Principal Clinical Psychologist - Crisis and Treatment

Go back Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

The closing date is 23 February 2026

We have an opportunity to be the Principal Clinical Psychologist (Band 8a to Band 8b) within the Chester Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment team. This is an 8a development post into 8b, where progression into 8b is dependent on completing the development portfolio whilst in post. The post incorporates direct client work, team systemic work, and service development.

These posts are part of our initiative to develop Acute Pathway Psychology provision and demonstrate CWP’s commitment to improving psychological and trauma‑informed care for patients, families and staff in the acute services pathway. This post is part of the first phase in creating an established and sustainable Psychology workforce within the acute adult mental health pathway with new Consultant Clinical Psychologist Acute Pathway posts based in Inpatient Services already established.

Shortlisting to take place 24th Feb. Interviews will be on Tue 10th March.

As the Principal Clinical Psychologist Locality Lead you will be responsible for providing clinical and professional leadership to develop and maintain a high‑quality, evidence‑based psychology service for patients accessing the Crisis and Home Treatment Team. You will work with the Consultant Clinical Psychologist, locality leadership team(s) and specialty clinical network to enhance and evaluate the psychological care offer within the Acute Pathway (First Response Service) provided by a multi‑professional workforce.

You will provide training, consultancy, supervision and support to multi‑professional staff, teams and managers, and take a strategic and pragmatic approach to service evaluation, audit and research as part of ongoing quality improvement. You will also provide highly specialist psychological assessment and intervention, and input to care and treatment planning and discharge planning for individual patients, working as part of the multidisciplinary team and as an autonomous Clinical Psychologist.

CWP is an innovative and transformational all‑ages mental health service provider. There are opportunities to join internal and external professional and clinical networks, undertake research, and provide training and support to the next generation of psychology and mental health practitioners. There are strong connections to the three main DClinPsy regional training programmes (Liverpool, Lancaster and Manchester). You will join the CWP Senior Psychologists Group, a group that supports leadership, clinical and professional development of Psychologists.

Clinical and professional supervision will be provided, and ongoing continuing professional development supported.

Flexible, part‑time and job‑sharing requests will be considered favourably. We encourage applications from suitably qualified and experienced people with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.

All applicants must be HCPC registered Clinical Psychologists with significant, relevant experience as per the job description and person specification.

See the attached document for the full list of responsibilities for this role.

At CWP, our recruitment selection processes are based on competence and values. CWP recruits people that can demonstrate the Trust’s Values in their everyday life and use a values‑based approach in our interviews, exploring not only what you do but how and why you do it.

• Post‑graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS
• Post‑doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice
• HCPC registration
• BPS chartered status and/or membership of ACPUK.

• Highly specialist skills in undertaking complex psychological and cognitive/neuropsychological assessment, intervention and evaluation frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Well‑developed communication skills, orally and in writing, highly…