Job summary
- Main area
- Mental Health
- Grade
- Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Mon - Fri, 9am-5pm - some flexibility possible.)
- Job ref
- 334-CLI-7665391
- Employer
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Lambeth and Southwark Care Home Intervention Team
- Town
- London
- Salary
- £56,276 - £63,176 per annum inclusive of HCAs
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 15/02/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Practitioner Psychologist, Psychotherapist & Psychological Therapist
Band 7
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
Are you passionate about promoting psychological approaches to care? Do you have a genuine interest in improving the quality of life of people with dementia and their carers? Do you want to join a dementia pathway where 95% of patients and carers rate their experience as good or very good?
We have one posts available in our dementia pathway for a specialist and highly specialist psychologist or psychological therapist. This posts will play a key role in strengthening our interventions for behaviours that challenge (behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), and ensuring that all service users and carers on the pathway are offered a range of psychological approaches tailored to their needs.
The post benefits from strong clinical and professional support and we will seek to provide training opportunities for successful candidates who are enthusiastic and keen to develop their skills.
This post is a band 7 post which will work across the Care Home Intervention and Community Mental Health Teams in Lambeth and Southwark
Main duties of the job
The post holder will provide specialist skills to their respective Care Home Intervention multi-disciplinary team, supporting the implementation of an evidence-based approach to understanding and addressing BPSD.
They will undertake clinical work in care homes in the respective boroughs, supporting assessment and formulation of the needs of care home residents referred to the team and working collaboratively with care home staff to implement and evaluate care plans. This will include support with training and upskilling of care home staff, and systemic approaches to improving the quality of care for care home residents
In the CMHTs the postholder will lead and support the care pathway that describes a stepped approach to understanding and addressing BPSD for people living in their own homes. This will include skill development across the wider MDT, as well as consultation and direct work on more complex presentations. The post will include supervision responsibilities for more junior psychological practitioners.
The CHIT and CMHTs are operational Monday – Friday, 9am-5pm, although we can offer some flexibility around working hours. Onsite working and community visits are required for this role.
Working for our organisation
The care home intervention teams work with people over the age of 65 (or those with younger onset dementia) who are resident in care homes, and who display challenging behaviour in the context of dementia or other mental health difficulties. The teams work on the basis that people’s behaviour, even when challenging, can be understood, and this understanding often leads the way in identifying unmet needs and in developing good care planning and practice, involving the use of psychosocial interventions
The Community Mental Health Teams for Older Adults work with people over the age of 65 with mental health problems, including those with dementia. Approximately 35% of the team’s caseloads are people with behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, where there is often risk to harm to self or others, risk of care arrangements breaking down, or other factors which make care arrangements more complex.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Clinical
-To provide specialist clinical expertise in behaviour that challenges in dementia for service users and their carers.
-To conduct specialist psychological assessments using interview techniques, psychometric tests,
behavioural observation, functional analysis and consultation with care home staff and relatives.
-To work with care home staff and residents to develop clinical formulations and care plans to reduce behaviours that challenge and improve the experience of service users.
-To be expert in the skilled administration of psychometric tests, including skilled manipulation of test materials; and to be able to supervise others in administration of psychometric tests.
-To provide psychological reports, including relevant formulation, opinion and interventions to inform referrers and, where appropriate, service users.
Teaching, training, and supervision
-To provide specialist training to other professions, staff and agencies as appropriate.
-To contribute to the development of the knowledge and skills base within the Care Home intervention team and Community Mental Health Teams by maintaining an active awareness of current developments in psychology and its application to the needs of older people whose behaviour is challenging and by implementing knowledge gained in practice.
Management, recruitment, policy and service development
-To contribute to service and pathway (BPSD) development.
-To participate in the recruitment process of staff, as appropriate.
Research and service evaluation
-To carry out appropriate research to improve the care older people with dementia and behaviours that challenge and provide research advice and supervision to other staff undertaking research within the service.
-To contribute to the development of systematic outcome measurement, assessment/ implementation and assist other staff in the implementation of same.
General Responsibilities
-To ensure own Continuing Professional Development in line with HPC requirements and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements.
-To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current developments in professional and clinical practice and of relevant legislation and policies.
-To comply with the Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics of appropriate professional body and ensure professional development in line with Standards for Continuing Professional Development and Standards of Proficiency for that body. To adhere to Trust policies and procedures.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- • Entry-level qualification in applied psychological therapy/mental health/social welfare profession or equivalent and demonstrable practice in this field (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level/supervised practice/additional training) that has been accepted for the purposes of professional registration
- • Registered with professional body as appropriate to discipline eg HCPC/UKCP/ACP/BABCP and evidence of continuing professional development as required by the professional body
Desirable criteria
- • Further training relevant to Older Adult Mental Health care
Experience
Essential criteria
- • Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients including older adults with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature
- • Experience of providing teaching and training to psychologists and other professional or non-professional groups
- • Experience of receiving clinical supervision across a range of client needs
- • Experience of working with, and addressing issues of, diversity, including experience of working within a multicultural framework
Desirable criteria
- • Experience of working with other client groups and of using a variety of models/approaches to care
- • Experience of supporting practice development in clinical areas
- • Experience of managing a caseload
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- • Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies for older people
- • Specialist knowledge and understanding of theory and practice of assessment and intervention with behaviours that challenge in dementia (Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia)
- • Knowledge of theory of other models of psychological intervention
- • Doctoral level knowledge of psychological research methodology and complex statistical analysis
- • Knowledge of psychological assessment and clinical psychometrics
- • Theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment
- • Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues and child protection
- • Awareness of racial and diversity issues through attendance of relevant training
Desirable criteria
- • Knowledge and Evidence of a flexible and sensitive approach to care
- • Knowledge/ Awareness of issues surrounding social inclusion for mental health service users
Skills and Abilities
Essential criteria
- • Skills in the use of methods of psychological assessment and intervention with older people
- • Specialist practitioner skills and practice of at least one model of psychological therapy
- • Ability to take on new concepts and work effectively with change
- • Skills in providing teaching and training to other professional groups
- • Highly developed verbal and written communication skills including communicating complex, highly technical and sensitive information to clients, families and colleagues
- • Consultation skills to work with other professional and non-professional groups
- • Ability to work as an autonomous practitioner with appropriate level of clinical and managerial supervision
- • Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate
Desirable criteria
- • Well developed IT skills including entry and analysis of research data and for teaching purposes
- • Methodical approach to work with attention to detail
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
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
- Joyce Mutabeni
- Job title
- Team Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 020 3288 6928
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