University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust logo

Principal Clinical / Counselling / Health Psychologist


Location
Salary
£66,582 - £77,368 per annum pro rata
Profession
Psychologist
Grade
Band 8
Deadline
05 Aug 2026
Contract Type
Permanent
Posted Date
22 Jul 2026
Medical Protection — the side of locally employed doctors from £83

Job overview

Psychological Services are a core element of multidisciplinary teams working across two weight management pathways – a surgical pathway (tier 4) and a non-surgical pathway (tier 3). We work closely with our dietetic, nursing, medical and surgical colleagues to deliver psychological informed care to patients requiring weight management services. As the Lead Psychological Practitioner in this area, you will lead a highly regarded service delivered by yourself and 1.4wte Clinical Psychologists. Alongside the direct delivery of psychological care you will have opportunities to develop the psychological pathways as Weight Management Services undergo exciting new developments across Coventry and Warwickshire.

You will join Psychological Services at UHCW which delivers psychological care within UHCW, outpatients and Coventry community health provision. We are a welcoming team the successful applicant will work collaboratively with psychological colleagues across GEH and UHCW.

Closing Date: Please be advised that this job advert will close as soon as sufficient applications have been received. Please apply for this job as soon as you can, if interested.

Successful applicants will be required to provide an immunisation and vaccination report, from either their current UK occupational health provider or their UK GP.

Main duties of the job

  • To take full clinical responsibility for the provision of high quality psychological services to individuals referred to the Clinical Health Psychological Service within an outpatient setting
  • The post holder will be expected to have advanced theoretical and practical knowledge in order to deliver highly specialist psychological assessments
  • To formulate, make decisions and implement highly specialist plans for the psychological treatment
  • To be responsible for devising and implementing a range of highly specialist psychological interventions for individuals, families and groups with the service, a
  • To make highly skilled evaluations and decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors
  • To provide highly specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals and agencies outside the Trust when necessary, contributing directly to the patients’ formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
  • To ensure that all members of the multidisciplinary team to have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding the issues for the patients under our care,
  • To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual patients
  • To provide clinical supervision to qualified psychologist, trainee clinical/counselling psychologists on placement

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To provide high quality specialist clinical psychological services within the Clinical Health Psychological Service at George Eliot Hospital. They will provide specialist clinical health psychology service in an outpatient setting. They will clinically supervise and support the workload of other psychological colleagues; qualified staff, trainees and assistant psychologists. To offer advice and consultation on patient’s psychological care to multi-disciplinary colleagues and work co-operatively in order to achieve the service goals. They will work autonomously within professional guidelines, exercising full clinical responsibility as lead specialist for the provision of psychological practice within the Clinical Health Psychology Service (GEH). They will plan and implement service development within the psychological team and contribute to multidisciplinary service development along the patient pathway. To utilise research skills for audit, service development and research within clinical health psychological services and be an active member of the local and national professional groups, representing and promoting the hospital when appropriate.

For further details of the role please see the attached job description.

Person specification

Skills

Essential

  • • Highly developed skills in the use of psychological assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration. • A high level ability to communicate effectively, at both a written and oral level, complex and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and a wide range of lay and professional persons within and outside the NHS. • Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.

Desirable

  • • Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to other team members and staff exposed to highly distressing situations.

Knowledge

Essential

  • • Doctoral level knowledge of psychology theory and practice, including highly developed knowledge of lifespan developmental psychology, models of psychopathology, and two or more distinct psychological therapies. • Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group. • Doctoral level knowledge of audit/research design and methodology.

Desirable

  • • Knowledge of the theory and practice of highly specialist assessment methods and therapeutic approaches in relation to long-term health conditions.

Experience

Essential

  • • Experience of working with a range of clients, presenting with a range of clinical severity and maintenance of professionalism in challenging circumstances. • Experience of highly specialist psychological assessment, formulation and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatients, community, primary care and inpatient settings. • Experience of tailoring psychological assessment and intervention to individual needs. • Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for work. • Experience of team working • Experience of applying psychology in different cultural contexts.

Desirable

  • • Experience of working within a health setting, in particular, oncology. • Experience of teaching, training • and clinical supervision of psychological and non-psychological colleagues • Experience in providing consultancy to colleagues.

Qualifications

Essential

  • • Doctorate in Clinical, Counselling or Health Psychology (or recognised equivalent) • Registered as a Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council.

Desirable

  • • Evidence of continuing professional development in the area of health psychology.

Commitment to Trust Values and Behaviours

Essential

  • • Must be able to demonstrate behaviours consistent with the Trust’s values. (As detailed in UHCW’s Values in Action document below) • Applicants applying for job roles with managerial responsibility will be required to demonstrate evidence of promoting equal opportunities through work experience

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Applying for this NHS job

This advert is for Principal Clinical / Counselling / Health Psychologist with University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust in Coventry, Midlands, England. It is listed as a Band 8 Psychologist role. The advertised salary is £66,582 - £77,368 per annum pro rata. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 05 Aug 2026.

Before you apply, compare the job description with the person specification and mirror the employer's essential criteria in your supporting information. Use the vacancy title, employer, location, salary, contract type, closing date and posted date (22 Jul 2026) to decide whether this role fits your current NHS job search. If the employer can close applications early, prepare the application before the stated deadline rather than waiting for the final day.

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