Job summary
- Main area
- Forensic Community Learning Disability Team
- Grade
- Band 7 - Band 8a (developmental opportunity)
- Contract
- Permanent: part time hours will be considered; minimum of 30 hours per week
- Hours
- Full time
- Job share
- Flexible working
- Home or remote working
- Compressed hours
- Term time hours
- Annualised hours
- Job ref
- 267-FS7426742
- Employer
- Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- The Oxford Clinic, Littlemore Mental Health Centre
- Town
- Oxford
- Salary
- £47,810 - £62,682 + Regional Secure Unit uplift
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 30/09/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Highly Specialist Clinical / Counselling / Forensic Psychologist
Band 7 - Band 8a (developmental opportunity)
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust has been rated as Good by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
We are a responsive and innovative Foundation Trust that places our values of Caring, Safe and Excellent at the heart of everything we do. We take great pride in our staff and believe that investing in you is key to us achieving our vision of outstanding care delivered by outstanding people.
We work with a wide range of partner organisations to deliver care and support to people in their own homes and from a number of hospitals and community bases. We focus on delivering care as close to home as possible for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset.
We actively support anti-racism, equality, diversity, and inclusion so, if you’re excited about this job opportunity and you meet our Trust values, but feel unsure about applying, then please get in touch and we will be happy to have a conversation with you.
We are also committed to increasing diversity in the workforce, that is why we actively encourage applications from those groups of people who are currently under-represented, which include amongst others: people with disabilities; men from all socio-economic backgrounds; people from diverse ethnic backgrounds; and people from the LGBTQIA+ community.
Good luck and we hope to hear from you.
Job overview
The Forensic Community Learning Disability Team (FCLDT) psychology role is varied and involves a combination of direct work with forensic service users (with an intellectual disability and/or autism) and indirect work with teams/services with the aim of ensuring psychological thinking is integral to FCLDT patient care.
The service sits within the forensic service’s Specialist Community Forensic Team (SCFT). The role of the newly established FCLDT is to support our service users to improve their quality of life, health and wellbeing; who are at risk of being admitted to secure services, or who are being discharged from hospital.
We are committed to becoming a trauma-informed service which focuses on being needs-led and service user centred, with an acknowledgement that transitions are an incredibly challenging time for many service users. The postholder will play an integral part in ensuring trauma-informed care is at the heart of the FCLDT’s work.
This is a full-time role based at the Oxford Clinic in Littlemore. We can consider 30 hours per week for this role and we offer flexible working options. This is a preceptorship position, so could either be taken as a Band 7 development post, or a Band 8a. If commencing on a Band 7, you will be supported through supervision and CPD to progress into an 8a position within a given timeframe (usually between 1 year and 18 months).
Main duties of the job
- Accountability for own professional actions, exercises discretion in determining how objectives are to be achieved and works independently on a day-to-day basis within the overall framework of relevant policies and professional codes. Direct clinical services to clients, families and carers, undertaking specialist psychological assessments and providing psychological intervention
- Dissemination of effective evidence-informed psychological practice within the team.
- Teaching and training for the MDT.
- Consultation, and supervision where agreed, to enable and support client related work of the MDT.
- Where required, supervises qualified and non-qualified psychologists.
- Governance, audit and clinical administrative activities.
- Applied research and development activities related to the needs of the clients and broader Psychology Service.
- Participates in supervision, appraisal and CPD
- Draws upon on advanced level specialist knowledge commensurate with a doctoral degree in psychology, eligibility for registration as a practitioner psychologist, and further specialist training and practice.
Please refer to the job description attached for a comprehensive list of duties. Please note if you are based outside of the UK you will need to hold HCPC registration in order to be considered for this role.
Working for our organisation
Oxford Health is a great place to work and to be able to showcase the best of yourself when making an application please read the “candidate guide to making an application” and ensure your supporting statement is tailored to the role you are applying for and addresses any essential criteria.
