Job summary
- Main area
- Applied Psychologist
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8a
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday)
- Job ref
- 285-0708-MH
- Employer
- Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- DPH OA unit
- Town
- Walsall
- Salary
- £55,690 - £62,682 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 04/09/2025 23:59
Employer heading

8a Senior applied psychologist (Older Adult Wards)
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides specialist mental health, learning disability, and community healthcare services for the population of the Black Country.
Across the whole of the region we provide:
- Adult and older adult mental health services
- Specialist learning disability services
- Mental health services for children and young people
- Community healthcare services for children, young people and families in Dudley
Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust was formed on 1 April 2020, with the merger of Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. Combining resources, strategies and talented workforce enables us to deliver a wider variety of outstanding services that are based on best practice and are continually improving.
We currently employ over 4,000 people and just like the population we serve, we are made up of diverse cultures and backgrounds. Whatever your role, working in a NHS Foundation Trust, like ours, is a demanding and extremely rewarding experience. Knowing that every day you can help to make a positive difference to someone’s life is a very powerful feeling. We know that our Trust runs on this desire to help and support people, and our Trust vision expresses this. Our vision is to improve health and wellbeing for everyone, especially our colleagues to achieve the best possible work/life balance.
We proudly offer supportive, inclusive and family friendly employment and flexible working policies. We have a wide range of professional services and employee networks to help our colleagues be at their best - and find support if they need it. To find more about our staff benefits, please visit our website: blackcountryhealthcare.nhs.uk.
Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and ethnic minority candidates are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Black Country Healthcare we recognise and value all forms of knowledge and expertise, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification or criteria in the job description/person specification, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.
For further supporting information to help you apply for this role please see documents attached under ‘Additional documents’.
Job overview
1. Accountable for own professional practice in the delivery of highly specialist psychological care to clients with highly complex mental health or learning disabilities which may include challenging behaviours.
2. To be compassionate in meeting the needs of clients, their carers and families.
3. To promote at all times a positive image of people with mental health or learning disabilities.
4. To promote at all times a positive image of the service and the wider Trust.
5. In line with the banding of the post and its service context to:
§ Exercise supervisory/professional responsibility for other psychological therapists
§ Provide leadership in multi-disciplinary training and development
§ Provide leadership in service audit and development
§ provide leadership in service evaluation and research
§ Ensure that a psychological perspective is brought to service redesign and cultural change
Main duties of the job
- Provide specialist psychological assessment of clients with complex conditions based on the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of data from a variety of sources, which may include neuropsychological testing.
- Undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and provides specialist advice to other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
- Formulate plans for specialist psychological therapy and/or management of clients’ mental health conditions based upon an appropriate conceptual framework and evidence-based practice. Negotiates the implementation of such plans with clients and/or their carers.
- Implement a range of specialist psychological therapies for individual clients, carers, families and groups, adjusting and refining psychological formulations as required.
- Provide psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other direct care staff in MDT
- Provide clinical supervision to other direct care staff in MDT
- Clinical supervision of Assistant Psychologists under the guidance of Consultant Applied Psychologist.
- Participate in CQUIN and QIP projects, NICE benchmarking and compliance requirements as required within MDT
- Participate in clinical audits as required within MDT
- To keep abreast of current developments in this field through reading, attendance at appropriate training courses, and a range of other CPD activities.
Working for our organisation
Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides specialist mental health , learning disability, and community healthcare services for the population of the Black Country.
You will be working with two enthusiastic teams within Older Adult inpatient services in a new purpose built facility. Cedars ward is a functional assessment ward and Linden Ward is a dementia assessment unit. Both teams demonstrate a deep passion for working with both service users and their families to maximise recovery and wellbeing with collaboration at the heart of what they do.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Main Duties/Responsibilities
1.0. Clinical Responsibilities, Patient Contact
1.1. Provides specialist psychological assessment of clients with complex conditions based on the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of data from a variety of sources, which may include neuropsychological testing.
1.2. Responsible for recognising the potential for or signs of client harm, abuse or neglect, including poor clinical practice, reporting all such concerns and taking all reasonable steps to protect the client. Responsible for identifying and reporting concerns regarding the safeguarding of children who may be at risk.
1.3. Undertakes risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and provides specialist advice to other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
1.4. Formulates plans for specialist psychological therapy and/or management of clients’ mental health conditions based upon an appropriate conceptual framework and evidence-based practice. Negotiates the implementation of such plans with clients and/or their carers.
1.5. Implements a range of specialist psychological therapies for individual clients, carers, families and groups, adjusting and refining psychological formulations as required.
1.6. Evaluates therapy options and makes decisions about treatment.
1.7. To liaise with other professionals working within the NHS, Social Inclusion and Health and the voluntary sector on matters relating to client care that have implications for the service
2.0. Supervisory/Professional Responsibility
2.1. Clinical supervision of Assistant Psychologists under the guidance of Consultant Applied Psychologist.
2.2. Will hold responsibility and accountability for their own actions, ensuring appropriate support and supervision is sought when required.
2.3. To keep abreast of current developments in this field through reading, attendance at appropriate training courses, and a range of other CPD activities, and to ensure that a log is kept of this in line with Psychology and Counselling service and HPC requirements.
3.0. Multi-Disciplinary Training and Development
3.1. Provides psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other direct care staff in MDT.
3.2. Provides clinical supervision to other direct care staff in MDT.
3.3. Provides training to other staff in MDT under the guidance of a more senior Applied Psychologist.
4.0. Service and Organisational Development
4.1. Participate in CQUIN and QIP projects, NICE benchmarking and compliance requirements as required within MDT
5.0. Service Redesign and Cultural Change
5.1. Bring an understanding of psychological change processes to own role within the MDT
6.0. Service Evaluation and Research
6.1. Participate in clinical audits as required within MDT
6.2. Undertake service evaluation and research in MDT
- To undertake any other duties of a similar nature consistent with the responsibilities of this post in order to provide a quality (insert) service.
Person specification
Written Evidence
Essential criteria
- Post-Graduate doctoral level training in applied Psychology (or it's equivalent) as accredited by the BPS
- HCPC registration as An Applied Psychologist
- Evidence of working as qualified applied psychologist within an older adult or related service
- Evidence of continuing professional development
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
- Jackie Moylan
- Job title
- Ward Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01922 607243
List jobs with Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in Allied Health Professions or all sectors