Job summary
- Main area
- Applied Psychology
- Grade
- Band 5
- Contract
- 18 months (This is a fixed term 18 month post. However, the contract might be extended if further funding is agreed.)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (9 am - 5 pm)
- Job ref
- 334-CLI-7625132
- Employer
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Maudsley Hospital
- Town
- London
- Salary
- £37,259 - £45,356 per annum inclusive of HCAs
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 27/01/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Assistant Psychologist Crisis Plus
Band 5
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.
We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’.
We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone’s potential as change makers.
The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.
Our Values
We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I’m going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you’ll be part of something special.
As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.
Job overview
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Southwark Crisis Plus service, as an Assistant Psychologist within Southwark Adult Mental Health Services. This project works across adult community services in the Southwark directorate, offering targeted support to individuals with Complex Emotional Needs (CEN) who have frequent psychiatric admissions and use of crisis services.
Under the supervision of a qualified psychologist, the successful applicant will lead on the co-creation of effective multi-agency crisis plans with the CEN highest-use service users and their care teams. The service users present with complex, sometimes challenging behaviours and acute risk in crisis. The successful applicant will develop and use a range of psychological skills including assessment and formulation, and working in a systemically-focused approach.
Main duties of the job
The successful candidate will support the delivery of time-limited interventions to service users, carers, and a range of mental health professionals to develop Anticipatory Management. This will require comprehensive assessment of service users’ developmental histories, patterns of presentation and use of crisis services from clinical documentation and consultation. This information will be used to develop guidance for service users, their carers, mental health and external agencies on how best future crises can be more effectively managed and to support the service user’s recovery.
A core part of the role is liaison with services in order to refine and further develop plans, and support services to action plans. The postholder will attend MDT meetings, ward rounds, etc and needs to be confident following and, at times contributing to, multi-disciplinary clinical discussion.
There is a strong data collection, analysis and interpretation aspect to the role. Amongst other activities, this includes the collection of qualitative and quantitative outcome data from service users and the network of professionals, and developing and maintaining a number of databases linked to the identification of HIUs.
In light of the need to develop close working relationships with services and service users, this is a face to face, onsite role.
Working for our organisation
You will be based across a number of sites in Southwark, including Maudsley Hospital and Southwark Community teams in Camberwell and Canada Water.
Some of the benefits of working for SLaM are highlighted here:
- Generous pay, pensions and leave, we offer a comprehensive pay, pensions and leave package which is dependent on the role and length of service.
- Work life balance, flexible working and support a range of flexible options, such as: part-time working and job sharing.
- Career development, we support your development through a number of programmes such as mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership and other talent programmes
- Car lease, our staff benefits from competitive deals to lease cars
- Accommodation, our staff benefits from keyworker housing available which is available on selected sites
- NHS discounts, with discounts up to 10% from a variety of well-known retail brands though Health Service Discounts website.
Other benefits include:
- Counselling services
- Long service awards
- Cycle to work scheme
- Season ticket loan
- Staff restaurants
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
- Work with SUs who present with Complex Emotional Needs, with repeat use of acute and crisis services.
- Contribute to the co-creation of effective multi-agency crisis plans with the highest-use service users and their care teams.
- Use a range of psychological skills including assessment and formulation, and working in a systemically-focused approach.
- Offering guidance to service users, their carers, mental health and external agencies on how best future crises can be more effectively managed and to support the SU's recovery.
- Attend MDT meetings, ward rounds, etc; follow and contribute to multi-disciplinary clinical discussion.
- Developing the function of Crisis Plus, including supporting the development of new interventions that proactively engage service users.
- Collection of qualitative and quantitative outcome data from SUs and their network of professionals, and developing and maintaining a number of databases linked to the identification of HIUs.
- Support the wider work in Southwark and the trust in relation to HIUs.
- Key responsibilities are detailed in the Job description and person specification.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- A First-class or Upper-second-class Bachelors degree with Honours in Psychology (or related behavioural science) that is accredited by the British Psychological Society and confers the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership of the British Psychological Society
- Masters level qualification in applied psychology
Desirable criteria
- Relevant specialist training in relation to working with Complex Emotional needs / Personality disorder
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of working within an NHS setting as an assistant psychologist.
- Sufficient post-graduate experience of psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs who present in crisis with acute risks.
- To be able to work clinically without direct supervision.
- Post-graduate experience of conducting research projects or audits.
- Experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities. This may have been gained through work, research, volunteering and/or lived experience..
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working with service users with risk of harm to self or others.
- Working with SUs who have frequent use of acute and crisis services.
knowleadge
Essential criteria
- Graduate level knowledge of psychological research methodology and statistical analysis.
- Good theoretical knowledge of the problems experienced by and needs of service users presenting in crisis.
- Methods of psychological assessment and treatment for those with complex mental health needs.
- Awareness of racial and diversity issues through attendance of relevant training.
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of interventions such as CBT, distress tolerance and emotional regulation.
- Knowledge of around risk of harm to self or others.
- Understanding of principles of treatment in relation to personality disorder.
Skills
Essential criteria
- Skills in relevant psychological assessment and interventions that enable working independently as a pre-qualified practitioner with clinical supervision.
- Well-developed verbal and written communication skills including communicating complex, sensitive or contentious information to clients, families and colleagues.
- Skills in completing literature reviews and summarising research findings to inform clinical practice or for the purpose of publication.
- Skills in supporting the development of training materials.
- Well-developed IT skills including using excel and SPSS in the analysis of research data.
Desirable criteria
- Experience of data collection, analysis and interpretation using large service wide datasets.
Abilities
Essential criteria
- Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team, contributing to effective team functioning and holding team roles.
- Highly organised, able to manage workload, work to deadlines with competing tasks.
- Ability to identify and follow relevant clinical governance procedures.
- Ability to manage emotionally stressful situations such as working with victims of abuse or trauma, or with people who engage in severe self-harming or aggressive behaviour.
- Ability to manage verbal aggression and hostility directed at self.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Rebecca Rose
- Job title
- Clinical Service Lead
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Additional information
Please note: I do not work on Mondays.
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