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Job overview

1.0 WTE CLINICAL/FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST - 

Band 8B Tamarind Centre

We have a Principal Practitioner Psychologist vacancy at the Tamarind Centre, an 89-bed medium-secure unit working with men who are experiencing severe mental health problems with a component of violence associated.  We work alongside a number of professionals, providing safe, containing environments and interventions to help people understand themselves, their mental health difficulties and offending behaviour.

The psychology team consists of a range of experienced Practitioner Psychologists, Art Therapist, Specialist Psychological Practitioner and Assistant Psychologists.  We have close links with local training providers and take on Trainee Psychologists.  We value ourselves on being able to be down to earth, authentic and open in our communication, bringing in the diverse experiences we hold within the team across gender, ethnicity, class, sexuality, amongst other characteristics.

As Principal Psychologist, you will hold a senior role in working alongside the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) to ensure that the service is takes a whole systems approach to care provided to people in acute distress with high risk of violence. This will involve working alongside service users and colleagues to ensure the ward is responsive to presenting needs ensuring stability and safety with care and compassion. 

Main duties of the job

The role will also involve oversight of the Recovery, Outcomes and Wellbeing workstream, working to service user led movements of recovery, with an appreciation of critical narratives of the recovery movement. We are currently undertaking research in range of contexts including cultural narratives in mental health, integrating anxiety interventions with sensory integration, men’s physical and mental health group, and co-producing training on trauma informed care, by service users for service users.  You will be encouraged to continue to add to the evidence base, and be supported to write your papers for publication if this is within your interest.  Alternatively, we will work with you to find your ‘shiny thing’ to ensure you develop as you wish.  

We are looking for registered Practitioner Psychologists who are interested in working in secure environments with highly sensitive content. Whilst secure experience will be highly desirable, we encourage a breadth of experience to help bring new thinking to our services as the culture evolves. If you are ready for the next stage of your career progression, and able to compassionately challenge systems and staff to be better, hold integrity and also connect with the people around them, we hope that you speak to us and apply.

Working for our organisation

Welcome to Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.  Our 4000 clinical and support staff help us to improve mental health wellbeing and meet the needs of the 70,000 people we serve each year.  We provide a range of mental healthcare services across Birmingham and Solihull, as well as specialised services nationally. We also offer medical, nursing and psychology training and are proud of our international reputation for both research and innovation.

Our population is culturally diverse, characterised in places by high levels of deprivation which create an increasing demand for our services and a necessity for us to make sure everyone can access the help they need. We are a team of compassionate, inclusive and committed people working together to provide excellent care to support our community.  If you are looking for a place to belong, where you can make a real difference to people’s lives, join our team where our warm welcome is waiting for you.

Our Trust is committed to treating individuals fairly and ensuring they have the same opportunities to fulfil their potential, even if this means doing things differently for different people sometimes. We are working hard to ensure our workforce reflects the diversity within Birmingham and Solihull and that our services meet the needs of all diverse service users and carers.

The Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. As part of our safe recruitment practice pre-employment checks will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed. As part of the selection process you may be required to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, however all cases of criminal record history are dealt with on a case by case basis.

Please note, if applicable for your role you will be required to cover the cost of your DBS certificate. This will be deducted from your salary over 3 months. You will also be required to sign up to the DBS Update Service before commencement with the Trust.

All successful applicants will be required to complete the Trust’s induction programme. The Fundamental (Statutory and Mandatory) training will be in an e-learning format. You will be required to complete training modules online (approx. 9-14 hours depending on post) by the end of your first week with us.

If you are successful at the shortlisting stage of the recruitment process we may contact you via email to advise you of the interview details. Please ensure you access your email account from which you applied regularly once the position has closed.

If applicable to your role, the Trust will require you to sign up for the DBS Update Service. The subscription will cost you £13 a year but the Trust will reimburse this. You will be contractually obliged to maintain your subscription.

Applications from job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the United Kingdom (UK) are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. Please note that from January 2021, to work in the UK all candidates who are not UK or Republic of Ireland (RoI) nationals require sponsorship unless you have permission to work via another route. Non UK / RoI candidates wishing to apply can self-assess the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship here Browse: Work in the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 1. It is vital that you provide full and accurate details of your current immigration status on the application form. Overseas applicants applying for entry clearance into the UK must present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided in continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Not everyone needs a ‘Skilled Worker’ visa. If you are applying for a vacancy in health or adult social care, check if you’re eligible to apply for the Health and Care Worker visa instead. It’s cheaper to apply for and you do not need to pay the annual immigration health surcharge.