Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.
The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for five consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.
Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video
Job overview
Cancer Psychological Therapies are excited to recruit a psychological professional with a strong interest in working psychologically with people diagnosed with cancer to our small and friendly team. We are a busy service staffed by psychological professionals enthusiastic about and committed to providing high-quality and compassionate psychological care to patients diagnosed with cancer within Queens Hospital and King George Hospital. We welcome applicants new to working in oncology and are keen to support professional development in this field.
Main duties of the job
The post-holder will be expected to manage an individual caseload of patients with cancer referred to the service, providing specialist psychological assessments and interventions, both for in-patients and out-patients. They will work closely with colleagues in Cancer Psychological Therapies to manage the waiting list, including offering triage assessments and patient workshops, and ensure risk assessment and management plans are up-to-date and adhered to. They will work collaboratively with colleagues in their team, as well as within the wider oncology services and Trusts as part of providing excellent holistic care for patients. They will be supported to develop working relationships other psychological professionals across Clinical Health Psychological Services and North-East London Cancer Alliance. They will need to be able to routinely travel to both Queens Hospital and King George Hospital. They will attend regular supervision and line management as part of their role.
Working for our organisation
Our Values 2025 - 2030
Working with our colleagues, patients and carers we have co-produced three new values that we aim to embed within our culture here at NELFT.
They are:
1. We are kind.
2. We are respectful.
3. We work together with our communities.
These three values help us to strive to provide the best care by the best people.
Probationary Period
This post will be subject to a probationary period.
Starting with Us
NELFT places great importance on new starters being properly welcomed into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks, including mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process, new starters will also have the opportunity to meet the executive team, senior managers, and attend several drop-in sessions focusing on engagement, health and wellbeing, and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.
High Cost Area Supplement - Outer London
This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (with a minimum of £4,313 to a maximum of £5,436 pro rata for part time).
High Cost Area Supplement - Fringe
This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 5% of the basic salary (with a minimum of £1,192 to a maximum of £2,011 pro rata for part time).
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The post holder will be responsible for supporting the provision of a qualified psychological service to patients living with a cancer diagnosis referred to Cancer Psychological Therapies. This will include providing specialist psychological assessment and therapeutic engagement support to cancer patients under the care of BHRUT as well as the design and delivery of individual and group interventions. Offering clinical supervision, teaching, training and consultation on patients’ psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues as appropriate. The post holder should demonstrate the ability to work flexibly and autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the team’s policies and procedures; work effectively with colleagues within Cancer Psychological Therapies and within the Oncology department at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals, and the broader Clinical Health Psychological Services at NELFT; utilise evidence-based outcome measures and treatment approaches to ensure a consistent and high level of quality is provided to by Cancer Psychological Therapies. They will have a commitment to collaborative working and actively supporting and liaising with other health and social professionals and agencies.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
4. HCPC Registration as a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist or psychotherapist.
5. Completion of a recognised qualification as a psychologist, psychotherapist or counsellor.
Experience
Essential criteria
6. Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across a range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and inpatient settings, within the NHS.
7. Experience of delivering psychological therapy to a wide variety of client groups, ages, contexts and presenting problems, reflecting the full range of clinical severity.
8. Experience working managing a caseload and clinical throughput.
9. Experience working with mental health issues and risk.
10. Experience of teaching, training, and/or supervision.
Desirable criteria
11. Experience of delivering psychological therapy in physical health services.
12. Experience of delivering psychological therapy in Oncology services.
Knowledge
Essential criteria
13. An awareness of NHS priorities.
14. Knowledge and enthusiasm for working psychologically with people with cancer.
Desirable criteria
15. Knowledge of Level 2 training and supervision.
Skills
Essential criteria
16. Basic awareness of IT and IT skills.
17. Good knowledge of patient record systems and clinical functions related to this such as risk planning, clinical harm reviews and care planning.
18. Ability to work clinically within broader clinical health psychology areas beyond oncology.
19. Ability to maintain a high degree of professionalism and competence when presented with complex, emotive and distressing problems.
20. Ability to work with autonomy and flexibility within the bounds of the job description and professional competence.
Benefits
We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:
21. A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
22. A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
23. Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
24. Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.