Employer Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Riverside Lodge Town Birmingham Salary £55,690 - £62,682 per annum (pro rata) Salary period Yearly Closing 12/11/2025 23:59 Interview date 20/11/2025
Band 8a Clinical Psychologist Preceptorship
Band 8a
Job overview
***This job advert will close as soon as sufficient applications have been received. Please apply for this job as soon as you can, if interested***
Band 8A Post
Clinical/Counselling/Forensic Psychologist
Community Learning Disabilities Team
Learning Disabilities Division
1.0 WTE
We would welcome applications from Band 8a Clinical/Counselling/Forensic Psychologists
We are looking for creative, innovative and enthusiastic Clinical/Counselling/Forensic Psychologists to deliver clinical services within our Community Learning Disabilities Team in the Learning Disabilities Division.
You will deliver specialist psychological assessments and therapy, for individuals, groups and families as well as consultation to professionals. We pride ourselves on our compassionate and inclusive ways of working, which seek to reduce the risk of inpatient admission and associated trauma. We aim to improve the quality of life of clients, whilst emphasising the value of relationships and attachments with significant others.
Main duties of the job
Here is some feedback from trainees who have been on placement in the community team:
“the clients, close knit MDT and supportive supervisors make the community LD service a great place to work”
“lots of opportunities for getting involved with other aspects of the service, for example with staff wellbeing or the Service User Group”
“variety of interests within the psychology team which means you get to experience different models and perspectives. For example, there are opportunities to work systemically or from a trauma informed perspective”
We are currently working as a city-wide team and you will be expected to travel throughout Birmingham, with occasional out of area visits. However, you will be based at one of our hubs across the city (Kings Norton, Small Heath or Erdington), with the aim of predominantly working with clients in the local area. There may be opportunities for remote working within your working week, in balance with the needs of the MDT and our clients. We will consider requests for part-time working.
Working for our organisation
Be Part of Our Team...
BCHC has more than 5000 staff working across Birmingham and the West Midlands in a wide range of community nursing and specialist healthcare roles. BCHC delivers over 100 clinical services, in people's homes, health centres, clinics and inpatient facilities. We deliver a wide range of services for children, young people and families as well as adults and community services, two community hospitals, services for people with learning disabilities, the internationally recognised West Midlands Rehab Centre and one of Europe’s leading Dental Hospitals and School of Dentistry. We deliver all of this with a commitment to integrated, personalised care that is rooted in our local communities. We have an ambition to deliver outstanding, integrated care as one of the key NHS providers in the West Midlands.
If you want to ‘Be Part of Our Team’ and work with a Foundation Trust which is continuously striving for best care and healthy communities, we want to hear from you.
IMPORTANT
* Please ensure you check your Trac account regularly as this is how we will communicate with you during the shortlisting and selection process
* Please ensure all sections of the application form are completed fully. Please particularly ensure that you provide full details of all referees including business email address, telephone contact details and postal address
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
You will be joining an established group of friendly, committed, and supportive Psychologists, banded from 8C to 7, as well as Assistant Psychologists and trainees. We have psychology colleagues in the Intensive Support Team and Community Forensic Team. We utilise an exceptionally broad range of psychological models depending upon client need, including behavioural (primarily PBS), adapted CBT, systemic, narrative, ACT, CAT, attachment, CFT and EMDR. Working within our team would give you exposure to these models and additional training is actively encouraged using our Learning Beyond Registration scheme. We have developed a thriving family therapy/ staff consultation service and have links with local and national LD services.
Our psychologists work closely with colleagues within our leadership team and MDT to strive for care that is trauma informed, compassionate and formulation based. We facilitate rolling group interventions, including Emotion Regulation and Tree of Life groups. We support a small number of clients who are living with complex physical health conditions, pain and co-morbidity, in order to improve their quality of life and reduce health inequalities. As Birmingham is a diverse and multi-cultural community, we are mindful of the additional challenges that clients from marginalised communities may encounter when accessing our services. Our team is actively engaged in research; we are keen to facilitate opportunities for supervising doctoral research as well as smaller scale quality improvement projects.
