# Principal Practitioner Psychologist

> NHS job listing from Job Clerk for Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust.

## Canonical URLs

- **HTML:** https://www.jobclerk.com/job/principal-practitioner-psychologist/d117151e-e943-41c2-968c-179ab3508964
- **Markdown:** https://www.jobclerk.com/job/principal-practitioner-psychologist/d117151e-e943-41c2-968c-179ab3508964.md

## Summary

- **Status:** Live
- **Employer:** Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust
- **Town:** Ashton Under Lyne
- **Region:** North West
- **Country:** England
- **Profession:** Nurse practitioner
- **Grade:** Band 8
- **Salary:** £66,582 - £77,368 per annum, pro rata
- **Contract type:** Permanent
- **Employment type:** Part time, Flexible working, 30 hours per week
- **Closing date:** 2026-06-05T23:59:00.000Z
- **Posted:** 2026-05-22T11:31:09.164Z
- **Source information URL:** https://www.healthjobsuk.com/job/UK/Manchester/Oldham/Pennine_Care_NHS_Foundation_Trust/Crisis_Resolution_Home_Treatment_Team/Crisis_Resolution_Home_Treatment_Team-v8032862
- **Application URL:** https://apps.trac.jobs/job-advert/8032862?ShowJobAdvert=&feedid=9002
- **Employer website:** https://www.penninecare.nhs.uk

## Job Content

### Job overview

We are delighted to announce an exciting opportunity for a  permanent Principal Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical, Counselling, Forensic)  to join our Oldham Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team (CRHTT), based at Royal Oldham Hospital.

This is a 0.8WTE Band 8b position, offering a key leadership role within our dynamic and supportive service. The vacancy comes at a time of significant new investment in the crisis pathway, supporting the transformation of our existing Home Treatment Teams into CRHTTs. The successful candidate will join a 0.8WTE Highly Specialist Psychologist as part of expanding psychology provision.

Our CRHTT provides intensive home‑based assessment, intervention, and support as an alternative to hospital admission. The team works with adults experiencing acute mental health crisis, often presenting with high levels of distress, risk, and complexity. The service plays a crucial role in admission avoidance, early intervention, and supporting safe discharge from inpatient care.

The successful candidates will join committed and experienced MDTs, working closely with medical, nursing, OT, and support staff to deliver psychologically informed crisis care.

This is an excellent opportunity to contribute to a growing and evolving service, influence the development of psychologically informed crisis pathways, and make a meaningful difference to service users and their families during some of the most challenging moments in their lives.

### Main duties of the job

As outlined in the job description, the main duties of the job include:

- To provide consultation and formulation to colleagues within the CRHTT.
- To provide a qualified specialist psychology service for people referred to the CRHTT care pathway.
- To provide specialist assessment, formulation and interventions for a clinical caseload.
- To provide psychological leadership to the CRHTT care pathway and work systemically across services (e.g., acute services and secondary care) to develop a psychological understanding and context for other professionals, service users and carers.
- To lead the psychological CRHTT provision within borough and support the Trust wide acute pathway when needed, to help ensure equity in provision and service.
- The post holder will propose and implement evidence-based practice, utilising research skills for audit and service developments.
- The post holder will enhance psychological understanding and skill set through the delivery of training, supervision and reflective practice. This will include within the current CRHTT team but also making links with local universities and providing placements for trainee Psychologists.
- To be an integral part of local and national initiatives to improve care quality. For example (but not limited to) inpatient transformation, community transformation care in the community and reducing admissions.

### Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For a more detailed overview of the roles job description and main responsibilities, please see the attached job description and personal specification.

## Job Details

We are delighted to announce an exciting opportunity for a  permanent Principal Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical, Counselling, Forensic)  to join our Oldham Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team (CRHTT), based at Royal Oldham Hospital.

This is a 0.8WTE Band 8b position, offering a key leadership role within our dynamic and supportive service. The vacancy comes at a time of significant new investment in the crisis pathway, supporting the transformation of our existing Home Treatment Teams into CRHTTs. The successful candidate will join a 0.8WTE Highly Specialist Psychologist as part of expanding psychology provision.

Our CRHTT provides intensive home‑based assessment, intervention, and support as an alternative to hospital admission. The team works with adults experiencing acute mental health crisis, often presenting with high levels of distress, risk, and complexity. The service plays a crucial role in admission avoidance, early intervention, and supporting safe discharge from inpatient care.

The successful candidates will join committed and experienced MDTs, working closely with medical, nursing, OT, and support staff to deliver psychologically informed crisis care.

This is an excellent opportunity to contribute to a growing and evolving service, influence the development of psychologically informed crisis pathways, and make a meaningful difference to service users and their families during some of the most challenging moments in their lives.

## Job Description

As outlined in the job description, the main duties of the job include:

## Responsibilities

For a more detailed overview of the roles job description and main responsibilities, please see the attached job description and personal specification.

