Job summary
- Main area
- Clinical/Counselling Psychologist, Psychological Therapist
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Part time - 22.5 hours per week (Tuesdays and Thursdays)
- Job ref
- 150-KB1670-CC
- Employer
- Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- 4th Floor, Crawley Hospital
- Town
- Crawley
- Salary
- £46,148 - £52,809 pa pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 12/06/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Practitioner Psychologist/Psychological Therapist
NHS AfC: Band 7
Job overview
As a PCN Practitioner Psychologist/Psychological Therapist, you will formulate and work with patients who have long-term physical health conditions co-morbid with mental health difficulties, delivering psychological therapy using a variety of evidence-based therapy models. You will provide specialist psychological assessments of patients referred to Crawley Primary Care Network (PCN) teams.
With these teams, you will also promote and develop reflective practice, psychological thinking and services within the organisation. You will provide advice and consultation to MDT colleagues on patients' psychological wellbeing and contribute to contingency plans.
You will contribute to training and education in psychological understanding and interventions to colleagues and staff in other services and agencies, where appropriate.
Main duties of the job
1. To formulate and work with patients who have long-term physical health conditions co-morbid with mental health difficulties, delivering psychological therapy sessions in a time-limited service using a variety of evidence-based therapy models.
2. To provide specialist psychological assessments of patients referred to the Crawley Primary Care Network (PCN) community teams, based upon the appropriate use psychological assessment tools, direct and indirect structured observations and semi structured face to face sessions.
3. To work with the team to promote and develop reflective practice, psychological thinking and services within the organisation.
4. To provide advice and consultation to MDT colleagues on patients' psychological wellbeing and contribute to contingency plans.
5. To liaise with mental health services, community services, GP practices and other local organisations about patient care.
6. To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, families and groups, within and across teams and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models.
7. To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual patients and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of these.
8. To work autonomously within professional guidelines and codes of conduct (i.e. HCPC, BABCP, UKCP, BACP) and the overall framework of the service's policies.
Working for our organisation
We are the main provider of NHS community services across East and West Sussex, with 6,000 staff serving 1.3 million people. We deliver essential care to adults and children, helping them manage their health, avoid hospital admissions, and reduce hospital stays.
Our Trust vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community. We offer opportunities across medical, clinical, support, and corporate services.
Why work for us?
• Positive 2024 NHS Staff Survey results, highlighting compassionate leadership and wellbeing
• Varied environments: community hospitals, patients’ homes, and bases across Sussex
• Flexible working options: part-time, flexi-time, annualised hours, and flexi-retirement
• Excellent training, development, and research opportunities
• Cost-effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove, and Brighton
• Active EMBRACE, Disability & Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+, and Religion & Belief networks
• Level 3 Disability Confident Leader and Veteran Aware Trust
• Beautiful Sussex location near the South Downs and coast
Our values—Compassionate Care, Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence—guide everything we do.
We embrace diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from ethnically diverse, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We aim to create an inclusive environment and support reasonable adjustments during recruitment.
This post may close early if sufficient applications are received.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The PCN Community Team is a multi-disciplinary team to enable integrated working amongst relevant organisations to ensure the best outcomes for patients and their families. Psychological professionals work together with nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers and social prescribers to provide holistic and person-centred care. We aim to provide personalised assessments, develop care plans, and support patients in maintaining their mental and physical health and independence in their own homes.
Please see our job description for further details.
Person specification
Qualifications and Professional Registration
Essential criteria
- A fully registered/accredited psychology profession: Clinical/Counselling/Health Psychologist, CBT therapist or Psychotherapist with equivalent experience and additional therapy accreditation in NICE guideline evidence-based practice (e.g. BABCP)
- Trained in two or more NICE recommended psychological models of therapy e.g. CBT, IPT, DIT
- Evidence of continuing professional development
- Specialist training/or experience relevant to long-term physical health conditions, health psychology, trauma-informed care and reflective practice, or willing to undergo professional development in such training
Desirable criteria
- Accreditation with relevant professional body: Relevant professional accreditation (HCPC for practicing psychologists and BABCP for CBT therapists / UKCP and BACP for Psychotherapists)
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of working with and assessing a wide variety of client groups presenting with a full range of clinical severity across a range of care settings such as including outpatient, community, primary care, or hospital in-patient and physical healthcare setting. Maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse
- Experience of using evidence-based models to treat a wide range of mental health presentations
- Experience of assessment and therapy with patients with long term health conditions and co-morbid psychological problems either in a specialist health psychology service, acute hospital, or within an IAPT service/ primary care or equivalent
- Have conducted assessments for suitability for treatment, conducted assessments according to service criteria
- Experience of working psychologically and therapeutically with patients living with long term health conditions
- Evidence of continued professional development relevant to working within a specialist long-term health conditions psychological therapy service
- Experience of working within NHS psychological therapy services or equivalent
- Experience providing assessment with recommendations for onward referral to other services
- Experience of offering training and consultation to other staff groups including physical healthcare staff.
- Experience of supporting patients to engage with patient-led behaviour change using approaches such as motivational interviewing
- Experience of exercising clinical responsibility (with supervision) for clients’ psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and also within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
- Specialist understanding of the importance of professional boundaries and how to manage and maintain them
Desirable criteria
- Experience and ability to manage own caseload and time
- Experience of providing clinical supervision, with support, to trainee clinical psychologists, assistant psychologists and other members of the multi-disciplinary team [MDT] Formal training and/or equivalent experience in supervision of other psychological therapists
- Research and audit experience leading to publication
Skills and Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment and intervention
- Full range of skills and competencies as required for professional accreditation as a psychological professional
- Demonstrates knowledge of research evidence, national guidance and clinical protocols for psychological interventions for patients with long term health conditions
- Ability to synthesise complex information and to present options and recommendations in a manner that is clear and acceptable to clients and colleagues
Desirable criteria
- Excellent IT skills
- Excellent organisational and negotiation skills, the ability to lead and influence change and the ability to influence these skills in others.
Other requirements
Essential criteria
- Ability to work under pressure and autonomously
- Ability to be self-reflective, whilst working with patients and in own personal and professional development and in supervision
- Ability to travel to all locations across the locality (public transport is not available to all destinations). If not a car owner/driver, please state how you will travel
- Knowledge of medication used in anxiety and depression and other common mental health problems
- An understanding of the principles of equal opportunities in relation to staff and patients
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 Clarissa Bartlett
- Job title
- Senior Counselling Psychologist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01444475815
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