Clinical Psychologist

We love what we do and we think you will, too!

At Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust (GHC), we provide joined-up mental health, physical health and learning disability services to people of all ages across Gloucestershire. We run community hospitals and provide care and support in people’s own homes and in a range of other locations across the county.

We are on a mission to enable people to live the best life they can and we have a vision to work together to provide outstanding care. We put people at the heart of our services, focusing on personalised care by asking ‘what matters to you’.

We’re passionate about making sure that everyone can contribute to achieving our mission and we are continually working to support healthy and happy high-quality teams in all areas of the Trust.

Our application process aims to understand each candidates knowledge, skills and experience. We have found that candidates that use AI to generate their answers can lack specificity and fail to address key criteria outlined in the job description.

It is really important to personalise your application to convey your individual skills, knowledge, and experiences effectively and for us to understand why you are applying for this role with GHC. We discourage over reliance on AI-generated applications as it will lessen your chances of success in securing an interview with us .

Job overview

We have a good track record of supporting ongoing CPD and there are regular meetings of Psychologists across teams and specialities to consider professional issues, service innovation and joint working. As a Trust we have close links with the Doctorate Training Course at Bath University and regularly take trainees on placement, also inputting to the course curriculum.

You will join a strong and welcoming multi-disciplinary team, working to deliver an applied psychology model that promotes and supports effective psychological outcomes through direct and indirect models of working and therefore consultation, teaching and staff support will form an essential component of the post alongside direct clinical work.

Good relational skills, leadership qualities, a positive approach in work, and a solid understanding of psychological approaches for the client-group are all essential requirements for this post. We welcome applications from interested applicants with relevant post-qualification experience and expertise in learning disabilities and autism, along with appropriate HCPC registration.

• To be responsible for promoting the psychological health and well-being of people with a Learning Disability referred to the Community Learning Disabilities Team.
• To directly provide and at band 8a co-ordinate highly specialist psychological assessment and intervention services to individuals/ groups/organisations, using a variety of applied psychology models.
• To provide clinical supervision for pre-qualified psychology staff according to experience and general/specialist psychological model and at band 8a to provide placements and supervision to Doctoral Clinical Psychology trainees and other psychological practitioners in training.
• To participate in relevant research and audit activity and at band 8a to utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development
• To provide clinical services within the service area covered by the community team and wider LD Psychology service. The CLDT's comprise of another qualified Psychologist and a range of multi-disciplinary staff.
• Service delivered in a wide range of settings and locations: client homes, residential services, day care, educational facilities, GP practices, office / clinic, hospital wards.

Please refer to the Additional Information attachment before submitting your application

Working for our organisation

We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people’s homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.

Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:

• 72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
• 76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
• 81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust’s priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.

To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The successful candidate will join a strong and welcoming multi-disciplinary CLDT that is co-located with Teams that work with other client groups. The role requires effective work within this context in order to provide a service to service-users with Learning Disabilities, their families, and carers.

We have close links with the Doctorate Training Course at Bath University and regularly support a number of training placements. There are regular meetings of Psychologists across teams to consider professional issues, service innovation, and joint working initiatives.

The role requires an adaptable, flexible, resilient, hard-working team member who has excellent organisational skills and the ability to use their own initiative.

We welcome discussion/applications both from those with the relevant experience and HCPC registration, and also from those who are about to qualify / have more recently completed training. In the latter case we would discuss amendments to role with a view to appointing at Band 8a, or Band 7, supporting progression to Band 8a role.

The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.

Person specification

essential

• Registered as Practitioner Psychologist with the HPC

• Chartered status

essential

• Post Graduate doctoral level training in Clinical Psychology (or equivalent Applied Psychology qualification), as accredited by the B.P.S

• Evidence in application of Psychological knowledge to improve and develop practice in work to date

desireable

• Receipt of at least 25 hours clinical supervision while working at a highly specialist level in a directly relevant area and in an increasingly autonomous capacity Essential Application Form Interview

• Broad range of post-qualification experience

When joining us, as well as becoming part of a team that makes a difference, we also offer:

• Free car parking at many of our sites
• 27 days leave plus bank holidays, increasing up to 33 days with long service
• A broad range of training and development opportunities, including apprenticeships up to Level 7 qualification.
• A multi-professional preceptorship programme for all Newly Qualified; Nurses, Nursing Associates, Internationally Educated Practitioners, Allied Health Professionals and Return to Practice Practitioners.
• Generous NHS pension and enhanced pay when if you work unsocial hours
• Flexible, family friendly and agile working opportunities
• Recognition and long service awards
• Fast Track physiotherapy
• Our Wellbeing line
• Access to discounts and salary sacrifice schemes; including Cycle to Work, Car scheme and discounts on travel, leisure and retailers.

Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date. Good luck with your application.

For more information please see the attached 'Additional Information for Applicants' document.