Clinical Psychologist

Go back County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

The closing date is 23 October 2026

A rare opportunity has arisen for a clinical psychologist to play a pivotal role in the development of a new adult psycho-oncology service for people affected bycancer in County Durham and Darlington (CDDFT): building pathways and supporting patients.

This post will begin with a focus on supporting Lung cancer patients who are at particular risk in our area and with sharing learningsregionally.

At the heart of CDDFT's psychological approach is the critical nature of proximity, listening, involvement in systemic issues and howservice design can either entrench or challenge inequality.

We want to shape a psychologically informed service that genuinely reaches all types of people in all manner of locations - so that no one is left behind.

If this approach sounds exciting to you, youhave experience of working in phsyical health settings, and are motivated tobuild a service that makes a difference. We want to hear from you.

This role wil begin with scoping and developing psychological support with a focus on lung cancer population needs. It will involve speaking with patients, MDTs, charities, external stakeholders to help develop ways toprovide specialist psychological assessment and evidence-based interventions that are appropiate for the population in all their variety.

You won't be alone, this is part of a service wide approach so you will work directly with the head of service. A key aspect of the rolewill be to share learnings across the wider lung cancer region to supportdissemination of best practice.

To really enjoy this job you will need to be creative and innovative, but also a real completer finisher with an eye fordetail and evaluation.

If you are being interviewed you must accept an interview slot in the system to continue, even if you have arranged with the manager.

You must be able to produce ALL certificates stated essential in the person specification or you will not be able to complete pre-employment checks.

We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented.

Full Job Description s can be found in the adverts supporting documents.

Over reliance onAI-generated content is discouraged and may diminish the applicant's chances ofsuccess.

For the most up-to-date information on visa requirements and eligibility, please check online to determine whether you can apply.

You will play a pivotal role in developing psycho-oncology support for people affected by lung cancer in County Durham and Darlington. You will be highly motivated to offer a service that addresses social inequalities and will develop effective working relationships across, population, organisations andboundaries to do this creatively.

You will work closely with the CDDFT lung multi-disciplinary team to ensure the needs of people affected by lung cancer are supported and todevelop ways that psychology can fit into exisiting approaches.

You will hold an active caseload, delivering specialist assessments and interventions for people affected by lung cancer, as well as contributing to research, training, and service development to enhancepsycho-oncology delivery and care within the organisation.

A key aspect of the role will be to share learning from the service across the wider region, to inform and support regional psycho-oncologycare .

You wil be supported by the consultantpsychologist and head of service

• Experience of working in the NHS.
• Experience of working in a health psychology setting
• Experience working with patients in hospital or cancer care settings
• Experience of working with a multidisciplinary setting and liaising with external stakeholders
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups
• Experience of undertaking research or service evaluation or audit within the NHS and the verbal and written dissemination of findings
• Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different…