Job overview
We are seeking a Band 4 Assistant Psychologist to join our Mental Health Liaison Team, recently awarded 'team of the year' in our local staff awards. The successful candidate will work to support and enhance the psychological care of people within the acute hospital through the delivery of effective and evidence-based psychological assessment and interventions.
An interest in working with people in crisis and those with physical health conditions which are interacting with and impacting emotional well-being is essential. The successful candidate will work under the supervision of a qualified psychologist and will have access to relevant CPD opportunities. You will assist in the delivery of clinically related administration, including clinical audit, service evaluation and research. You will also support the qualified psychologist in teaching and project work.
The post is part time ( hours) and flexible working requests will be considered to support a good work-life balance. People who join our team will demonstrate an attitude which respects and values people and their loved ones, in line with the culture of compassionate and trauma informed care, and will embrace the core values of GMMH.
Main duties of the job
1. To support qualified psychologists by undertaking psychological assessments of clients applying psychologically based psychometric tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client's care.
2. To assist in the formulation and delivery of interventions involving the psychological treatment and/or management of a client's problems, under the supervision of a qualified practitioner psychologist, in settings appropriate to the specialty work.
3. Having received instruction through supervision, to provide one-to-one interventions with service users, working autonomously within the limits of this instruction and within personal competence.
4. To use a degree of initiative and work independently with service users on planned work, and to exercise judgement based on good practice (NICE guidance) and local operating procedures.
5. To work with potentially distressing material in relation to service users' personal histories and presentation, including risk to self and others.
6. Preparing agreed assessment reports accurately in the accepted format.
7. To coordinate and facilitate therapeutic groups.
8. Where required, to work with other staff to assess people's needs and review their records of care in preparation for multi-disciplinary reviews.
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
Knowledge, training and education
Essential criteria
8. An honours degree in that satisfies the British Psychological Society criteria for Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership
9. Work experience in any organisation
10. Experience of research methodology, data collection, analysis and report writing
Desirable criteria
11. Experience and training in areas relevant to psychological practice, mental health and / or research design and analysis
12. Knowledge of Psychological Therapies, NICE guidelines, policies and legislation relevant to recovery based services.
Experience
Essential criteria
13. Experience working with people with mental health difficulties (paid or unpaid)
Desirable criteria
14. Experience of working in NHS services
15. Experience of working with people in crisis
16. Experience of working with people across the lifespan
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.