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Job overview
This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced band 8b clinical/counselling or health psychologist to join the Homerton Bariatric and Complex Weight Management Service in this part time post, heading up the psychology division of the specialist MDT. You will be joining a vibrant and diverse team of expert health care professionals working collaboratively to support patients living with complex obesity.
Within your role, you will be working as part of a multidisciplinary team across the City and Hackney Tier 3 and the Homerton Bariatric Services, managing and supervising a team of APs and a qualified psychologist in a developmental post, supporting the service and AHP leads with service development and holding a small caseload of complex patients within the pre and post operative pathways. The successful candidate will have excellent and proven leadership skills, a sound clinical background working in evidence-based practice in complex obesity and/or long-term conditions, a compassionate, patient focused approach and a drive for continuous improvement of self and supporting others. Please contact the AHP lead if you wish to discuss the post or your application.
This vacancy in suitable for hybrid remote working. The successful candidate will be required to work on site on Thursdays and be available remotely on Wednesdays and one other day.
Main duties of the job
The aim of this part time senior role is to provide leadership and expert consultation across the specialist weight management services of the Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. The post holder will work within the City & Hackney Specialist Adult Weight Management Service and the Homerton Bariatric Service to support specialist MDT decision making, work with highly complex patients through assessment and treatment, and provide leadership and high quality clinical and management supervision to the psychology team within the MDT.
The principal psychologist will be responsible for leading on the review of the psychology aspects of the assessment process and the psychological components of the interventions offered pre and post operatively for clients living with severe and complex obesity. The post holder will support, supervise and manage the Band 7/8a psychology preceptorship post holder and the assistant psychologists and will develop the service’s involvement with the psychology doctorate training program. The successful applicant will contribute to MDT decision making and discussions to provide expert advice on complex cases for the team and will liaise with senior psychology colleagues in supporting mental health services to develop joined up and holistic care pathways. The successful candidate will work closely with the clinical and AHP leads to review and develop the services’ pathways.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. For both documents please view the attachment/s on this page
The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.
Person specification
Knowledge
Essential
- Knowledge/understanding of confidentiality issues
- Highly developed knowledge of key NHS policy developments for people living with obesity
- Highly developed knowledge of specialist psychological interventions for people living with chronic conditions such as obesity/pain/physical health problems
- Working knowledge of the practices and approaches of other key disciplines, professions and agencies involved in the care and management network, including medical, employment, social, educational and criminal justice systems
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to the specialism and mental health generally
- Doctoral-level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex, multivariate data analysis as practised within the field of clinical psychology
Desirable
- Knowledge/understanding of the governance frameworks to support lived experience support workers
Experience
Essential
- Working within Specialist Weight Management/ Long Term Conditions/Bariatric Surgery Experience in MDT working within a virtual environment
- Representing psychology within the context of multi-disciplinary care
- The application of psychology in different cultural contexts, including working with interpreters
- Providing on-going consultation and teaching to non-psychologists within medical and/or community settings
- Working with a wide variety of patient groups across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, inpatient and residential care
- Exercising full clinical responsibility for patients’ psychological care and treatment, both as care co-ordinator and within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan
- Experience in MDT working within a virtual environment
Desirable
- Experience of working in community health psychology settings and with specific client groups (e.g. Specialist weight management, long term conditions)
- Experience of teaching or training other staff
- Experience of teaching pre-qualification psychologists and other NHS staff
- Experience in supporting lived experience experts within a mental health setting
Skills/Abilities
Essential
- Highly-developed skills in the effective communication of highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to a wide variety of recipients in a range of settings within and outside the NHS, including the ability to produce comprehensive and coherent letters, reports and associated documentation.
- Highly-developed communication skills at overcoming barriers to understanding and acceptance
- Highly-developed skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management, including the use of theoretical models to analyse information and to develop formulations upon which to base choice of treatment
- Excellent skills in developing and delivering group based and individual interventions using specialist theoretical knowledge to diverse and socially complex patient populations
- Skills for undertaking audit and monitoring of service activity and outcomes
- Skills for planning aspects of service delivery
- Ability to provide a culturally competent and non-stigmatising service including an awareness of the potential impact of discrimination and disadvantage on mental health
- Ability to co-ordinate the recording and reporting of clinical information with psychology assistants and associates as required
- Skills in working across multidisciplinary settings
- Skills in providing advice and consultation to other professional and non-professional groups
- Ability to use discretion in applying specialist knowledge and policy to local circumstances and situations, in liaison with line manager and Head of Service
- Ability to act as a highly specialist psychologist and work autonomously in community and hospital settings
Desirable
- Skills for facilitating communication in staff teams
Other requirements
Essential
- Competence in advanced IT packages including keyboard skills
- Ability to identify and employ, as appropriate, clinical governance mechanisms for the support and maintenance of clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviours
- Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and able to hold the stress of others
- Ability to concentrate intensively for substantial periods of time during patient contact, teaching/supervision sessions, team meetings, preparing written work etc
- Ability to produce high quality professional results to specified deadlines and other time constraints
- Ability to manage effectively frequent exposure to highly distressing/emotional circumstances Ability to manage effectively verbal aggression and abuse from patients, carers etc, and the risk of physical aggression Ability to work creatively, co-operatively, reliably and consistently as an independent practitioner, as a mentor and supervisor, and in multi-disciplinary and team settings
- Willingness to negotiate and ability to handle confrontation effectively and professionally Commitment and adherence to the Equality Act
- Commitment and adherence to the Equality Act
- Understanding of the Trust values
Desirable
- Ability to develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic settings
Education/Qualifications
Essential
- Post-graduate qualification in Clinical/Counselling Psychology conferring eligibility for chartership by the British Psychological Society and HCP
- Specifically to include highly developed knowledge of models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies –CBT and one other
- Three or more supervised clinical placements (including lifespan developmental psychology and mental health specialisms) and research skills.
- Formal training in supervision of trainees
- Evidence of CPD in CBT and/or ACT/CFT/ Systemic Therapy and other areas as appropriate for post
Desirable
- Knowledge of models for consulting to teams
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Principal Psychologist in Specialist Weight Management & Bariatrics with Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in London, London, England. It is listed as a Band 8 Psychologist role. The advertised salary is £66,582 - £77,368 pro rata p.a. incl.. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 17 Aug 2026.
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