As a Trust we provide physical, mental health and social care for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and Northeast Somerset. Our services are delivered at community bases, hospitals, clinics and people’s homes, delivering care as close to home as possible. Our vision is that no matter who you are or where you are, you will tell us that you receive: “Outstanding care delivered by an outstanding team”
Our values are: “Caring, safe and excellent”
We offer a wide range of benefits designed to support your career and wellbeing. These include:
• Excellent opportunities for career progression
• Access to tailored individual and Trust wide learning and development
• 27 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days with continuous service
• NHS Discount across a wide range of shops, restaurants and retailers
• Competitive pension scheme
• Lease car scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Mental Health First Aiders
• Staff accommodation (please note waiting lists apply)
• Staff networking and support groups hosted by our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion team
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
As a clinical, forensic or counselling psychologist holding doctoral level professional qualifications, the postholder will provide highly specialist input to help understand, prevent and ameliorate psychological distress, disorder, or difficulties arising from having an intellectual disability; and improve the mental health, well-being or quality of life of users of the service.
We hope that the advert has given you a clear understanding of the skills we are seeking and the opportunity at hand. You will need to use the “supporting statement” element of your application form to demonstrate your suitability for this role and you should refer to the job description, person specification and the guidance notes attached to this role to help you tailor your application.
The essential and desirable criteria will be used to shortlist for interview and you should ensure that you refer to these within your application to increase your chances of being selected for interview.
We are aware that some candidates may choose to use AI tools to support their application. We kindly remind applicants that submissions should remain an honest and accurate representation of their experience and must take care to ensure the use of AI tools does not generate an application that does not accurately reflect their knowledge, skills and values.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Doctoral level training in clinical, counselling or forensic psychology, or its equivalent, as accredited by BPS
- HCPC registration
Desirable criteria
- Post qualification training in specialist area of clinical work, relevant to a forensic population clinical psychometrics, neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies, and lifespan developmental psychology. HCPC registration as a practitioner psychologist. or forensic psychology.
- Qualifications or training in use of specialist psychometrics relevant to working with people with an intellectual disability and/or neurodiversity.
Other
Essential criteria
- Willingness and ability to travel between sites
- Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively.
- Awareness and understanding of the purpose and mechanisms of clinical governance
- Commitment to working within a multicultural framework.
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Well developed theoretical and practical knowledge of the field of clinical, counselling or forensic psychology, consistent with doctoral level professional training
- Evidence of CPD
- Familiarity and working in line with ethical code of conduct
Desirable criteria
- Further post qualification study, training and supervised experience as a Specialist Clinical, Counselling or Forensic Psychologist
- Knowledge of relevant legislation and DoH policy and implementation guideline
Further training
Essential criteria
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment commensurate with doctoral level trainin
- Skills commensurate with doctoral level training in the formulation of problems from a psychological perspective and in the implementation of highly specialist psychological therapies, interventions and management techniques that are appropriate for use with complex presenting problem
- Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal)
- Ability to respond safely to physical aggression and to promote personal safety
- Skills in providing consultation and advice from a psychological perspective to members of other professional and non-professional groups.
- Ability to provide teaching and training on relevant psychological topics
- 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
Personal qualities
Essential criteria
- Ability to interact effectively with staff from all disciplines.
- Ability to interact and to build and sustain relationships with people with an intellectual disability and/or autism and forensic needs.
- Ability to work independently, reliably, consistently, flexibly and with initiative in circumstances where the post-holder has discretion to work within defined remit
- Commitment to the involvement of service users and carers on the development and delivery of care services.
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment and individual and group/system-based treatment of clients across the full range of care setting
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, with clients of all ages across the lifespan and of wide-ranging presenting problems
- Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working within forensic mental health services.
- Experience of working with people with an intellectual disability and/or neurodiversity.
- Experience of clinical risk assessment, formulation, and management.
- Formal training in supervision, enabling the post holder to independently supervise psychology trainees
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 Becky Grace
- Job title
- Principal Clinical Psychologist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01865 901000
- Additional information
At Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust we want to employ people not just with experience, but with the aptitude and motivation to succeed and whose values resonate with our own.
Therefore, if you don’t meet all the requirements of the role and are unsure about applying but are excited about the opportunity, please do get in touch. We will be happy to discuss the requirements in more detail ahead of making a written application
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