Company: Oxleas

Apply for the Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Lead Autism Services

Location: Sidcup

Job Description:

Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Lead Autism Services

Band 8c

Main area Adult Neurodevelopmental Grade Band 8c Contract Permanent Hours Part time – 30 hours per week Job ref 277-8365158-ALD

Site Queen Marys Hospital Town Sidcup Salary £85,641 – £97,746 pa inc Salary period Yearly Closing 25/10/2026 23:59

Job overview

To work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the service/team to ensure the systematic provision of a high-quality specialist clinical psychology service to clients of the service team, across all sectors of care. To supervise and support the psychological diagnostic assessment and therapy provided by other psychologists and other clinical members of the team who provide psychologically based care and treatment.

To ensure that systems are in place and working effectively for the clinical and professional supervision and support of all other psychological therapists within the ASD Assessment Team, for which the post holder has designated professional responsibility, including clear systems for effective recruitment, professional appraisal, and the identification of CPD needs. As a major requirement of the job, to carry out audit, policy, service development and research activities. To propose and implement policy changes within the area served by the team/service.

Main duties of the job

To provide highly specialist psychological diagnostic assessments of clients referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests.

To exercise responsibility for managing the psychological resources available to a team, whether in the form of additional qualified and unqualified graduate psychology staff, or in the form of psychological materials employed in the assessment and treatment of service users.

To participate as a senior clinician in the development of a high quality, responsive and accessible service including advising both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.

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 Listen
We Care

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Management responsibilities

To exercise responsibility for managing the psychological resources available to a team, whether in the form of additional qualified and unqualified graduate psychology staff, or in the form of psychological materials employed in the assessment and treatment of service users.
To exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the service/team, including maintaining systematic records of appraisals, clinical record keeping standards and the transcribing of minutes and records of appropriate professional meetings.

Leadership

Accountable to professional and line managers.
To participate as a senior clinician in the development of a high quality, responsive and accessible service including advising both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
To provide clinical placements for trainee clinical and/or counselling psychologists, ensuring that trainees acquire the necessary skills, competencies and experience to contribute effectively to good mental health care and to contribute to the assessment and evaluation of such competencies.
To provide post-qualification training (CPD) and clinical professional supervision to qualified clinical and/or counselling psychologists attached to the team.
To provide advice, consultation and training and clinical supervision to other members of the team for their provision of psychologically based interventions to help improve clients’ functioning.
To provide pre- and post-qualification teaching of clinical and/or counselling psychology as appropriate.
To maintain and develop skills in the area of professional pre- and post- graduate training and clinical supervision.
To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate.
To ensure the development, maintenance and dissemination of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes.
To ensure the development and articulation of best practice in psychology within the service area and contribute across the service by exercising the skills of a reflexive and reflective scientist practitioner, taking part in regular professional supervision and appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the field of clinical psychology and related disciplines.
To maintain and promulgate the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with professional codes of practice of the British Psychological Society and Trust policies and procedures.
To contribute with other Consultant Psychological Therapists and Directorate Heads of Psychological Therapies to the development and articulation of best practice in psychological therapies across the Directorate.

Clinical

To provide highly specialist psychological diagnostic assessments of clients referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests.
To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client’s problems, and employing methods of proven efficacy, across the full range of care settings.
To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
To make highly skilled evaluations and decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
To exercise full responsibility and autonomy for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans, ensuring appropriate assessment, formulation and interventions, communicating with the referral agent and others involved in their care.
To provide expertise and specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients’ formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
To ensure that all members of the clinical team have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding and care of clients of the service, through the provision of advice and consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory.
To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide general advice to other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management.
To act as clinical lead within the Transforming care Programme by coordinating the work of the AAST multidisciplinary team and ensuring the provision of agreed psychological intervention and care is appropriate for the client’s needs. Coordinating the work of others involved in the care arranging professional meetings and Care and Treatment Reviews in partnership with Commissioners and other Community Mental Health Teams involved.
To communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the diagnostic assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care and to monitor and evaluate progress.

Person specification

Experience

Knowledge of the theory and practice of management and leadership
Demonstrates an understanding for the need to use evidence based psychological therapies and how it relates to this post
Knowledge and skills gained in managing qualified and unqualified psychological practitioners
To select and administer specialist psychological assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison

Education/Qualifications

Qualification in applied psychological therapy/mental health/social welfare profession or equivalent and demonstrable practice in this field (ie professional Doctorate)
Completed training course in clinical supervision and/or accredited to supervise qualified psychological practitioners
Registered with professional body or regulatory body as appropriate to psychological therapy discipline ie HCPC/UKCP/BACP/BABCP

Skills/Abilities/Knowledge

To communicate skilfully and sensitively complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication
Consultation skills to work with the multi-professional team or other professional groups and sensitively managing, a number of people’s needs simultaneously within the context of therapeutic work/consultation
Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team, contributing to effective team functioning and holding team roles.

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace that welcomes and supports individuals of all abilities.

Any information you provide regarding a disability or a need for adjustments will be treated in confidence and will only be shared with colleagues who are supporting this request.

If you have declared you are part of the armed forces community, you may be asked to provide evidence during the recruitment process. If you misrepresent this information, your offer may be withdrawn. For Armed Forces specific support, see our webpage: https://oxleas.nhs.uk/armed-forces-community/

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

If you choose to use AI or other tools to assist in writing your application, it’s essential to personalise this information, particularly your supporting information section. While AI can help streamline the writing process, these tools cannot fully grasp the context or requirements of the job you’re applying for. There is also a risk that it can generate false or misleading information. AI-generated job applications can often be generic, impersonal and may not accurately reflect your qualifications, knowledge, skills, and experiences. It is crucial that you personalise your supporting statement by articulating these in your unique voice. Relying solely on AI to write your application or supporting information section is not advocated by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and could negatively impact your chances of success in the application process.

We monitor applications for any behaviour that could create an unfair advantage, and we check all references carefully. You are likely to be tested on your experience at interview, so be honest and make sure all the information in your application is correct.Please note that the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is prohibited during the interview process.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.

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Posted: October 18th, 2026