Our service offers opportunities to develop clinical leadership skills, be involved with clinical projects and pathway development. The Psychology Service offers connection to and support from other psychologists through facilitated reflective practice groups, CPD events, forums and Special Interest Groups. There are strong links with the DClinPsy training course and the MSCi pathway at Birmingham University, as well as Coventry. There are opportunities for service user involvement work through our Service User Group. This challenges us to reflect upon and adapt our working practices and improve our clinical environment.
Key points to note
The relevant Band 8a Job Description and Person Specification is attached to this document .
For a discussion about the above post, you are very welcome to contact one of our senior Community LD psychologists: Dr Lisa Morris Consultant Clinical Psychologist at lisa.morris3@nhs.net or leave a message for Lisa on 0121 466 3900.
Person specification
Qualifications
* doctoral level in clinical psychology
* hcp registered
* qualifications in research/staff training/applied psychology
experience
* experience of specialist psychological assessments /treatment
* experience of working with a wide variety of client groups
skills/knowledge
* skills in use of complex psychological assessments
* self motivated
* ability to manage under pressure /tight deadlines /time management
other job requirements
* ability to teach/train others
* ability to work within a multicultural framework
* travel independently
* ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance
In accordance with UK Home Office requirements, Band 2 clinical and non-clinical roles and Band 3 Non-Clinical roles are not eligible for sponsorship.
Please note that the majority of non-clinical roles (Agenda for Change Band 3 - 6) with the exception of those which appear on this list - link, will not meet the minimum requirements set by UK Visas and Immigration to sponsor candidates to work in the UK.
All non-clinical roles (Agenda for Change Bands 7 - 9) that meet the prescribed skill level (RQF 6) and salary threshold will be eligible for sponsorship.
The Trust will accept applications from candidates who can evidence their right to work in the UK or via alternative visa routes.
Disability Confident Employer and Guaranteed Interview Scheme
BCHC offers a guaranteed interview to any candidate who is Disabled, Neurodiverse, has a hidden or long term health condition as recognised under the Equality Act 2010, providing they meet the essential criteria of the job role, as set out in the person specification. We encourage applicants to submit their applications and to request any reasonable adjustments where required.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
As part of our ongoing commitment to being a Great Place to Work, we actively foster and support a workplace culture that is inclusive and equitable for all staff, patients and service users.
We are dedicated to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels welcomed and valued. We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, including those with diverse abilities, experiences, and perspectives.
We are also dedicated to supporting the career progression of colleagues from underrepresented backgrounds into this role and more senior roles within the Division and the wider organisation.
Promoting Workforce Equality
In response to data held by BCHC which demonstrates that individuals from particular protected characteristics are under-represented, BCHC are striving to redress these imbalances. In order to this, the Trust is committed to the employment and career development of individuals with these protected characteristics. As part of this commitment and given this under-representation, the Trust guarantees an interview to any applicants from under-represented groups for positions at Band 8a and above whose application meets the essential criteria for the post as detailed on the Person Specification.
The Trust is currently under-represented in terms of people who identify as Black, Minority Ethnic (BME) and welcomes applicants from these communities. Selection will be on the basis of merit. In order to ensure the diversity of our workforce and understand the differing needs of our communities, the Trust is committed to the principles of Positive Action.
Flexible Working
Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BCHC) supports a variety of flexible working practices and, where possible (given our range of services and community settings) dependent upon the requirements associated with the role, will actively consider requests made and support these where practically possible. This may include hybrid patterns of working to enable colleagues to request the flexibility of a mixture of home/base working.
In accordance with the NHS People Promise, the Trust is committed to facilitating a healthy work/life balance that is essential to health and wellbeing and to making BCHC a ‘Great Place to Work’. We will be happy to discuss and consider all requests relating to working patterns and hours at your interview so please do ask!
Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust acknowledges Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Generative AI (GenAI) tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini etc; are powerful tools that can help you in various stages of your job application and how they can be used in certain circumstances during your application process with BCHC. You can read more about acceptable use on our internet pages here
Benefits of working for us:
* Full NHS terms and conditions including extensive holidays, Agenda for Change pay with enhancements
* Attractive relocation payment if you relocate to the local area.
* Discounts for local and national retailers
* Dedicated well-being services for all employees
* Flexible working where possible
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.
Application numbers
***This job advert will close as soon as sufficient applications have been received. Please apply for this job as soon as you can, if interested***
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