Principal Clinical Psychologist

Our Vision is to provide the best mental health, learning disability, autism, community, and physical health services for the populations we serve.

We are looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic Principal Clinical Psychologist for the LD inpatient service to provide psychological support to the four individuals at our Whalley site.

The MDT is led by a Consultant Nurse and will include nurses and support workers as well as occupational therapy and speech and language provision. There will also be a full‑time assistant psychologist.

If you are an enthusiastic Clinical Psychologist with experience of supporting people with behaviours that challenge and with complex needs, this post offers an exciting opportunity to develop clinical and leadership skills and further shape the development of the service.

You will receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and will also benefit from being a member of the Learning Disability Psychology Specialty as well as the wider Psychological Professions Community within LSCFT.

Excellent links exist with the North West clinical psychology training courses in Lancaster, Manchester and Liverpool.

• Provide a Clinical Psychology Service to four Individual Packages of Care services at Whalley Hospital Site, including enhanced specialist psychological assessment, therapy and operating within the policies, procedures and protocols applicable to the service.
• Offer advice and consultation on individuals’ psychological care to psychology and non‑psychology colleagues and to other non‑professional carers, working autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the service’s policies and procedures.
• Develop advanced consulting skills by implementing formal systems of consultancy within the nominated team(s), as directed and guided by the Locality Professional Lead and his/her deputies.
• Work autonomously within professional guidelines, exercising responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the designated area of responsibility.
• Utilise research skills, audit, policy and service development, and implement policy changes within the areas served by the team/service in agreement with the relevant manager.

• Doctoral level training in clinical psychology or equivalent for those who trained prior to 1996, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS.
• Appropriate UK professional registration.

• Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
• Knowledge of legislation and its implications in relation to the client group and mental health.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS, by completion of a CPD log demonstrating a minimum of 40 hours per year.

• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for client’s psychological care and treatment both as a professionally qualified care co‑ordinator and also within the context of multidisciplinary care plans.
• Experience of teaching, training and supervising.

LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.

We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.

LSCFT supports flexible working; we consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours and flexi‑time.

It is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and a Disclosure and Barring Service check will be required.