Job summary
- Main area
- Secure Care and Offender Health
- Grade
- Band 8b
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 436-7495678
- Employer
- Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- HMP Foston Hall
- Town
- Derby
- Salary
- £64,455 - £74,896 per annum, pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 26/10/2025 23:59
- Interview date
- 04/11/2025
Employer heading
Band 8b Principal Practitioner Psychologist - Enhanced Support Service
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
A new and exciting opportunity has arisen within to work within the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway services at HMP Foston Hall. This role will involve re-establishing Enhanced Support Service (ACCESS) and helping to develop a Dynamic Pathway service. Both services aim to reduce the negative impact of violent and disruptive behaviour in prisons, using a small but dedicated multi-disciplinary staff team that works in partnership across prison, healthcare, psychology and the Cameo OPD longer term PD treatment service. ACCESS will work intensively in a collaborative manner to develop individual’s motivation to facilitate better stability, improved psychological wellbeing and improved ability to access to sentence planning services. This now includes the Dynamic pathway, which will offer an intervention option for those who may have completed the ACCESS offer but have insufficient time left on their sentence to access longer term interventions such as Cameo. The dynamic pathway will provide greater access to the OPD provision and bridges the gap for service users who find it difficult to access intensive treatment services.
Main duties of the job
The successful candidate will be joining a large and diverse psychological therapies team within the Secure Care & Offender Health (SCOH) division. The division is committed to investing in staff and you will have opportunities for training, supervision, mentoring and career development.
The postholder will work within HMP Foston Hall, overseeing the day-to-day management of the ACCESS and Dynamic Pathway services. It will involve managing referrals, undertaking clinical assessments and interventions as required and developing case formulations and support plans, in conjunction with other professionals and the wider prison. The successful candidate will need exceptional communication skills as well as an empathic and non-judgemental attitude towards service users and the prison. You will also need to be resilient and be able to work and make decisions in both an independent and collaborative manner. The successful candidate will have extensive experience of working with adults with personality disorder and challenging behaviour, in addition to those with other psychological difficulties, neurodiversity and complex needs and risks. An interest and experience of developing services will be an advantage. Leadership and service development experience is desirable, as well as managing and supervising other professionals.
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
Desirable criteria
- Post-doctoral training in one or more highly specialist areas of psychological practice / therapy
Experience
Essential criteria
- Assessed experience of working as a qualified clinical/forensic psychologist for a minimum of 4 years post qualification, with a minimum of at least 2 years at the Senior (highly specialist) level.
- 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
Desirable criteria
- Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
- Experience of working therapeutically with ‘difficult to treat’ and or ‘hard to reach’ groups and clients in community settings
- Experience of safeguarding and risk management across several agencies, including appropriately escalating concerns
Skills
Essential criteria
- Highly developed theoretical and practical knowledge of the field of clinical psychology, consistent with doctoral level professional training and further post qualification study, training and supervised experience during a minimum of 4 years as a qualified psychologist
- Skills in providing consultation and advice from a psychological perspective to members of other professional and non-professional groups.
- Awareness and understanding of the differential needs of people from black and minority ethnic groups and of the service issues arising within a multicultural urban area.
Desirable criteria
- In depth knowledge of information governance legislation and information sharing practices across agencies
Personal
Essential criteria
- Ability to interact effectively with staff from all disciplines.
- Capacity for tolerating frustration, change and high levels of demand with an ability to work effectively under pressure.
Desirable criteria
- Willing and eligible to apply for higher level security clearance
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
- Karen Bailey
- Job title
- Consultant Forensic Psychologist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0121 301 4531
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