Senior Therapist (Quality Improvement Lead)

Sabp; Leatherhead; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 67,000; Full time

Job summary

Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust seeks an experienced Senior CBT Therapist with Band 8a level to join our Senior Management Team in Surrey. You will lead quality and service development initiatives within the NHS Talking Therapies, supervise colleagues and drive access and waiting time improvements while ensuring a strong patient experience.

The post is a 12-month fixed-term, full-time role with flexible working arrangements and a focus on reducing health inequalities.

Qualifications

• Postgraduate qualification in CBT or BABCP-accredited equivalent with registration.
• Minimum 450 hours supervision/clinical practice in counselling/psychotherapy.

Responsibilities

• Provide assessments and therapy for anxiety and depression.
• Supervise colleagues including trainees and PWPs.
• Provide risk duty cover and liaise with referrers.
• Lead on quality improvement and report to management.
• Ensure supervision records are maintained.
• Monitor access/RTT and recovery rates for specialist pathways.

Skills

Leadership experience

Clinical supervision

Line management

Education

NHS Talking Therapies High Intensity CBT Postgraduate Diploma

BABCP accreditation

Job description

Job summary

Are you an existing Band 7 High Intensity CBT/CfD Therapist with at least 2 years post-qualification and Team Lead/Supervisor experience, looking to broaden your Leadership and Management experience, within a Talking Therapies service? Surrey Talking Therapies (provided by SABP, one of 5 x providers in the County) are looking to strengthen our Senior Management Team. You will join a large (120+) team of trainee and qualified CBT / Psychotherapeutic Counselling Therapists, serving a diverse population of 1.2m, taking a management lead role on quality/service development initiatives focusing on improving Access, reducing health inequalities and unnecessary waiting times, Reliable Improvement/Recovery (to ensure the best possible outcomes) as well as the overall patient experience. Candidates should have a highly-developed knowledge of NHS Talking Therapies provision, considerable experience working as a therapist in such service, and a sound understanding of national/local demands and targets. Clinical Supervision is provided by our Clinical Lead (Consultant CBT Therapist) and Line Management Supervision from our Operational Lead (Business Manager), based at one of our locality offices (flexible working arrangements to be determined by business need).

Main duties of the job

• Provide a qualified specialist psychological assessment and therapy service for anxiety and depression to clients, within one or more psychological therapy models specified by the NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression Manual.
• Provide expert advice and guidance to psychological therapists and other professionals. Supervision of other colleagues including trainee High Intensity Therapists and Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners, as well as trainees.
• Provide risk duty cover to include screening, urgent risk advice, discussion with referrers about suitability, review and manage incidents (DCIQ) and represent the service at locality/place-based pathway forums.
• Lead on quality improvement priority under the guidance of Service Leads, ensuring they are appropriately reflected on our clinical system (IAPTus) and performance dashboards/reports to Divisional Management Group and Commissioners.
• Ensure clinical supervision is in place for respective modalities and appropriate storing of supervision notes if external supervisor is used.
• Monitor access, flow (RTT) and recovery rates of specialist i.e. non-core CBT (EMDR, CfD/CTfD, DIT and IPT) pathways.

About us

Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is the leading provider of mental health, learning disability, neurodevelopmental and drug and alcohol services in Surrey and North East Hampshire. We support people of all ages and are passionate about providing high quality care that is delivered at the right time as close to home as possible to help people recover and stay well. We are one of the top 10 mental health, learning disability and community trusts to work for nationwide. Our Trust is an inclusive and supportive employer that offers a wide range of staff networks, flexible working, free parking and excellent health and wellbeing support. We also provide a wide range of opportunities to help staff develop and progress. Surrey is a beautiful county lying just 30 minutes away from Central London and from the South Coast. Our historic market towns and bustling districts are enveloped in wonderful countryside, and our excellent road and rail networks bring the rest of the country within easy reach. For international travel, both Gatwick and Heathrow airports are nearby.

Details

• Salary: £59,798 to £67,020 a year, incl 5% Fringe HCAs, pa, pro rata
• Band: Band 8a
• Contract: Fixed term, 12 months
• Working pattern: Full-time, flexible working
• Reference number: 325-8365235-TT
• Closing date: 11 November 2026

Essential qualifications

• NHS Talking Therapies High Intensity CBT Postgraduate Diploma, or a recognised post graduate qualification in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (or postgraduate level training conferring equivalent competences), or a recognised qualification in one of the core mental health professions recognised by BABCP, with current registration/accreditation with the core professional body, or evidence of the Knowledge Skills and Attitudes (KSA) route to BABCP accreditation, or a minimum two-year post-graduate (or equivalent) qualification in Psychotherapeutic Counselling, Psychotherapy, Counselling, or Counselling Psychology, with no less than 450 hours programme contact and no less than 450 hours supervised counselling or psychotherapy practice.
• Accreditation with the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy (BABCP) achieved through training and experience with adults with anxiety and depression, or one or more NHS Talking Therapies specified counselling or psychotherapy accreditations as detailed in the NHS Talking Therapies Manual.

Essential experience

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients within an NHS Talking Therapies service
• Experience of line managing teams
• Experience of providing expert clinical leadership and management within a specialist area of practice

Essential knowledge

• Theory and practice of one or more NHS Talking Therapies recognised psychological therapies

Desirable knowledge

• Research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical field of psychological therapies

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and requires a submission for Disclosure to the Disclosure and Barring Service. Applicants must have current UK professional registration.