Job summary
- Main area
- Mental Health
- Grade
- Band 4
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 351-BAY1064-SH
- Employer
- Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Parlick Centre
- Town
- Preston
- Salary
- £28,392 - £31,157 per annum, pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 23/08/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Assistant Psychologist
Band 4
Our Vision is to provide the best mental health, learning disability, autism, community, and physical health services for the populations we serve.
As an integrated Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCFT) delivers a comprehensive 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, and forensic services with low and medium secure care.
- Specialist mental health inpatient care for individuals with learning disabilities, alongside specialist community support for children and adults with learning disabilities and autism, including intensive support.
- Extensive community physical health and well-being services for children and adults, covering prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and long-term condition management.
The Trust was first established in 2002 and employs approximately 7,500 staff who provide care from more than 400 sites. The organisation offers opportunities for medics, mental health, general nurses, children’s nurses, allied health professionals, psychology, administration and clerical staff, apprentices and volunteers, as well as those specialising in learning disabilities and community physical health services.
For more information visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT.
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a keen and enthusiastic band 4 Assistant Psychologist to join the Forensic Community Mental Health Team (FCMHT). FCMHT is part of the Forensic Community Service within the Specialist Services Network. FCMHT is based at The Parlick Centre at Guild Loge in Whittingham, Preston. However, the role will require travelling within the areas of Lancashire and South Cumbria.
FCMHT is a specialist mental health team, providing care designed to support and supervise service users who have a diagnosis of severe mental disorder with a risk to others who have previously received inpatient treatment at low, medium, or high security settings. The FCMHT provides an accessible, responsive and adaptable service, prioritising the needs of service users with complex needs, to maintain the safety of service users, families, carers and the public.
Main duties of the job
The post of Assistant Psychologist sits within a multi-disciplinary team made up of nurses, social workers, doctors, occupational therapists, clinical and forensic psychologists and support workers.
The post holder will support all aspects of the service delivery, in particular supporting the delivery of the clinical model, engaging in supervision, assessing the needs of those referred, developing collaborative formulations, supporting the development /delivery of structured sessions/group work, undertaking specialist risk assessment under supervision of a qualified clinical psychologist, and collecting and inputting data as required.
Working for our organisation
LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.
Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups. If you’d like to discuss your application, please ask.
We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.
LSCFT support 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 and flexi-time.
The wellbeing of our people is at the heart of everything we do. We offer a wide range of resources, tools and support to help you thrive both in and out of work.
Explore our full wellbeing offer here: Keeping our workforce well
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For more details on this vacancy please review the attached job description and person specification.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- An upper second class honours degree or higher in psychology. Eligibility for graduate membership of BPS.
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Understanding of clinical, personal, and professional challenges of working institutional and/or multi-agency and disciplinary service settings with risk-related needs.
- A good knowledge of lifespan psychology applied to health care.
Experience
Essential criteria
- Understanding of clinical, personal, and professional challenges of working institutional and/or multi-agency and disciplinary service settings with risk-related needs.
- A good knowledge of lifespan psychology applied to health care.
Skills
Essential criteria
- Ability to communicate complex and sensitive information effectively in both oral and written formats, and in environments which are highly emotive and stressful.
- Commitment and ability to work with clients where there may be significant clinical, service, and system barriers to engagement.
- Ability to organise and prioritise workloads within competing demands and goals, identified with psychological lead.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
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
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Ian Holbourn
- Job title
- Recruiting Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01772 647170
- Additional information
Rabia Zeb -Principal Clinical Psychologist – [email protected] or 01772 406642.
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