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Job summary

Main area
Learning Disabilities
Grade
Band 8c
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
351-SPS1422-MF
Employer
Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Water Meadow View
Town
Preston
Salary
£74,290 - £85,601 per annum
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
06/07/2025 23:59

Employer heading

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust logo

Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Band 8c

Our Vision is to provide the best mental health, learning disability, autism and community based services for the populations we serve.

As an integrated mental health, learning disability and community Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including:

•    Primary and secondary mental health care for children and adults including specialist inpatient child and adolescent mental health provision, perinatal mental health, forensic services including low and medium secure care.
•    Specialist community support for children and adults with learning disabilities and autism, including intensive support.
•    Community physical health and well-being services for children and adults.

The Trust was first established in 2002 and employs approximately 7,000 staff who provide care from more than 400 sites. The organisation offers opportunities for medics, mental health and general nurses, allied health professionals, psychology, administration and clerical staff, apprentices and volunteers.

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust supports flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as; term time, part time, compressed hours, home/remote working, and flexi-time.

For more information visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT.

Please note that further communication from Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCft) will normally be to the email address given on the application form. You should also ensure that email addresses and telephone numbers are provided for your referees, to enable LSCft to contact them.

Job overview

We are excited to announce a fantastic opportunity has arisen for an 8c Consultant Clinical Psychologist to be part of the senior leadership team for the brand new mental health Inpatient Learning Disability Services at Water Meadow View. This purpose built unit, which was collaboratively designed with service users, is due to open in November 2025 on our site in Whittingham, Preston. As we prepare for the opening we are recruiting to the senior leadership team in preparation for a start date for staff of October 2025.   

One of the Trust’s aims is to deliver the best possible care to our patients. Water Meadow View will offer trauma informed care, clinical excellence, support and safety with patient-centred care at its heart. Working in collaboration with the senior leadership team and MDT the successful post holder will be a leader in ensuring the delivery of psychologically informed high-quality, compassionate, evidence based care and patient experience.  

An experienced candidate is required to provide psychological leadership, strategic oversight, governance and clinical supervision, and to work closely with their counterparts in the community service to ensure continuity in the application of psychological input across the transition. This new post offers an opportunity to help develop a fantastic new psychologically informed service and make a real difference to service users, their carers and their families. 

Main duties of the job

We are seeking a dynamic and enthusiastic person with a range and depth of experience of working with service users with a learning disability. We are looking for candidates with experience in clinical leadership of psychology and non-psychology staff, expertise in risk assessment and formulation, experience of working with challenging behaviours, accreditation in at least one model of a relevant therapy, experience of consultation, experience of delivering supervision and either achieved approved clinician status or the ability/ willingness to work towards approved clinician status.  

The successful post holder would be expected to :

  • Work as a senior member of the service to assist in providing clinical leadership, supervision and strategic service development to the learning disability inpatient service.  
  • Work closely with other senior clinical and managerial staff within Water Meadow View to provide a psychological perspective to service planning, service development and clinical service delivery.  
  • Hold a clinical case load within the Learning disability Inpatient service.  
  • Contribute to LSCFT wide discussions regarding Learning Disability Inpatient Services 
  • Provide supervision to colleagues in the service and more junior psychology staff 
  • Provide consultation to colleagues and other services  
  • Provide training 
  • Provide governance/ oversight for interventions, referrals, waiting lists and clinical delivery.  
  • Provide psychological leadership

Working for our organisation

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including secondary mental health care across this area. Specialist provision comprises inpatient child and adolescent mental health services, perinatal mental health and forensic services including low and medium secure care.

The Trust also provides a range of physical health and well-being services in the community alongside a range of partners in the Lancashire, Cumbria and Sefton area. 

Lancashire & South Cumbria Foundation Trust encourages flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as; term time, part time, compressed hours, flexi-time and career breaks. We encourage applicants to state clearly on their application forms this request and discuss these options at interview.

For more information please visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For more details on this vacancy please review the attached job description and person specification.

For more information or an informal discussion please contact either: 

 

Dr Rebecca Brockhouse, Associate Network Director for Psychological Professions, Specialist Network-  [email protected] or  

Stuart Sheridan, Interim Learning Disability Operational Lead, [email protected]    

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent for those who trained prior to 1996, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS.
  • HCPC registered as a practitioner psychologist (clinical).
  • Eligibility for consultant clinical psychologist appointment approval from external BPS assessor.
  • Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.
  • Completed or have a willingness/ ability to complete Approved Clinician Training.

Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • Doctoral level knowledge of clinical psychology, including highly developed knowledge of lifespan developmental psychology, models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology and two or more distinct psychological therapies
  • Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
  • A high level ability to communicate effectively at both a written and oral level complex, highly technical and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and a wide range of lay and professional persons within and outside the NHS.
  • Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology.
  • Knowledge of legislation and its implication for both clinical practice and professional management in relation to the client group and mental health.
  • Evidence of continuing professional developments as required by the Health Professions Council.

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Substantial post qualification experience including experience within the designated specialty/type of service
  • Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups across the whole life course, in various settings including outpatient, community, primary care inpatient and residential care settings. Also including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and threats of physical abuse.
  • Experience of exercising full clinical responsibilities for clients’ psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care-coordinator and also within the context of a multi-disciplinary care plan.
  • Experience of providing a range of complex psychological assessment and interventions using information derived from a variety of sources and requiring highly developed analytic and interpretative skills
  • Experience of working within environments involving exposure to significant professional, clinical and ethical challenges

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Apprenticeships logoNo smoking policyArmed Forces Covenant Gold AwardMindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Disability confident employerCare Leaver CovenantStep into healthDefence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) - Gold

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.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Dr Rebecca Brockhouse
Job title
Associate Network Director
Email address
[email protected]
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