Main area
Clinical Psychologist Older Adults
Grade
Band 8b
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Part time hours per week
Job ref
373-SMH2461
Site
Countess of Chester Health Park
Town
Chester
Salary
£55,690 - £74,896 8a development post unless meets 8b JD criteria fully
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
15/10/2025 23:59
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen to recruit to our Step 4 Primary Psychological Therapies Service working with older people. The successful applicant will be expected to lead in the development of the older adult psychology provision locally and more widely within CWP in line with national strategy drivers including the NHS 10-year plan. The service has established links with the three local universities (Liverpool, Lancaster, and Manchester) providing ample opportunity to develop supervisory skills, support trainees with research projects/audits/service evaluations and input into the teaching programmes.
The service has established links with the three local universities (Liverpool, Lancaster, and Manchester) providing ample opportunity to develop supervisory skills, support trainees with research projects/audits/service evaluations and input into the teaching programmes.
Applicants would be encouraged to apply for the 8a/b development to develop the competencies required as clinical lead. We have an logbook and clear pathway in place against which to measure competencies gained and a process to review. We would be keen to support training particularly in the field of clinical neuropsychology as and when funding can be secured and if appropriate.
Main duties of the job
The Older Adult Step 4 Psychology Team is part of the stepped care model in Primary Care. We have close working relationships and links with the other steps in the service and teams with which we have overlap within the trust, for example the Talking Therapies Service and the Community Mental Health Team for Older People (which includes the memory clinic). We provide assessment (including neuropsychological assessment), consultation, and therapeutic interventions (both individual and group) to older people referred to our service. We are a supportive, enthusiastic team who meet regularly to share ideas around service development and delivery. We recognise individuality and are keen to aid team members in developing their clinical, professional and leadership skills, via appropriate continual professional development opportunities.
The post holder will be expected to work towards gaining the necessary skills to enable them to take a lead in service evaluations and ensure high standards of clinical effectiveness and clinical governance.
The post holder will be expected to work towards providing clinical, management and professional supervision to other qualified psychological practitioners in the team and support the Professional Lead for Step 4 in ensuring the provision of high quality, responsive psychological interventions are provided to the older adult population, whilst upholding to professional standards and clinical governance.
Working for our organisation
Cheshire and Wirral Partnership (CWP) provides health and care services for a population of over one million people, including mental health, learning disability, community physical health and all-age disability care, as well as the provision of three GP surgeries in Cheshire.
We employ around 4,500 staff across 73 sites and have services across Wirral and Cheshire, as well as Trafford, Warrington, Bolton, Halton, Liverpool and Stockport.
Our aim is to help improve the lives of everyone in our communities, adopting a compassionate, person-centred approach to everything we do. We are rated as Outstanding for Caring by the Care Quality Commission, with a Good rating overall.
As a Disability Confident Employer, Rainbow Badge Scheme member, Veteran Aware organisation and proud holder of the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award, CWP is committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible and developing a culture that values differences, and welcome applications from people who have direct experience of accessing our services.
All new starters will commence in post on one fixed start date each month, in line with our Prepare to Care (P2C) induction programme date. P2C offers up to 3 weeks training to support you to meet the induction / initial training requirements of the role.
Whether you are just starting out in your career or looking to use your existing skills and experience in a new role, you'll find something to suit you at CWP.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The successful applicant would need to liaise with the relevant voluntary sectors, and professional bodies such as the HCPC/BPS/DCP/FPOP to liaise with the Professional Lead to ensure that any psychological or organisational matters that arise can be addressed.
The post holder will be responsible for providing assessments, formulations, and therapeutic interventions (both individually and in group format) to people with complex psychological and mental health difficulties. Neuropsychological assessment is a significant part of this role, applicants must be confident in the interpretation and dissemination of highly complex information. The post holder will also support the wider team to develop psychological understandings of people's difficulties through consultation, supervision, and training.
The post holder will be joining an established and growing team with clear job plans and continued opportunities for training and development across the service.
The service currently offers flexible working with a mixture of both remote and face to face encouraged.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
* Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996)
* HCPC registration
* Additional Psychotherapy qualification relevant to working with older adult clients with complex psychological and mental health difficulties.
Desirable criteria
* Post graduate diploma in clinical neuropsychology
Knowledge and Expertise
Essential criteria
* Knowledge of and skills in working with older people presenting with longstanding and complex and specialist needs
* Knowledge of and skills in conducting complex psychological assessment and intervention frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
* Skills in completing neuropsychological and psychometric assesssments, interpreting and reporting the results, and communicating this complex information sensitively and clearly.
* Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex and /or clinically sensitive information to clients and professional colleagues within and outside the NHS.
* Evidence of continuing professional development.
* Skills in providing Consultation to other professionals and nonprofessional groups.
* Evidence of supervisor training/qualification
* Experience of supervising Assistant Psychologists, other psychological practitioners and/or MDT colleagues in psychological approaches.
* Experience of research, audit/service evaluation.
Desirable criteria
* Ability to apply psychological knowledge creatively in developing new initiatives
* Knowledge of legislation in relation to the older adult population.
* Formal leadership/management training.
Experience
Essential criteria
* Experience of working as a clinical psychologist therapeutically with adult clients with varied complex, psychological and mental health difficulties.
* Experience of working within uni and muliti-professional teams.
* Experience of engaging and sustaining work with ambivalent clients.
* Experience of exercising clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care,
* Experience of providing teaching and training.
Desirable criteria
* Experience of liaison with other health professionals.
* Evidence of contributing to policy and service development.
* Experience of managing others.
Applicant requirements
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.
Further details / informal visits contact
Name
Lisa Hulmes
Job title
Consultant Clinical Psychologist
Email address
Telephone number
Additional information
Please contact Lisa for more information or a visit to the team
If you consider yourself Neurodivergent and need help to complete your application form, please contact
or telephone