Assistant Psychologist
Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation TrustOur Vision is to provide the best mental health, learning disability, autism, community, and physical health services for the populations we serve.
As an integrated Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCFT) delivers a comprehensive range of services, including:
- Primary and secondary mental health care for children and adults, including specialist inpatient child and adolescent mental health provision, perinatal mental health, and forensic services with low and medium secure care.
- Specialist mental health inpatient care for individuals with learning disabilities, alongside specialist community support for children and adults with learning disabilities and autism, including intensive support.
- Extensive community physical health and well-being services for children and adults, covering prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and long-term condition management.
The Trust was first established in 2002 and employs approximately 7,500 staff who provide care from more than 400 sites. The organisation offers opportunities for medics, mental health, general nurses, children’s nurses, allied health professionals, psychology, administration and clerical staff, apprentices and volunteers, as well as those specialising in learning disabilities and community physical health services.
For more information visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT.
Job overview
We are currently seeking an enthusiastic and motivated psychology graduate to join a busy and well-respected All Age Learning Disability Service, which covers the Pennine Lancashire locality. We are very pleased to be able to advertise this post, which would be based within and covering the Pennine area.
The successful candidate will be expected to take a supportive role in relation to psychological assessment, formulation and intervention with children, young people and their families/carers who access our service. You will also contribute to the broader aims of the service through joint working, training and service development/research.
You will benefit from regular clinical supervision with a Clinical Psychologist, and support from the multidisciplinary team, alongside peer support from other assistant psychologists within the Trust.
Please note: This post is subject to an enhanced DBS Clearance. As part of the pre-employment checks, successful candidates will be required to pay for their own DBS check at a cost of £50. Deductions will be taken from the first 3 months salary.
Advert
Under the supervision of a qualified Clinical Psychologist you will be asked to assist in the professional and psychological care of clients within the service.
All clinical work and actions to take place under the management and supervision of qualified psychology staff. This will be according to an agreed plan and associated goals, within parameters set out by the Division of Clinical Psychology and Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, departmental policies and procedures, in connection with Assistant Psychologists.
Under the supervision of a qualified psychologist, be able to hear and help someone make sense of their story. This will include understanding someone’s presenting difficulties with them to help them understand the distress they are experiencing.
To be able to build healthy and meaningful working relationships with colleagues from different professions in various settings.
Formal supervision will be provided by a Clinical Psychologist, on a weekly basis. Additional frequent opportunities for informal contact with qualified psychology staff for guidance and advice will also be available.
To assist in the development, design and implementation of programme and project work.
To support specific projects associated with service wide development, workforce development or evaluation/audit and research.
Working for our organisation
Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including secondary mental health care across this area. Specialist provision comprises inpatient child and adolescent mental health services, perinatal mental health and forensic services including low and medium secure care.
The Trust also provides a range of physical health and well-being services in the community alongside a range of partners in the Lancashire, Cumbria and Sefton area.
Lancashire & South Cumbria Foundation Trust encourages 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, flexi-time and career breaks. We encourage applicants to state clearly on their application forms this request and discuss these options at interview.
For more information please visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see attached the job description and person specification for more information about this role.
You are advised to consider applying for LSCFT vacancies as soon as possible as in some instances vacancies are closed as soon as a sufficient number of applications have been received. If you are not invited to interview within four weeks of the closing date then please assume that on this occasion you have been unsuccessful, as it is not possible to contact all unsuccessful candidates.
Please note that further communication from LSCFT will normally be to the email address given on the application form. You should also ensure that email addresses and telephone numbers are provided for your referees, to enable LSCFT to contact them.
Please ensure that you read the person specification as your application will be measured against this document.
If you use AI to assist with your application, you must declare this. Undeclared use may result in withdrawal. Please ensure your application reflects your own skills and experiences. While AI tools can assist, they may produce generic or inaccurate content. We encourage you to provide personal examples that demonstrate how you meet the essential criteria.
For all posts which require a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check please be aware of the Disclosure and Barring Service Code of Practice, a copy of which is available by logging on to the DBS website. If the post is subject to DBS disclosure, a charge will be made to the successful candidate(s).