Band 8b Principal Clinical Psychologist

Overview

Are you ready to lead transformation at the front door of mental health care? We are seeking an experienced and innovative principal clinical psychologist to head the Initial Response Service (IRS), a 24/7 single point of access. You will lead psychologically informed triage, formulation, risk management and staff support to ensure people receive the right help at first contact. The role requires flexible work hours and a focus on service transformation across IRS, CRHT and NHS 111. You will contribute to patient safety and integrated care pathways while maintaining one day per week of direct clinical work.

Pay / Benefits

• NHS pension
• comprehensive training programmes
• career progression
• starting annual leave 27 days increasing to 33 days plus bank holidays
• staff physio service
• NHS discounts

Responsibilities

• Provide psychological leadership within IRS, CRHT and NHS 111 mental health option services
• Lead psychologically informed triage, formulation, risk assessment and risk management for complex, urgent and crisis presentations
• Deliver expert clinical consultation on crisis management
• Provide structured supervision to IRS staff
• Support NHS 111 clinicians with formulation, risk assessment and psychologically informed decision-making
• Develop and align psychological practice across IRS, CRHT and NHS 111 with evidence-based standards
• Provide training, reflective practice sessions and post-incident reflections to multidisciplinary teams
• Support trauma-informed, autism-informed and psychologically informed care
• Contribute to patient safety processes, after-action reviews and reporting
• Provide one day per week of direct clinical work
• Develop integrated pathways with system partners (NHS 111, primary care, crisis and acute care)
• Lead and support urgent care service transformation, pathway development and quality improvement
• Promote standardized safety planning, clinical decision-making and risk formulation across services

Key requirements

• Specialist complex psychological assessment and treatment experience
• Extensive experience as a qualified clinical psychologist with ongoing professional development
• Experience with diverse client groups and handling emotive situations
• Use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management
• Risk assessment and management of mental ill health and related psychopathology
• Strong communication skills for complex, sensitive information
• Registration as a practitioner psychologist with the HCPC
• Commitment to CPD and reflective practice
• Ability to travel independently
• Desirable: experience in MDT settings and staff support interventions

• Effective communication of complex information
• Reflective practice and clinical supervision
• Partnership working and collaboration across teams
• Complex psychological assessment methods
• Risk assessment and risk management
• Formulation and decision-making in crisis

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