Job overview

This maternity cover post is within a lively and supportive psychology department and includes two service areas where there is an association between service users’ mental health difficulties and the criminal justice system.  

The majority of the week is based in the inpatient forensic psychological therapies department at the Bracton Centre, with sessions at the psychology community service at the William Morris Centre (also DA2 7AF). At the Bracton Centre, the postholder will be part of a multi-disciplinary forensic team on a secure ward, providing a service to inpatients with forensic and mental health needs. 

The post holder will have clinical sessions at the community psychology service based at the William Morris Centre. This psychological assessment and intervention service specialises in working with people in the community who are seeking interventions to address the traumas and interpersonal and emotional issues that underpin their risk of harm to others.

We would consider applications from those approaching qualification and those seeking secondment opportunities to widen their experiences.  

Forensic experience is not necessary but the post suits candidates who are interested in working with complex presenting situations and are keen to learn and develop a variety of skills to assess, intervene and support other professionals.

Main duties of the job

Core parts of the role include direct and indirect psychological interventions, working with support networks, providing psychological perspectives in clinical meetings, leading on structured risk management tools and providing psychological consultation. There are opportunities for joint work with other psychological therapists through the therapies programme, as well as supervising and managing an assistant psychologist.

Working for our organisation

Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.

We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.

Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families.  This is strengthened by our new values:

• We’re Kind
• We’re Fair
• We Listen
• We Care