Clinical Psychologist / Counselling Psychologist

Job overview

The Cancer Psychological Service for Kent and Medway is a small new regional service, hosted by Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, which offers a specialist level 4 psycho-oncology service to four local Acute Trusts (Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (MTW), East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust (EKHUFT), Medway Foundation Trust (MFT) and Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust (DGT). The service is currently funded by the Kent and Medway Cancer Alliance and Macmillan, and this has recently been extended for another year, but we hope that we will receive permanent funding from the NHS from April 2027.

This role will suit an experienced, motivated and passionate clinical or counselling psychologist who is excited to work in a developing, innovative, supportive and highly committed service which began in 2024. As a team, we are highly value-driven and work very closely with cancer multi-disciplinary teams and with existing cancer counselling services to embed the service across the region. Whilst the role will have a significant clinical component, it is also an excellent opportunity for someone with an interest in developing leadership skills in the context of setting up a new service.

Main duties of the job

The role will involve delivering specialist psychological assessment and interventions for patients with a cancer diagnosis and their families with complex difficulties, as well as providing clinical supervision to an assistant psychologist, and teaching, consultation and supervision to multi-disciplinary and psychological colleagues. The post-holder will also take a lead in developing the service in Medway Foundation NHS Trust and Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, by working closely with multi-disciplinary clinical teams to raise awareness and understanding of the role of cancer psychological services and to develop collaborative relationships.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We’ve provided all the details you need about this role in the job description and person specification. Please take a moment to review the criteria in the person specification and share specific examples in your application that demonstrate how you meet these requirements. Please also check your application for errors/omissions prior to submission.

Please note that appointment to this post will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check at Enhanced Level. (Enhanced level now includes regulated checks against vulnerable adults and children). If a role involves regulated activity and requires a DBS check with a barred list check, you cannot apply if you are on the barred list.

All successful applicants will be required to complete our corporate trust induction once a start date had been agreed.