Job overview

A rare opportunity has arisen for a clinical, counselling or forensic psychologist experienced in working with children in local authority care and their support networks, developmental trauma, and attachment difficulties to work in our SCAYT+ service for 6 months. SCAYT+ stands for Supporting Carers And Young people Together.  The service sits within Lancashire County Council's (LCC) Fostering Department, with psychological input provided via service level agreement with LSCFT. 

There are two clinical psychologist posts in the service, both of whom are LSCFT employees (0.8WTE 8C Consultant Clinical Psychologist and 0.6WTE 8B Principal Psychologist) – we are looking to temporarily cover the 8B position.  The psychologists within SCAYT+ are responsible for the clinical leadership, development, and supervision of the team and service.  

SCAYT+ seeks to support children who are in the care of the Local Authority, adopted, or living with special guardians in Lancashire.  By working systemically with the important adults around the child, we seek to co-develop attachment and trauma-informed formulations of the child's strengths and needs, which then inform therapeutic approaches to the care and support they receive.  By working in this way, our service aims to:  

• Support the emotional wellbeing of children and young people, parents and carers 
• Strengthen the relationships between children and their caregivers 
• Increase the stability of our children's homes and school place

Main duties of the job

This senior post holder will be responsible for ensuring delivery of high quality psychology services across the SCAYT+ service throughout Lancashire. This will include the supervision of Emotional Health Practitioners, the completion of clinical work, the monitoring of service performance and contribution to clinical oversight and governance, and the development and direct implementation of agreed system and service changes.  

SCAYT+ is a well established service which makes a very real positive difference to the children and adults it works with. The team is friendly and well-supported with established model-specific supervision groups and a clear management and clinical/ professional leadership structure, with input from both LCC and LSCFT. You will not only be a valued member of SCAYT+ but also of the collective psychological professionals working within the Children and Young People’s Care Group in LSCFT. We look forward to hearing from you! 

Working for our organisation

LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.

Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups. If you’d like to discuss your application, please ask.

We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.

LSCFT support flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours and flexi-time.