Main area Clinical Psychologist - Seren Lodge Mother and Baby Unit Grade Band 8a Contract Permanent Hours
* Full time
* Part time
37.5 hours per week Job ref 373-SMH2347
Employer Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Seren Lodge Mother and Baby Unit Town Chester Salary £53,755 - £60,504 per annum pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 09/04/2025 23:59
Clinical Psychologist - Seren Lodge Mother and Baby Unit
Band 8a
Job overview
**We offer a relocation package of up to £8,000**
The relocation package is for anyone who would need to relocate in order to take up employment with Cheshire and Wirral Partnership. Terms and conditions apply.
Seren Lodge Mother and Baby Unit, an exciting collaboration between NHS England and NHS Wales, is due to open in October 2025 on the grounds of the Countess of Chester Health Park.
Cheshire & Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CWP) are looking for an enthusiastic, motivated and dedicated Band 8a Clinical Psychologist to join the Mother and Baby Unit team. We are planning for the new MDT to commence in role 3 months prior to opening to enable a robust and supportive induction to take place.
The Mother and Baby Unit is a specialist provision for women with mental health problems during pregnancy and/or in the year after their baby is born. Patients in the postnatal period will have their babies with them during their time as an inpatient on the Mother and Baby Unit. Seren Lodge will be an 8 bedded unit with 6 beds commissioned by NHS England for the women of Cheshire and Merseyside and 2 beds commissioned by NHS Wales for the women of North Wales. The Mother and Baby Unit will also accept referrals for out of area women when there are beds available.
Main duties of the job
We are hoping to build a supportive and knowledgeable multi-disciplinary team. The posts offer the successful applicants the exciting opportunity to build a team that provides the highest quality of care for our service users. We will offer an excellent training programme.
The applicants must be able to demonstrate an understanding and application of the 6 C’s in practice, these being Care; Compassion; Competence; Communication; Courage and Commitment.
Seren Lodge is based on the Countess of Chester Health Park Site approximately 1.5 miles from Chester city centre.
Working for our organisation
Cheshire and Wirral Partnership (CWP) provides health and care services for a population of over one million people, including mental health, learning disability, community physical health and all-age disability care, as well as the provision of three GP surgeries in Cheshire.
We employ around 4,500 staff across 73 sites and have services across Wirral and Cheshire, as well as Trafford, Warrington, Bolton, Halton and Liverpool. We also provide specialist services for the North West as a whole.
Our aim is to help improve the lives of everyone in our communities, adopting a compassionate, person-centred approach to everything we do. We are rated as Outstanding for Caring by the Care Quality Commission, with a Good rating overall.
As a Disability Confident Employer, Rainbow Badge Scheme member, Veteran Aware organisation and proud holder of the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award, CWP is committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible and developing a culture that values differences, and welcome applications from people who have direct experience of accessing our services.
We also offer up to three weeks’ induction, with our Prepare to Care programme for all new starters. This aims to give you all the knowledge and guidance to help you hit the ground running with CWP.
Whether you are just starting out in your career or looking to use your existing skills and experience in a new role, you’ll find something to suit you at CWP.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please download a copy of the job description (see ‘documents to download’ section below) for full details of the main responsibilities for this role.
At CWP, our recruitment selection processes are based on both competence (see person specification for details) and values.
CWP recruits people that can demonstrate the Trust’s Values in their everyday life and we use a values-based approach in our interviews, which explores not only what you do but how and why you do it.
Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trust’s Values and think about how these align with your own personal values. The supporting information section in your application should reflect your understanding of the Trust’s Values and associated behaviours and you should provide examples from your work experience and/or personal life which demonstrate these values through your behaviours.
An applicant guide to help and support you through your recruitment journey can be accessed at the bottom of this page. Further help and support for completing your application can be accessed via our website. If you need any further guidance to help you complete your application, contact our recruitment team via email at: cwp.recruitment@nhs.net or by calling 01244 393100.
If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the ‘essential’ criteria described in the person specification for an available position, please answer ‘YES’ to the question: ‘Do you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme?’
Please inform the team if you have any special support needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection processes.
The trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post and encourages applications from armed forces reservists or cadet force adult volunteers.
Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of £16 per year applies.
New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.
Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.
Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team CWP very soon!
Person specification
Experience
* Experience of working as a clinical psychologist therapeutically with adult clients with varied, complex, psychological and mental health difficulties
* Experience of working within multi-professional teams
* Experience of engaging and sustaining work with ambivalent clients
* Experience of exercising clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care
* Experience of liaison with other health professionals
* Experience of providing teaching and training
Knowledge and Expertise
* Skills in conducting psychological assessment and intervention frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration
* Skills in completing neuropsychological assessments and interpretation of results, and ability to communicate these sensitively as appropriate
* Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex and/or clinically sensitive information to clients and professional colleagues within and outside the NHS
* Evidence of continuing professional development
* Skills in providing consultation to other professionals and non-professional groups
* Evidence of supervision training/qualification
* Experience of supervising Assistant Psychologists, other psychological practitioners and/or MDT colleagues in psychological approaches
* Experience of research, audit/service evaluation
Qualifications
* Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996)
* HCPC registration
* Additional Psychotherapy qualification relevant to working with clients with complex psychological and mental health difficulties
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.
Name Sarah Hull Job title Operational Lead for Perinatal Services Email address sarah.hull9@nhs.net Telephone number 0151 488 8434 Additional information
If you consider yourself Neurodivergent and need help to complete your application form, please contact cwp.recruitment@nhs.net or telephone 01244 393100
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