Job summary
- Main area
- Health & Justice Services
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8c
- Contract
- This is a permanent post but applicants looking for secondment opportunities would also be welcomed to apply.
- Hours
- Part time - 22.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 333-D-HJ-1842
- Employer
- Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- HMP Woodhill
- Town
- Milton Keynes
- Salary
- £76,965 - £88,682 per annum pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 01/09/2025 23:59
- Interview date
- 16/09/2025
Employer heading
Consultant Psychologist in Health & Justice
NHS AfC: Band 8c
Job overview
Are you an experienced psychologist who can assist us to lead our developing mental health and wellbeing service for men at HMP Woodhill?
We are looking for applications from highly motivated and enthusiastic psychologists who are committed to delivering and leading high quality trauma-informed, care & treatment. We are proud of the diverse services we offer in our healthcare provision at HMP Woodhill and we are excited to be able to invite applications for this consultant role which will oversee and support the provision and development of our mental health services, including our respected and innovative Stabilisation Progress and Rehabilitation Programme (SPaR) designed to engage and help men with complex needs.
In Health & Justice you will be joining a large psychology department with an established ethos of development & innovation. At HMP Woodhill we have psychologists & arts therapy in our multi-professional mental health service, with this expanding to over 100 therapies staff across all of CNWL’s Health & Justice Sites and Services. We provide a wide range of therapies (CBT, MBT, EMDR, Psychodynamic counselling, arts therapies) and actively work with partners to provide timely and trauma informed systems of care.
Interviews will be held on Monday 1st September 2025 via MS Teams
Main duties of the job
We are keen that this role supports our mental health provision including the group and individual therapy offer at HMP Woodhill and actively supports the continued professional development of our teams. The duties of the role include Supervision, Service Consultation and utilising expertise to personally deliver therapy and assessments. You will join the trust wide H&J Consultant Psychologist team and hold shared responsibility with the group for the governance of our services and you will contribute to the shaping of Health & Justice services. At HMP Woodhill you will be part of our healthcare’s senior management team and contribute to the health and OPD commissioner interface and development of this service.
As a Trust we are committed to investing in our staff through a range of initiatives, both profession-specific and organisation wide. Psychological professions staff are able to access a range of trust-wide CPD initiatives. We have partnered with Bespoke and Contextual Consulting to provide some of the profession specific CPD, alongside additional CPD sessions we commission as part of CNWL CPD programme for Psychological Professions. CNWL also has seven established staff networks supporting a range of individual needs.
Working for our organisation
By joining CNWL’s Health & Justice Directorate you will be joining a large department of psychologists and psychological therapists that provide an array of mental health and OPD services across London, Surrey, Kent and Bucks. Our staff are dynamic and welcoming and the networking and CPD opportunities are central to our services ethos. We have active research forums and promote our services and work through academic and clinical forums. All staff receive regular supervision and are supported with career aspirations and progression. HMP Woodhill is easily accessible from London or the areas surrounding Milton Keynes and there is free on site parking for staff.
Click here to find out more Psychology at CNWL
What we can offer you:
CNWL is recognised locally, nationally & internationally for providing high quality, innovative healthcare. We aim to employ in line with our values, our experts are frequently called upon to contribute to national health strategy & policy, and many models of our care have been adapted for use in other countries.
With us, you will get -
- A Trust committed to staff personal development, with a trust wide culture change and leadership programme that has staff wellbeing at its core.
- An opportunity to work for one of the top 10 NHS employers
- Flexible working
- Variety of work
- Access to a variety of CPD opportunities
We encourage staff input and ideas in relation to moving services forward, improving care pathways and meeting the client group’s needs.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Expertise in being able to supervise a broad range of therapy and mental health interventions is considered essential to this role.
To lead, manage and plan the delivery of a highly specialist psychology and psychotherapy service to the men detained in HMP Woodhill and provide expert clinical input.
· To be responsible to the Lead Psychologist of Health & Justice Directorate for the monitoring and implementation of professional standards in the practice of applied psychology and psychotherapy in HMP Woodhill and for the systematic and effective provision of professional supervision.
