clinical/Forensic Psychologist (B7-B8a preceptorship available)

Lancashire Care Foundation Trust; Preston; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent healthcare foundation in the UK is seeking a Clinical/Forensic/Counselling Psychologist to join their multidisciplinary team at Guild Park. The role involves providing psychological advice, implementing interventions, and collaborating with various stakeholders to support service users with complex needs. Candidates should have a doctorate in psychology and experience in clinical settings. Flexible working options are available, and the closing date for applications is November 3, 2025.

Benefits

Flexible working hours

Support for professional development

Qualifications

• Ability to engage with complex clinical needs and risk behaviours.
• Proven experience in providing psychological services in a clinical setting.
• Capacity to work within multi-disciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Provide psychological advice to the team on risk formulation.
• Implement direct psychological interventions for service users.
• Conduct consultations and provide reflective space for team practitioners.

Skills

Risk formulation based psychological advice

Direct psychological intervention

Multi-disciplinary team collaboration

Complex case management

Education

Doctorate in Psychology or equivalent

Job description

A Vacancy at Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust.

We are excited to announce a fantastic opportunity has arisen for a 7/ 7-8a Clinical/ Forensic/ Counselling Psychologist to work across the Forensic Outreach Service (FOS) and the Forensic Community Mental Health Team (FCMT). Both of these teams form part of the Community Business Unit at Guild Park. The Forensic Outreach service provides a consultancy service to local services who manage cases where there are significant risk concerns. The FCMHT is a multi‑disciplinary team whose task is to ensure safe and lasting transitions for service users moving on from secure inpatient care into the community. The post holder would be joining experienced and friendly multi‑disciplinary teams as well as a supportive group of psychology colleagues.

The role requires the post holder to have 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 also be opportunities to use audit and evaluation to inform and develop practice and service provision.

Other aspects of the psychology role would include

• Provide risk formulation based psychological advice to the team.
• Implement direct psychological intervention to some service users managed by the team.
• Provide formal consultation and reflective space to MDT practitioners.
• Undertake joint working with other key stakeholders including the criminal justice system (CJS), Community Mental Health Teams and inpatient services within LSCFT’s Adult Mental Health Network in managing high risk and complexity of need, either in local hospitals, the community, probation placements, or prison.
• Building comprehensive risk formulations with which to guide recommendations to the referring team.
• Provide psychologically informed guidance to other FOS team practitioners that are from Nursing, Occupational Therapy and Social Work disciplines.
• Where feasible, model alternative approaches and solutions through direct working with service users that have been referred.

The post holder will be supported to and expected to develop expertise in all aspects of forensic/clinical practice across the different services within Guild Park. If taking up the preceptorship/development post at band 7, the post holder will be expected to reach the set of competencies expected of a Clinical/Forensic/Counselling Psychologist working at 8a within an agreed time frame in order to make the transition to the higher grade. This will be assessed through the usual appraisal and supervision systems.

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 request and discuss these options at interview.

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

For more details on this vacancy please review the attached job description and person specification.

This advert closes on Monday 3 Nov 2025