Job overview
8A Practitioner Psychologist (
Band 7 preceptorship may be available
We are excited to advertise this post within The Christie Hospital Psycho-Oncology department. This role would be suitable for applicants with previous experience of working within physical health settings (ideally cancer), but a preceptorship (commencing at Band 7) would be considered for less experienced candidates who have undertaken clinical roles in a relevant physical health setting ( training placement during doctoral course).
You will join the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) supporting patients with cancer, and you will have support from a principal clinical psychologist already in post, as well as the support of other psycho-oncology team members. The role includes the possibility of training and supervision of non-psychology staff in screening for and working with emotional distress associated with living with and beyond cancer.
The role compromises direct clinical work, as well as MDT working and there will be opportunities to participate in system-level thinking and working around how to improve psychological aspects of cancer care across the Christie Hospital and Greater Manchester.
Main duties of the job
·Post-holder must be able to form and sustain good and collaborative working relationships, using skills for formulation to help inform patient care, as well as the MDT approach.
·Work flexibly and creatively with physical complexity, at times aligning therapeutic approach with other disciplines
·Direct and indirect working, as well as contributing directly into particular difficulties faced by groups of patients within the service as they arise.
·Ability to communicate and inform care beyond the immediate MDT to support patients in their pathways with other services (including mental health services) due to physical complexity/comorbidities.
·Opportunities for service evaluation/audit/research, which the team places value on
·The service also offers ‘in-house’ teaching/education sessions which the post-holder will be supported to attend and contribute to
Working for our organisation
Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) Foundation Trust employs over 7000 members of staff, who deliver services from more than 122 locations.
We provide inpatient and community-based mental health care for people living in Bolton, the city of Manchester, Salford, Trafford and the borough of Wigan, and a wide range of specialist mental health and substance misuse services across Greater Manchester, the north west of England and beyond.
Greater Manchester is one of the world's most innovative, original and exciting places to live and work. From the beauty of the surrounding countryside to the heart of the vibrant inner city with great shopping, entertainment and dining options.
Wherever you go you will experience a great northern welcome with people famed for their warmth, humour and generosity.
Our people enjoy their work, have opportunities to learn and develop their skills and are encouraged to generate new ideas that improve care for our service users.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see attached job description and person specification
Staff benefits
1. Pay Enhancements
2. 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays rising to 29 after 5 years and 33 days after 10 years
3. Excellent pension
4. Cycle to work scheme
5. Salary sacrifice car scheme
6. Wellbeing programme
7. fuelGenie Fuel Cards (for applicable roles)
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
8. •Professional qualification in Clinical/Counselling/Health Psychology at doctoral level (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS.
9. •Registration as a clinical/counselling/health psychologist with the HCPC
Desirable criteria
10. •Training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological relevance ( staff training, research methodology, and / or other fields of applied psychology)
Experience
Essential criteria
11. •Experience of working with client groups in a physical health setting, presenting with the full range of clinical severity. This includes maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the possible threat of physical abuse. (less experienced candidates will be appointed at Band 7 and work towards 8A competencies)
12. •Experience of working as a qualified clinical/counselling/health psychologist (less experienced candidates will be appointed at Band 7 and work towards 8A competencies)
13. •Experience in the application of cognitive-behavioural approaches to clinical settings.
14. •Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients’ psychological care and treatment
15. •Experience of working within a multidisciplinary team
Desirable criteria
16. •Experience of working within medical/surgical environments, delivering evidenced based psychological interventions to clients with physical health conditions such as Psycho-oncology.
17. •Experience of providing supervision and training
Knowledge
Essential criteria
18. •Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology
19. •Knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies
Desirable criteria
20. •Knowledge of legislation in relation to clients of the Psycho-oncology service, and of relevant mental health legislation.
Skills
Essential criteria
21. •Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
22. •Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
23. •Ability to use own initiative and to work under supervision where appropriate
24. •Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team and to liaise effectively with other professionals
Desirable criteria
25. •Skills in providing consultation to other professionals and non-professional groups
Other
Essential criteria
26. •Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
Desirable criteria
27. •Experience of working within a multicultural framework
The Trust mandates all post holders who require a DBS for their role to subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will be required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration throughout your employment with GMMH.
Applicants are encouraged to apply for posts at Greater Manchester Mental Health who have direct experience of mental health, learning disability or drug and alcohol services either as a service user or a carer.
The Trust is also committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and requires all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
We are aspiring to ensure our workforce is representative of the diverse communities that we serve, and we are strongly committed to removing barriers to employment for candidates from under-represented groups, for example BAME, Disabled and LGBT+ communities. If you would like to have an informal chat about the recruitment process for this role or would value some additional support, we’d love to hear from you.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) when writing job applications
A candidate may utilise the help of AI when writing job application. The assessment of an application is made on its entirety and most times AI-generated content does not fully grasp the context and requirements of the job one applies for thus producing inaccurate and misleading information, especially in the supporting statement section of an application that can lack real life examples of one’s achievements, success and challenges.
We have added a disclaimer to our application process advising that the use of AI is monitored. GMMH reserves the right to follow up with a candidate at the interview on specific responses and those examples used in the supporting statement to explore it further.
Sponsorship
We are proud to be an approved sponsor for the Skilled Worker visa. Applications from individuals who require sponsorship will be considered alongside all other applications. Please be aware that not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible roles and salary requirements on the UK Government’s website – click .
If you are offered a role with us and you require sponsorship, we will check your eligibility in line with the information on the above website. Your offer of employment could be withdrawn if the role is not eligible for sponsorship, and you are not otherwise able to evidence your right to work in the UK.
The Home Office introduces new changes from 22/07/2025 that impact the health and care sector, you may wish to familiarise with it.
Do you have experience outside the NHS?
We want to attract and retain people with diverse skills and experience, to deliver inclusive healthcare services to our communities.
We will consider relevant experience outside the NHS to calculate your salary on appointment.