Job summary
- Main area
- Secure Care and Offender Health
- Grade
- Band 8b
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 436-7183394-A
- Employer
- Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Reaside Clinic
- Town
- Birmingham
- Salary
- £64,455 - £74,896 per annum, pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 17/08/2025 23:59
- Interview date
- 28/08/2025
Employer heading
Band 8b Principal Practitioner Psychologist - Reaside Clinic
Band 8b
Please note that this post may close earlier than the indicated closing date if a sufficient number of applications are received.
Job overview
We are excited to be recruiting a Principal Practitioner Psychologist for our growing Forensic Intensive Recovery Support Team (FIRST). We are looking for experienced, enthusiastic and innovative candidates interested in shaping the development of new elements of our service.
The Forensic Intensive Recovery Support Team (FIRST) is a specialist forensic community mental health team, based in South Birmingham and covering the West Midlands area. The aim of the service is to contribute to the successful transition of patients with significant risk histories out of secure inpatient services and support their continued recovery and risk management in the community. FIRST is currently looking to expand the provision offered by developing a consultation service, with the aim of providing specialist forensic advice and liaison to external agencies, including secondary mental health services.
As the principal psychologist, your role would involve co-ordinating this provision and overseeing senior practitioner psychologists within this new team, who may be working across different ‘hubs’ within the West Midlands. We are keen that applicants have experience of working with complex forensic presentations, balancing clinical need with risk management, as well as supervising others in this area.
Main duties of the job
Although there will be a need for autonomous working and development of the role, the successful candidate will be required to build strong working relationships with colleagues from a broad range of disciplines, both within and externally to FIRST, to understand service needs and to develop appropriate service model and specifications. Ongoing use of evaluation and quality improvement methodologies will be an important part of service development and monitoring of outcomes.
FIRST is a dynamic, diverse and friendly team, where staff report strong working relationships and feeling well supported by colleagues. Within the wider Secure Care and Offender Health (SCOH) division, you will be part of a large group of practitioner psychologists with a wealth of experience and skills across secure services, which affords a range of opportunities for model-specific supervision and peer support.
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.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For further information about the main responsibilities please view the attached job description and person specification.
Please click on the link for a little insight into our services and our people
https://vimeo.com/benthompsonfilms/psychologyrecruitment?share=copy
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Satisfactory completion of a British Psychological Society accredited Doctoral Level postgraduate professional training course in clinical psychology (the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996), the completion of which includes the study of models of psychopathology, psychometric and neuropsychological assessment, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
- Eligibility for entry onto the Register of Chartered Psychologists
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, with clients of all ages across the lifespan and of wide-ranging presenting problems that reflect the full spectrum of clinical complexity and severity
- Experience of providing forensic consultation and liaison to other professionals
Desirable criteria
- Experience of developing new clinical services of pathways
- Experience of working within community-based services
Skills
Essential criteria
- Highly developed skills, commensurate with doctoral level training and post-qualification training and experience, in the formulation of highly complex problems from a psychological perspective and in the implementation of highly specialist psychological therapies, interventions and management techniques that are appropriate for use with highly complex presenting problems.
- Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal) including the ability to empathically, sensitively and effectively communicate clinical and condition related information to clients, their families, carers and professional colleagues (within and outside the NHS) that is extremely complicated or technical; extremely sensitive and potentially distressing to the recipient; or that is extremely contentious or challenging
- Skills in providing consultation and advice from a psychological perspective to members of other professional and non-professional groups
Desirable criteria
- Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific ‘difficult to treat’ groups (e.g. personality disorder, challenging behaviour, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc).
Personal
Essential criteria
- Ability to interact effectively with staff from all disciplines.
- Ability to work independently, reliably, consistently and with initiative in circumstances where has discretion to work within defined team/Trust policies, service principles, professional codes of practice and other appropriate parameters and to determine how objectives agreed with manager are best achieved
Other
Essential criteria
- Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively
- Awareness and understanding of the purpose and mechanisms of clinical governance and an ability to employ such mechanisms to maintain and improve standards of clinical practice
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
- Elspeth Hampton
- Job title
- Principal Forensic Psychologist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0121 301 3173
- Additional information
If you are interested in this role and would like to have a further discussion about aspects of the job or proposed service development, please contact Dr Elspeth Hampton, Lead Psychologist in FIRST ([email protected]), or Dr Lauren Richards, Lead Consultant Psychologist for Secure Care & Offender Health ([email protected]).
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