Employer Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type NHS
Site Herrick House
Town Colchester
Salary £62,215 - £72,293 per annum
Salary period Yearly
Closing 09/04/2025 08:00
Principal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist
Band 8b
About Us
EPUT provides community health, mental health and learning disability services to support more than 3.2 million people living across Bedfordshire, Essex and Suffolk.
* We are among the largest employers in the East of England region, with more than 10,000 staff working across more than 200 sites.
* We run the COVID-19 vaccination programme across mid and south Essex and Suffolk and north east Essex.
EPUT was formed on 1 April 2017 following the merger of North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (NEP) and South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT).
Our Vision and Values
Our Vision
“To be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care”.
Our Purpose
“We care for people every day. What we do together, matters”.
Our Values
* We Care
* We Empower
Our Strategic Objectives
* We will deliver safe, high quality integrated care services.
* We will enable each other to be the best that we can.
* We will work together with our partners to make our services better.
* We will help our communities to thrive.
Job Overview
An opportunity has arisen for a Practitioner Psychologist to take a senior role in our team of supportive and innovative Adult Community Psychology practitioners. We work closely in integrated MDTs across the Colchester and Tendring areas of North East Essex.
We have the equivalent of 1.4 full-time posts available, giving the opportunity for interested applicants to discuss flexibility in working patterns including part-time hours, job share etc. We require each post holder to work a minimum of 0.6 WTE to ensure they are able to fulfil the required roles within the service at this level.
In addition to offering high quality assessment, formulation, and intervention to the users of the service, the successful applicant will be involved in providing training and consultation to the MDT and other agencies. They will contribute to the development of a trauma-informed and responsive service in line with the Trust's objectives.
They will be joining a well-established multi-disciplinary team and will be part of the senior leadership team within the service. They will take a lead in the clinical running of part of the service, and as such will be encouraged and supported in the further development of their leadership and management skills.
Main Duties of the Job
The Principal Psychologist is responsible for ensuring the systematic provision of a high standard psychology service to adults within the Specialist Community Mental Health Teams, working closely with the Consultant Clinical Psychologist Lead for the service.
This will require a range of specialist skills and competencies in order to deliver highly specialist psychological assessment and treatment of people with complex mental health needs, often in the context of high levels of risk. In addition, the post holder will offer advice and consultation on clients’ psychological care to other professionals, carers, and those otherwise involved in client care.
The post holder will be responsible for:
* Continually delivering and maintaining high standards
* Leadership and development of others
* Ensuring targets and standards are achieved
* Building trust and developing relationships to ensure service user involvement
* Ensuring information is managed and applied appropriately and effectively
* Championing improvement through effective change management
* Ensuring equality and diversity values underpin the day-to-day working of the practice area.
Working for Our Organisation
EPUT is looking for motivated staff who share our Trust values of Care, Learn and Empower. In return, EPUT can offer you a range of benefits and development including:
* Season Ticket Loans
* NHS discounts for staff
* Excellent Training facilities and opportunities
* Buying and Selling annual leave scheme
* The opportunity to work bank shifts and expand knowledge and experience in other areas
* Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work
* Day One Flexible Employer
The Trust supports and actively encourages flexible working for all employees. We offer many options and you are encouraged to ask the recruiting manager what is possible for this role. If appointed, you will have the opportunity to apply for a flexible working request from the first day of your employment.
Detailed Job Description and Main Responsibilities
To work autonomously within professional guidelines to provide a high-quality specialist psychology service to service users, their families, and other professionals/services involved in the life and care of service users. To ensure that effective, tailored, evidence-based psychological assessments and interventions are delivered to service users and their families. To deliver interventions underpinned by evidence-based practice, NICE guidance, and DH guidance. To be responsible for the delivery of a high-quality specialist psychology service by means of supervising, organising and managing lower graded staff.
To be responsible for utilising relevant standardised assessment tools, when clinically appropriate and sensible. To be responsible for utilising standardised assessment tools ethically and in compliance with professional guidelines.
To be responsible for monitoring and evaluating psychological interventions and assisting and advising on how to monitor and evaluate other non-psychological interventions, when appropriate and required.
To work in collaboration with colleagues, teams and other services towards the overall provision of evidence-based, cost-effective, direct and indirect interventions to service users, and other stakeholders. To actively contribute to the decision-making process of how resources are utilised effectively and efficiently.
To actively participate, with other senior colleagues, in the continuing development and improvement of services, teams, projects, interventions, and clinical pathways. Take a lead role in guiding the Trust in its compliance with NICE guidelines and DH guidelines. Take a lead role in the development, improvement and review of practices, policies, interventions, and initiatives. To take a lead role in the process of reviewing how services, teams, projects and interventions work. To carry out audits by means of guiding, supervising and organising others. Give expert clinical advice to management about the effectiveness of interventions and models of care.
To be responsible for the supervision and management of lower banded staff within the post holder’s professional group in line with agreed Trust HR processes. To monitor lower banded staff’s caseloads, face-to-face contacts, adherence to key performance indicators, mandatory training and supervision trackers.
To take up senior roles required by the Trust, including carrying out SI investigations, take up the role of FLO in SI investigations, liaise with HR when appropriate (e.g., recruitment, seeking clarifications about procedures, etc.), participate in new initiatives.
To deputise for the Head of Services in Adult Community Psychology when required.
Person Specification
Education/Knowledge/Qualifications
* Doctoral level training in clinical psychology or Counselling Psychology or equivalent for those who trained prior to 1996, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS.
* HCPC registration and Registered with a professional clinical body (BPS).
* Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.
* Post-qualification diploma or CPD courses relating to working with adults with complex mental health needs.
* Supervision training in specific models of therapy relevant to the client group.
Skills/Experience
* Evidence of competence and experience of working as a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist suitable for senior responsibilities including experience of training and supervising.
* Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g., personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc).
* Experience and skills in models of therapy and experience in application to complex mental health needs.
Personal
* Evidence of leadership and change management skills – ability to understand the wider implications of actions.
* Ability to travel across sites.
* Evidence of the ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
* Leadership/management training.
Please note - staff who are formally at risk within the organisation will be given priority in securing alternative employment. Should it come to light that a post being advertised by the Trust is considered ‘suitable alternative employment’ to an individual who is at risk, the recruiting manager will be advised and the post will be withdrawn from NHS Jobs.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.
Important Professional References
Make sure that as a part of your application you have professional references with business contract information covering your last three-year employment history. We are unable to accept personal or character references.
As a newly appointed employee, you are responsible for incurring the cost of your initial DBS check relevant to your post, the amount will be deducted from your first salary with the Trust.
Applications for Job Share are positively welcomed.
Our Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We particularly welcome applications from people with experience of using mental health services. We also hold the Disability two-tick symbol and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with learning disabilities, we encourage people with a disability to apply. If you require this application form in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape etc, please contact the Recruitment Department on 01375 364513 or email epunft.recruitment.adverts@nhs.net and we can arrange for this to be dispatched to you.
The Trust has the right to expire vacancies prior to the closing date if they so wish. The Trust makes every attempt to contact all applicants and we strongly advise that you check the email account which is registered with NHS Jobs regularly, we would advise however due to the high number of applications we receive that if you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expect all staff to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to robust safer recruitment processes.
Although Covid vaccinations are no longer a mandatory requirement within the NHS we continue to encourage and support the vaccination uptake as this remains the best line of defence against Covid19. The safety of our staff and patients is a top priority for us at EPUT.
If you would like to book a Covid vaccination or would like more information please contact us by emailing epunft.cv19hr@nhs.net.
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.
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