Tower Hamlets Arts Therapy Professional Lead

NHS; City Of London; On-site; GBP 64,000 - 72,000; Part time

Job summary

A prominent healthcare service provider in London is seeking an HCPC registered Allied Health professional to supervise arts therapists working in adult mental health services. The role involves leading service developments, managing staff, and providing specialist assessments and treatment. Applicants should have substantial experience in therapeutic interventions and relevant qualifications. This permanent part-time position offers a salary range of £64,156 to £71,148 per annum pro rata.

Qualifications

• Substantial post-qualification experience in arts therapeutic interventions.
• Experience of leading a staff team and liaising with operational managers.
• Experience working with interpreters.

Responsibilities

• Provide assessments and treatment for adults in mental health services.
• Develop the Arts Therapies service and manage therapists.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the Arts Therapies service.

Skills

Leadership and management skills

Ability to manage sensitive situations

Risk assessment and management planning

Education

MA (or equivalent) Arts Therapies qualification

Art, Music or Drama Therapist Registration with the HCPC

Membership of own Arts Therapy professional body

Job description

Overview

As an HCPC registered Allied Health professional, reporting to the Consultant psychological lead for Tower Hamlets, you will supervise the clinical and professional aspects of all arts therapists working in adult mental health services. Their line management will be held by other colleagues in inpatient or locality psychology teams. You will ensure that the art therapists are supported to meet residents' needs via group, partnership working and 1:1 work. This will be through development of guidance and best practice for the art therapy professionals in the borough, ensuring activity is effective, acceptable and increasingly co-produced. There will be scope to explore partnership working with voluntary and charitable sector organisations, to further disseminate the benefits of art therapies through supervision and consultation. There will be time for clinical work and other service development activities.

Main duties

1. To be responsible for the overall provision of a specialist Arts Therapies assessment and treatment service for adults within the Directorate
2. To be responsible for all clinical and professional aspects of the Arts Therapies offer within Tower Hamlets and ensure that clear systems are in place and working effectively for management and productivity
3. To lead in the development of the Arts Therapies service, including proposing and implementing service developments within the area served by the team and in liaison with the Senior Leadership Team, Professional Lead for Arts Therapies, and other Head Arts Therapists in the Trust
4. To manage and supervise the Arts Therapists and trainee Arts Therapists across the directorate
5. To provide specialist Arts Therapies assessment and treatment for own clinical caseload
6. To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of the Arts Therapies service and to understand and contribute research and quality improvement in relevant specialist fields
7. To establish and maintain good working relationships with all other operational and clinical managers in both inpatient and community settings in the borough

About us

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people’s lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive. We are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Details

Date posted: 05 September 2025

Pay scheme: Agenda for change

Band: Band 8a

Salary: £64,156 to £71,148 a year per annum pro rata Inc HCAs

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Part-time

Reference number: 363-TH7442637

Job location: Mile End Hospital, Bancroft Rd, London, E1 4DG

Job responsibilities

Kindly refer to the job description and person specification that is attached to the vacancy profile.

Person Specification

Experience

• Substantial post-qualification experience of providing highly specialist arts therapeutic assessment and treatment interventions for patients within working age adult services with complex problems and reflecting a wide range of clinical severity and/or comorbid difficulties such as dual diagnosis, psychosis, personality disorder or learning disabilities
• Experience developing a specialist service, and liaising with a wide range of operational managers across clinical settings
• Experience of leading a staff team including workload allocation, timetable monitoring and coordination, negotiating new staffing resources, managing departmental budgets and performance targets, organising induction of new staff and students
• Experience of working with interpreters

Desirable

• Experience of working in a range of care settings, including outpatient, inpatient and community

Training & Qualifications

Essential

• For Art, Music or Drama Therapist Registration with the HCPC; For Dance Movement Psychotherapists - Full Member Registration with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
• Membership of own Arts Therapy professional body
• Clinical Supervision Training
• MA (or equivalent) Arts Therapies qualification

• Desirable: Further training in an area of psychological practice relevant to the post's clinical area
• Management training e.g. in appraisal skills, recruitment and retention, Core manager's training

Knowledge and skills

• Essential: Leadership and management skills, particularly in developing a specialist service
• Risk assessment and risk management planning within a multidisciplinary team
• Ability to manage highly emotive and distressing situations including verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse, with professionalism

• Desirable: Experience of running quality improvement projects

Disclosures

Disclosure and Barring Service Check: This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and a submission for Disclosure to the DBS will be required.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Employer details

East London NHS Foundation Trust
Mile End Hospital, Bancroft Rd, London, E1 4DG