Practitioner psychologist (clinical, forensic or counselling)

Employer Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Bracken House Town Nottinghamshire Salary £57,528 - £64,750 per annum (pro rata for part time) Salary period Yearly Closing 15/06/2026 23:59

Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical, Forensic or Counselling)

Band 8a

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Job overview

The Psychology service for the Nottinghamshire Adult Mental Health Inpatient settings provides high quality psychological assessment, advice and intervention within local adult open and locked rehabilitation wards.

We are seeking a Qualified Psychologist with a keen interest in enduring adult mental health to join our enthusiastic and supportive MDT. The rehabilitation inpatient roles form part of the Acute Care Network which consists of a team of Qualified Practitioner Psychologists, Assistants and Trainees. We pride ourselves on taking care of one another and nurturing personal and occupational wellbeing and growth. As a close knit and supportive team, we recognise the importance of one another’s lives out of work and are considerate and flexible of the personal responsibilities that individuals hold. Recognising individuals’ strengths, ambitions for CPD, and learning are all high priorities for the leadership team and opportunities for specialist training are supported financially and logistically. The post is line managed within the profession and clinical supervision will be provided by a senior psychologist in the service. This fixed term maternity cover post is suitable for recently qualified individuals or those with some experience who are interested in gaining experience in a rehabilitation setting.

Main duties of the job

Bracken House is a locked rehabilitation unit for men and women aged between 18 and 65 and those over 65 who are already accessing adult mental health services. Bracken House supports patients with mental health difficulties through a period of recovery. This allows them to achieve their potential in physical and mental wellbeing, work, education and social networks and activities.

The post holder will work together to provide psychological assessment and a range of therapeutic modalities to a complex client group. The post holders will need to be highly motivated and able to work with complex cases, provide consultancy and supervision but within the guidelines, policies and procedures of the department and the Trust. They will need to be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council, or eligible for registration, and able to meet the travel needs associated with the post.

Working for our organisation

#TeamNottsHC comprises over 11,000 dedicated colleagues who #MakeADifference every day. We deliver intellectual disability, mental health, community health, forensic, and offender healthcare services across Nottinghamshire,Leicestershire,Lincolnshire, and South Yorkshire. Our care is provided from over 200 sites, spanning community locations, acute settings, and secure environments, including prisons.

We are one of the largest mental health and community Trusts in the East Midlands and one of Nottinghamshire's biggest employers. We also host national and regional services, such as the National High Secure Deaf Service and the Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health.

We offer a variety of employee‑led staff networks, including Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) groups, the Green Champions network, the Freedom to Speak Up network, the Health and Wellbeing Champions network, and the Menopause Champions network. These networks play a vital role in supporting our diverse workforce and promoting a culture of inclusivity.

The health and wellbeing of our colleagues is a top priority. We invest significantly in this through our in‑house occupational health and staff counselling services, supported by a dedicated Health and Wellbeing team.

The Trust is committed to reducing its carbon emissions, with a specialised Energy and Environmental team working to ensure compliance with environmental legislation, enhance our environmental performance, and achieve our net‑zero commitment.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

This post holders will provide a full range of psychological support and leadership of psychological interventions to both Bracken House and 145 Thorneywood Mount our locked and open recovery units within Adult Mental Health services. The post holders will also contribute to audit, research, teaching, consultation, policy and service development within the rehab wards and the wider Adult Mental Health Service.

The main responsibilities of the job are:

• To provide a highly specialist clinical psychology service to the staff, patients and carers involved with the Rehabilitation Wards.
• To offer advice and consultation on clients’ psychological care to staff from other disciplines and non‑professional carers.
• To work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the rehabilitation inpatient settings.
• To utilise research skills for audit and research and contribute to policy and service development across Adult Mental Health.
• To undertake relevant teaching, training and supervision both within the rehabilitation wards as well as more broadly across AMH as appropriate.

For further details please see full job description attached.

Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. The cost of the DBS application is £26.40 (standard) or £54.40 (enhanced), this cost will be deducted from your salary over the first 2 months of employment.

You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. An annual fee of £16 per year applies.

A full UK driving licence and vehicle for business use is required for this post; however reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled individuals in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Person specification

Qualifications

• HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Post‑doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice
• Trained in clinical supervision and the supervision of doctoral trainees
• Post‑doctoral training in one or more specialisms

Experience

• Working as an applied psychologist within the designated service including a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and a range of clinical severity across a range of care settings
• Exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care as a care coordinator within the context of a multidisciplinary team
• Teaching, training, and clinical supervision and field supervisor for doctoral theses
• Research and development
• Quality and service improvement and evaluation
• Experience of joint working with statutory, voluntary and private sector agencies
• Experience of working with individuals with neurodevelopmental difficulties

Knowledge

• Doctoral level knowledge of evidence‑based practice relevant to the role, risk assessment and risk management, clinical governance, legislation in relation to the client group and mental health, audit and research methodology, social inclusion agenda
• Knowledge of trauma informed approaches

Skills

• Communicate highly complex and highly sensitive information effectively, to a wide range of people
• Adapt creatively the evidence base for interventions in mental health for clients with communication difficulties/learning disabilities
• Provide effective teaching, training and clinical supervision for the multidisciplinary team
• Work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team and undertake care coordination/lead practitioner responsibilities
• Undertake complex multi‑agency working and liaise with multiple systems
• Utilise psychometric tests competently
• Identify, provide and promote appropriate interventions/means of support for carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and challenging behaviours
• Utilise appropriate clinical governance mechanisms within own work
• Use multimedia materials for presentations in professional, academic and public settings

Contractual Requirement

• A full UK driving licence and vehicle for business use is required for this post; however reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled individuals in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Additional Information

• We reserve the right to close the post early once we have received a sufficient number of applicants.
• The Trust believes in treating everyone with dignity and respect and encourages applications from all sectors of the community. We guarantee an interview to candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum essential criteria.
• In submitting an application form, you authorise Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to confirm from your previous or current NHS employer and other prior employers; previous NHS service details and personal data held about you. This data will be transferred using NHS Electronic Staff Record and third party systems via an automated process and only used for the purposes of obtaining and maintaining accurate employment records, should you be appointed to the post. Should you require any further information please refer our Privacy Policy shown on the Trust website, please click here for more information.
• For eligible posts, DBS disclosures are mandatory before commencement of employment. If you are in a position that is deemed a regulated adult and/or child care role, you will not be able to start your employment until we have received a satisfactory DBS Disclosure. The Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Convictions which would otherwise be considered as 'spent' will also be checked as part of an Enhanced DBS Disclosure.

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.

Darren Whitford (Bracken House, 1 Heather Clos, Mansfield ) - 01623 404611

If you have problems applying, contact

Address Duncan Macmillan House
Porchester Road
Mapperley
Nottingham
Nottinghamshire
NG3 6AA
Telephone 0115 671 4610 - Bank Team