Job summary
- Main area
- Clinical Health Psychology
- Grade
- 8b
- Contract
- Fixed term: 9 months ([email protected] 07985990940)
- Hours
- Part time
- Flexible working
- Job ref
- 363-CHB8250201
- Employer
- East London NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Bedford Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Town
- Bedford
- Salary
- £66,582 - £77,368 Per annum, Pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 22/10/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Principal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist Diabetes
8b
Bedfordshire Community Health Services are provided in partnership by East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) and Cambridgeshire Community Services (CCS) NHS Trust. This role is for an ELFT position within Bedfordshire Community Health Services. ELFT’s mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.
Job overview
Principal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist – Diabetes
We are delighted that as part of our integration plans to work across organisational systems, that our Clinical Health Psychology Service continues to offer opportunities in partnership with our Acute Hospital Partners, at Bedfordshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The post holder will join a large, supportive and enthusiastic Clinical Health Psychology team in Bedfordshire Community Health Services Directorate. This post will contribute to the delivery of improved treatment outcomes for patients with Diabetes, through the provision of specialist psychological assessment and intervention delivered as an integrated member of the Diabetes multidisciplinary teams. The posts holder will further develop the psychological skills and knowledge within the teams across the diabetes pathways from acute provision, out reaching with indirect work into the integrated diabetes community hubs. There will be opportunities to deliver training and provide clinical supervision and consultancy, and develop improved pathways with Eating Disorder Services and Mental Health Services alongside developing one's own leadership style and skills.
All candidates must be HCPC registered , be able to travel between sites and be passionate about clinical health psychology.
Main duties of the job
The post-holder will provide the following integrated and embedded input to the multidisciplinary services for Diabetes:
- Take the lead in assessing the need for, and providing training and support in, psychological skills for the multidisciplinary teams delivering care
- Hold a small case load providing specialist individual and group psychological interventions
- Be accountable for their own professional practice in the delivery of a highly specialist clinical health psychology service
- Support and build competency in psychological practice and trauma informed care principals within the teams, by providing training, coaching, clinical supervision, consultation, mentorship and advice on matters related to psychological components of care
- Manage and clinically supervise the work of assistant and/or trainee psychologists/Clinical Associate Psychologists for whom the post-holder has professional responsibility within the services
- Supervise and support the psychological assessment and therapy provided by other relevant professional staff involved in the care of patients
- Work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise delegated responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the post-holders areas of responsibility.
Working for our organisation
Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Also the post holder will :
- Work closely with the Clinical Health Psychology Services Head of Service for Luton and Bedfordshire to facilitate implementation of local diabetes strategy and adhere to national standards appropriate to the health and social care setting, contributing to strategic planning of the service.
- Utilise research skills for research, audit, and to contribute to quality improvement, policy and service development
- Advise on and contribute to policy changes within the post-holder’s areas of responsibility, in partnership with professional and service manager
For further information please refer to the attached JD&PS
Person specification
Training Qualification
Essential criteria
- Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent training as an applied practitioner
- HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist
- Training in clinical supervision for doctoral clinical psychology trainees.
Desirable criteria
- Post-doctoral training in one or more relevant specialist areas of psychological practice, eg: EMDR.
- Leadership Training
- Quality Improvement Training
- BABCP registered
Experience
Essential criteria
- Substantial experience of working as a qualified psychological practitioner with post qualification experience of working with people with Long Term Health Conditions and working as part of multidisciplinary team for people with complex physical health conditions often with mental health comorbidities.
- Well-developed experience of assessment, formulation and treatment with people (and families/carers) with complex & chronic long term conditions.
- Experience in working within at least two therapy modalities (CBT and one other).
- Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts, including working with interpreters.
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups across the whole life course, presenting problems that include the full range of clinical severity, including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
- Research and audit experience.
- Experience of representing psychology within the context of multi-disciplinary care.
- Experience of developing and delivering specialist training programmes.
- Experience of supervising professional and clinical practice of qualified and Unqualified staff.
- Experience of liaison and joint work with other statutory, and third sector agencies.
- Identification of need and development of services to meet need.
- Experience managing other staff
- Experience of liaison and joint work with other statutory agencies, including crisis management
- Identification of need and development of services to meet need.
- Ability to provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and challenging behaviours
Knowledge & Skills
Essential criteria
- Demonstrates an understanding of the challenges of working with this client group
- Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies with adult clients with complex physical and mental health needs, which should include CBT and one other.
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult-to-treat groups (e.g. complex needs, dual diagnosis, and persons with additional disabilities etc).
- Able to provide & receive highly complex, sensitive or contentious information in a 11 highly emotive and sometimes hostile atmosphere, in a range of relationships and settings. Able to use highly specialist skills of empathy to work with and overcome barriers to understanding and acceptance.
- Experience of working with complex systems of care.
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of multi -media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
- Able to draw upon a broad theoretical knowledge base in the analysis of highly complex facts or situations to arrive at appropriate formulations. Able to compare and select from a range of treatment options, based on formulation.
- Ability to work creatively, co -operatively, reliably and consistently as an independent practitioner, as a mentor and supervisor, and in multi -disciplinary and team settings.
- Ability to hold service level needs and operations alongside a small complex case load.
- Competence in use of IT equipment and software packages for the purposes of clinical record keeping, electronic communication, creating organisational 12 documentation, data entry and analysis, research, and multimedia presenting and teaching
- Knowledge of legislation, NSF guidelines, NICE guidance and other national policies for the area of speciality and their implications for clinical practice
- Ability to provide a culturally -competent and non -stigmatising accessible service including an awareness of the potential impact of discrimination. Particular awareness and sensitivity to cultural and ethnicity differences .
- Able to be flexible and adapt approach according to need. Able to innovate on the basis of theoretical knowledge
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Dr Sara Rassool
- Job title
- Consultant Clinical Psychologist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07985 990940
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