Clinical Psychologist - Band 8a or Band 7-8a Development post

Job overview

An opportunity has arisen to recruit to our well established and supportive Primary Care Psychological Therapies Service, based in Chester. The role can be offered at band 8a for suitably qualified and experienced candidates, or as a band 7/8a development post for newly qualified psychologists. We would welcome candidates with an interest in working with adults of working age. There is the flexibility of either full or part-time hours. For those thinking of applying for the development post, we have a clear plan to support the successful applicants in meeting the competencies for 8a.

The Primary Care Psychology Team are part of a stepped care model and have close working relationships and links with the other steps in the service and teams within the trust. We provide assessment, consultation, and a range of therapeutic interventions (both individual and group) to clients referred to our service.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be responsible for providing assessments, formulations, and therapeutic interventions (both individually and in group format) to people with complex psychological and mental health difficulties. The post holder will also support the wider team to develop psychological understandings of people’s difficulties through consultation, supervision, and training.

The post holder will be joining an established and growing team with clear job plans and continued opportunities for training and development across the service. Based near the historical Roman city of Chester, the service has good links with the three local universities (Liverpool, Lancaster and Manchester) providing ample opportunity to develop supervisory skills and to support trainees with research projects/audits and input into the teaching programmes. The service currently offers flexible working with a mixture of both remote and face to face encouraged.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please download a copy of the job description (see ‘documents to download’ section below) for full details of the main responsibilities for this role.

At CWP, our recruitment selection processes are based on both competence (see person specification for details) and values.

CWP recruits people that can demonstrate the Trust’s Values in their everyday life and we use a values-based approach in our interviews, which explores not only what you do but how and why you do it.

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trust’s Values and think about how these align with your own personal values. The supporting information section in your application should reflect your understanding of the Trust’s Values and associated behaviours and you should provide examples from your work experience and/or personal life which demonstrate these values through your behaviours.

An applicant guide to help and support you through your recruitment journey can be accessed at the bottom of this page. Further help and support for completing your application can be accessed via our website. If you need any further guidance to help you complete your application, contact our recruitment team via email at: cwp.recruitment@nhs.net or by calling 01244 393100.

If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the ‘essential’ criteria described in the person specification for an available position, please answer ‘YES’ to the question: ‘Do you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme?’

Please inform the team if you have any special support needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection processes.

The trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post and encourages applications from armed forces reservists or cadet force adult volunteers.

Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of £16 per year applies.

New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.

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. We hope to welcome you to Team CWP very soon!

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.