## Person Specification

### Knowledge

**Essential**

- Understanding of the national and  regional legislation, guidance and  policy directives in relation to the  development and delivery of  psychological therapies within  acute services
- Evidence of post-qualification  CPD as recommended by the  HCPC and, or BPS, or other  professional body.
- Up to date knowledge of the  needs of people with complex  mental health problems, and of  psychological approaches to recovery.
- Awareness of the principles of a  trauma informed care approach.
- Familiarity with computing  technology, including keyboard  skills and use of word-processing,  e-mail and internet software.

**Desirable**

- Well-developed  knowledge of the  theory and practice  of specialised  psychological  therapies and  approaches for  adults with complex  mental health  problems.
- Publication of  training, service  evaluation, clinical  audit and research material

### Experience

**Essential**

- Demonstrable post-qualification  experience of specialist  psychological assessment,  formulation and treatment of adult  clients experiencing psychological  difficulties.
- Experience of working with a wide  variety of client groups, across the  whole life course presenting  problems that reflect the full range  of clinical severity including  maintaining a high degree of  professionalism in the face of  highly emotive and distressing  problems, verbal abuse and the  threat of physical abuse.
- Demonstratable post-qualification  experience of working withcomplex mental health problems,  including distressing psychosis,  problems associated with complex  relational and emotional needs  and severe depression, anxiety  and trauma.
- Demonstratable experience of  working with people experiencing  a suicidal crisis
- Demonstratable experience of  working with an MDT
- Experience of clinical leadership  within a previous role
- Demonstratable experience of  providing clinical supervision to  psychologists, psychological  practitioners or other core health  professions
- Demonstratable experience of  providing teaching/ training upon  clinical interventions.
- Demonstratable experience of  managing demand for  psychological services within a  form of stepped-care framework  (i.e., an approach based upon the  provision of direct care, and  supporting other professionals in  their provision of psychosocial  work)
- Experience of delivering brief  interventions to meet need

**Desirable**

- Experience of  clinical leadership
- Experience of  working within an  acute service  setting
- Ability to  demonstrate further  specialist clinical  experience and  training
- Experience of audit  and service  evaluation within  psychological  therapy services
- Research  experience within an area relevant to  work within an adult  service
- Demonstratable  experience of the  application of  psychological  therapy in diverse  cultural and ethnic  contexts

### Skills and abilities

**Essential**

- Ability to work with service users,  carers and families to engage with  their needs and provide them with  appropriate psychological support  and intervention
- Skills in providing consultation to  other professional and non professional groups
- Skills in working within an MDT to  bring and share a psychological  understanding of distress
- Well developed, effective  communication skills, both oral  and in writing, enabling complex,  highly technical and/or clinically  sensitive information to be shared  with service users, their families,  carers and other professional  colleagues within the NMHS and  other agencies
- Ability to prioritise work, operate a  waiting list, meet short deadlines  and an unpredictable work pattern  that requires regular revision of  plans
- Ability to sit in a constrained  position for service user  assessment, formulation and  individual and group therapy  sessions and for computer work
- Ability to work at a high level of  professional autonomy and  responsibility, in a collaborative  multi-disciplinary environment and  also as a lone worker in  circumstances where there may  be exposure to verbal and  sometimes physical aggression.
- Able to sustain the intense concentration necessary for service user assessment and formulation, individual and group therapy sessions
- Ability to work and communicate  highly sensitive, contentious  information effectively in a highly  emotive or hostile atmosphere,  and to overcome barriers to  acceptance/ psychological  resistance to potentially  threatening information
- Ability to identify, provide and  promote appropriate means of  support to staff and carers  exposed to highly distressing  situations
- Ability to identify and employ  mechanisms of clinical  governance as appropriate, to  support and maintain clinical  practice in the face of regular  exposure to highly emotive  material and challenging  behaviour.

**Desirable**

- Ability to teach and  train others, using a  variety of complex  multi-media  materials, suitable  for presentations  within public,  professional and  academic settings
- Ability to  demonstrate an  area of special  interest/ skill in  therapeutic  intervention
- Ability to move  equipment  (including case  files,  neuropsychological  tests, self-help  materials, audiovisual equipment)  between office  base and other  work settings.

### Education/ Qualifications

**Essential**

- Doctoral level training in clinical  psychology (including specific  models of psychopathology,  clinical psychometrics and  neuropsychological assessments,  two or more distinct psychological  therapies and lifespan  development psychology as  accredited by the BPS or postgraduate training in Forensic  Psychology or Counselling  Psychology)
- Current registration as a Clinical,  Forensic or Counselling  Psychologist with the Health and  Care Professions Council.

**Desirable**

- Completion of  further post  qualification  training within  psychological  therapies (e.g.,  DBT, CBT, CAT,  CFT, MBT etc)
- Completion of  further post  qualification  training in  supervision

### Work related circumstances

**Essential**

- Use of a car or access to a means  of mobility to travel across the  Trust footprint in line with service  needs
- Willing to carry out all duties and  responsibilities of the post in  accordance with the Trust’s Equal  Opportunities and Equality and  Diversity policies
- Appointments to regulated and  controlled activities require an  enhanced DBS disclosure.

## Documents

- [job description (pdf, 112.5kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?vdoc=10320536)
- [person specification (pdf, 108.3kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?vdoc=10320537)
- [policy statement on recruitment of ex-offenders (pdf, 117.0kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?edoc=440)

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