Job summary
- Main area
- Psychological Therapies
- Grade
- Band 4
- Contract
- 12 months (Fixed term)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 277-7193164-ISIS
- Employer
- Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- HMP/YOI Isis
- Town
- London
- Salary
- £31,081 - £33,665 pa inc
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 23/05/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Assistant Psychologist
Band 4
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an innovative and conscientious graduate psychologist to join Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust in providing a specialist psychological therapy service within their prison mental health services.
The Psychological Therapies Teams in prisons are integrated into the mental health team to provide psychological support to a complex population of people in prison presenting with a range of needs and risks. The post would suit individuals interested in a career in clinical and/or forensic psychology or psychological therapies, with evidence of experience working in clinical services expected.
Forensic experience is not essential, though enthusiasm to learn and a proven ability to work as part of a team is important.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will work within a busy multi-disciplinary prison mental health team, comprising psychologists and psychotherapists, psychiatrists, and nursing staff. They will have responsibility for the delivery of a range of psychological interventions to young adults in custody and working in partnership with health and operational colleagues.
Clinical responsibilities will include provision of psychological assessment, psychoeducational workshops, and short-term trauma-focussed therapies, with access to regular supervision. Involvement in audit and service development is encouraged.
The post-holder will join the wider Bracton forensic psychology department, which has a strong track record in recruiting, training and supporting graduate psychologists within forensic services towards doctoral training. Post-holders would be encouraged to participate in relevant clinical training and existing support systems within the
department.
Working for our organisation
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.
We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.
Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
- We’re Kind
- We’re Fair
- We Listen
- We Care
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Supporting the dissemination of psychological ways of working is an important part of the role, both in direct patient work and supporting the work of colleagues in other disciplines. This includes the supervised provision of psychological assessment, low-intensity therapeutic intervention and consultation using a range of theoretical models, focussed on both risk and need. It also includes co-ordinating audit-related tasks on behalf of the wider inpatient forensic psychology team.
In common with all clinical psychologists, to receive regular clinical supervision in accordance with professional practice guidelines.
To gain wider experience of professional psychology within the NHS over and above that provided within the principal service area where the post holder is employed.
To develop skills and competencies that assist in the delivery of current duties.
Management responsibilities
To assist in the design and implementation of service development projects with the service as required.
To attend meetings in which service developments are planned and discussed.
Leadership
To contribute to the training and support of other staff in psychological care.
Clinical
To undertake protocol based psychological assessments of clients applying psychological theory, including neuro-psychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client’s care.
To assist in the formulation and delivery of care plans involving the psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s problems, under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist.
To assist in the coordination and running of therapeutic groups or clinical projects.
To work with other staff to assess or support service users in prison and contribute to multidisciplinary discussions or care guidelines as agreed with the clinical psychologist providing supervision.
To assist in the development of a psychological based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings where care takes place.
To create graphs or charts to collate or summarise data on individual interventions or treatment programmes.
To assist in producing visual or material or user-friendly information for interventions with clients.
Research
To assist in the design and implementation of audit and research projects.
To undertake data collection, analysis, the production of reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes.
Communication
Liaises with other psychology members of the team and other disciplines and agencies responsible for clients’ care.
Person specification
Education/qualifications
Essential criteria
- A lower second class (2.2) honours degree or higher in psychology
- Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society
Desirable criteria
- A Masters degree or higher in psychology
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of paid or voluntary work in direct care provision
Desirable criteria
- Work with people with mental health problems and/or learning disabilities and/or histories of offending
- Experience of work within forensic or prison settings
Skills/Abilities/Knowledge
Essential criteria
- High levels of communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be emotive
- An understanding of the needs and difficulties of people with mental health problems/offending behaviour or learning disabilities
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Application numbers
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Dr Hollie Price
- Job title
- Forensic Psychologist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 020 3356 4263
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