We are delighted to announce an exciting opportunity for a permanent Principal Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical, Counselling, Forensic) to join our Oldham Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team (CRHTT), based at Royal Oldham Hospital.
Grade: NHS AfC: Band 8b. Contract: Permanent, 0.8 WTE. Hours: 30 hours per week. Site: Royal Oldham Hospital, Town Oldham. Salary £66,582 – £77,368 per annum (pro rata). Job ref 311‑O729‑26‑B.
This is a key leadership role within our dynamic and supportive service, at a time of significant new investment in the crisis pathway, supporting the transformation of our existing Home Treatment Teams into CRHTTs.
Main duties of the job
- Provide consultation and formulation to colleagues within the CRHTT.
- Provide a qualified specialist psychology service for people referred to the CRHTT care pathway.
- Provide specialist assessment, formulation and interventions for a clinical caseload.
- Provide psychological leadership to the CRHTT care pathway and work systemically across services to develop a psychological understanding and context for other professionals, service users and carers.
- Lead the psychological CRHTT provision within the borough and support the Trust‑wide acute pathway when needed, ensuring equity in provision and service.
- Propose and implement evidence‑based practice, utilising research skills for audit and service developments.
- Enhance psychological understanding and skill set through delivery of training, supervision and reflective practice, including links with local universities and providing placements for trainee Psychologists.
- Be an integral part of local and national initiatives to improve care quality, e.g. inpatient transformation, community transformation care in the community and reducing admissions.
Working for our organisation
Our acute pathway provides an evidence‑based, high‑quality service across adult acute wards, PICUs, Home Treatment Teams and Mental Health Liaison Teams covering half of Greater Manchester. The Trust‑wide acute psychology team meets regularly for meetings, CPD and facilitated reflective group and has leadership from a Clinical Lead.
We are passionate about staff well‑being and compassionate leadership. In the latest national NHS Staff Survey (2024) Pennine Care was ranked as the best mental health and learning disability trust in the North.
Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the top of our agenda. We know a diverse, inclusive and engaged culture is vital; everyone's value should be recognised and respected.
Benefits
- Generous annual leave entitlement for Agenda for Change staff.
- Involvement in improvement and research activities.
- Health and Wellbeing activities and access to an excellent staff wellbeing service.
- Access to staff discounts across retail, leisure and travel.
Person specification
Education / Qualifications
- Doctoral‑level training in clinical psychology (including specific models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychological assessments, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan development psychology as accredited by the BPS or postgraduate training in Forensic Psychology or Counselling Psychology).
- Current registration as a Clinical, Forensic or Counselling Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council.
- Completion of further post‑qualification training within psychological therapies (e.g., DBT, CBT, CAT, CFT, MBT, etc.).
- Completion of further post‑qualification training in supervision.
Experience
- Demonstrable post‑qualification experience of specialist psychological assessment, formulation and treatment of adult clients experiencing psychological difficulties.
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course, presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
- Demonstratable post‑qualification experience of working with complex mental health problems, including distressing psychosis, problems associated with complex relational and emotional needs and severe depression, anxiety and trauma.
- Demonstratable experience of working with people experiencing a suicidal crisis.
- Demonstratable experience of working with an MDT.
- Experience of clinical leadership within a previous role.
- Demonstratable experience of providing clinical supervision to psychologists, psychological practitioners or other core health professions.
- Demonstratable experience of providing teaching/training upon clinical interventions.
- Demonstratable experience of managing demand for psychological services within a form of stepped‑care framework (i.e. an approach based upon the provision of direct care and supporting other professionals in their provision of psychosocial work).
- Experience of delivering brief interventions to meet need.
- Experience of clinical leadership.
- Experience of working within an acute service setting.
- Ability to demonstrate further specialist clinical experience and training.
- Experience of audit and service evaluation within psychological therapy services.
- Research experience within an area relevant to work within an adult service.
- Demonstratable experience of the application of psychological therapy in diverse cultural and ethnic contexts.
Knowledge
- Understanding of the national and regional legislation, guidance and policy directives in relation to the development and delivery of psychological therapies within acute services.
- Evidence of post‑qualification CPD as recommended by the HCPC, the BPS or other professional body.
- Up‑to‑date knowledge of the needs of people with complex mental health problems and of psychological approaches to recovery.
- Awareness of the principles of a trauma‑informed care approach.
- Familiarity with computing technology, including keyboard skills and use of word‑processing, e‑mail and internet software.
- Well‑developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies and approaches for adults with complex mental health problems.
- Publication of training, service evaluation, clinical audit and research material.
Skills and abilities
- Ability to work with service users, carers and families to engage with their needs and provide them with appropriate psychological support and intervention.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non‑professional groups.
- Skills in working within an MDT to bring and share a psychological understanding of distress.
- Well‑developed, effective communication skills, both oral and in writing, enabling complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to be shared with service users, their families, carers and other professional colleagues within the NHS and other agencies.
- Ability to prioritise work, operate a waiting list, meet short deadlines and an unpredictable work pattern that requires regular revision of plans.
- Ability to sit in a constrained position for service user assessment, formulation and individual and group therapy sessions and for computer work.
- Ability to work at a high level of professional autonomy and responsibility, in a collaborative multi‑disciplinary environment and also as a lone worker in circumstances where there may be exposure to verbal and sometimes physical aggression.
- Able to sustain the intense concentration necessary for service user assessment and formulation, individual and group therapy sessions.
- Ability to work and communicate highly sensitive, contentious information effectively in a highly emotive or hostile atmosphere, and to overcome barriers to acceptance / psychological resistance to potentially threatening information.
- Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to staff and carers exposed to highly distressing situations.
- 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.
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi‑media materials, suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
- Ability to demonstrate an area of special interest / skill in therapeutic intervention.
- Ability to move equipment (including case files, neuropsychological tests, self‑help materials, audiovisual equipment) between office base and other work settings.
Work related circumstances
- Use of a car or access to a means of mobility to travel across the Trust footprint in line with service needs.
- Willing to carry out all duties and responsibilities of the post in accordance with the Trust’s Equal Opportunities and Equality and Diversity policies.
- Appointments to regulated and controlled activities require an enhanced DBS disclosure.
Applicants are required to have appropriate UK professional registration.