· To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
· To ensure the conduct of research, service evaluation and audits relevant to the delivery of psychology and therapy services in HMP Woodhill and the Trust/specialty research agenda
· To be responsible for the good clinical governance, quality and appropriateness of the work of psychologists and psychotherapists in HMP Woodhill.
Please see attached document for full Job Description and Person Specification.
Person specification
Skills
Essential criteria
- To deliver psychological therapy across cultural and other differences.
- To select and administer specialist psychological assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several sources, on which expert opinion may differ.
- To communicate skilfully and sensitively complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication including sensory, and emotional difficulties, cultural differences and hostility to or rejection of information.
- To plan and schedule assessment and interventions for individual clients and groups and carers, and to organise meetings such as CPAs and case reviews.
- To plan delivery of psychology and psychotherapy services to the client group and carers, involving partner agencies.
- To be expert in the skilled administration of psychometric tests, including skilled manipulation of test materials; and to be able to supervise others in administration of psychometric tests.
- Well-developed consultation skills to work with the multi-professional team or other professional groups.
- Well-developed IT skills including entry and analysis of research data and for teaching purposes.
- Skills in providing teaching and training to other professional groups
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Entry-level qualification in Clinical, Forensic or Counselling Psychology (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level additional training or, for forensic, MSc plus completion of the British Psychological Society’s qualification in forensic psychology stage 2) that has been accepted by the HCPC for purposes of professional registration.
- Additional training beyond entry-level qualification in a specialised area of psychological practice relevant to the delivery of healthcare psychology & therapy services within a criminal justice setting through formal post-qualification training (PG Diploma or equivalent), OR a combination of specialist short courses and/or an evidenced portfolio of supervised practice–based learning in a specialist area of clinical practice, assessed by a BPS National Assessor and an experienced clinical supervisor to be of equal level to a Postgraduate Diploma or higher.
- Completed training course in clinical supervision
- Registered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist, and evidence of continuing professional development as required by the HCPC.
Desirable criteria
- Attendance at relevant management training courses and events
- Accreditation as a supervisor in a psychological therapy (e.g. EMDR, CBT, DBT, SFT, MBT)
Experience
Essential criteria
- Evidence of having worked as a clinical specialist under supervision in a forensic mental health, criminal justice or specialist men’s service
- Experience of undertaking leadership roles
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature in a forensic mental health, criminal justice or specialist men’s setting where expertise in clinical risk management are required
- Experience of providing teaching and training to psychologists or other professional groups.
- Post-qualification experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities
- Experience of carrying out post-doctoral research, audit or service evaluation projects
- Experience of proposing and implementing service development projects that impact beyond own service area
- Experience of participation in recruitment
- Experience of supervising assistant and trainee psychologists having completed the relevant training
Desirable criteria
- Record of publications in either peer reviewed, academic or professional journals/books
- Experience of developing a trauma informed approach within a system
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of management and leadership.
- Advanced knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies for men with complex needs who may present high risk of harm to self or others
- Advanced theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment of trauma and mental health needs within a prison
- Advanced knowledge of psychological assessment and clinical psychometrics (for example, assessments of cognitive ability, neurodiverse disorders and risk of harm to others)
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities
- Doctoral level knowledge of psychological research methodology and complex statistical analysis
- Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care
Abilities
Essential criteria
- Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team, contributing to effective team functioning and holding team roles
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate
- Ability to manage emotionally stressful situations such as working with victims of abuse or trauma, or with people who engage in severe self-harming or aggressive behaviour.
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 Nicola Thomas
- Job title
- Lead Consultant Psychologist for Health & Justice
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Additional information
We are a friendly team and encourage any prospective candidate to contact us with any questions and/or to book an informal visit. [email protected] is Head of Healthcare at HMP Woodhill.
You can also find more information on our services and the work we do within the Health & Justice Directorate please do take a look at our new website https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/health-and-justice
Our healthcare services work to a 7-day week working model, to ensure our patient's healthcare is managed and maintained to the highest of standards at all times.
List jobs with Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust in Allied Health Professions or all sectors