Macmillan Clinical​/Counselling Psychologist | Healthcare NHS Trust

Employer:

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust

Location:

Wednesbury, Walsall, WS10 8SY

Pay:

Contract Type:

Permanent

Hours:

Disability Confident:

No

Closing Date:

05/03/2026

Band 7 / 8a Preceptorship 0.8 WTE We are pleased to offer this exciting opportunity to join Walsall cancer services.

This is a post which has been collaboratively developed by the Macmillan organisation and Walsall Healthcare.

The role will involve working in the Palliative Care and Oncology Services providing psychological services to individuals with cancer and other life limiting conditions and their carers.

The post is integrative of palliative and end of life care services and will work across the cancer pathway.

They will work closely with Macmillan Nurses, Cancer Nurse Specialists, medical staff, GPs, Bereavement Counsellors, the In- patient unit and other NHS and Social Services staff.

They will also provide consultancy, teaching and training and clinical supervision to other staff and research skills.

The post holder will work alongside our existing Consultant Counselling Psychologist in Oncology/ Palliative Care who has been successfully developing comprehensive psychological services in the last year.

Psychology has enjoyed good working relationships within the service.

It is a preceptorship post, so the postholder appointed at band 7 will be supported in developing into the full 8a job description over a period of time.

PLEASE NOTE, WE MAY CLOSE THIS VACANCY EARLY IF WE RECEIVE HIGH NUMBERS OF APPLICATIONS. PREVIOUS APPLICANTS NEED NOT APPLY The postholder will be responsible for providing highly specialised assessments and programmes of psychological care for oncology and palliative care patients and their families.

They will co-ordinate specialist service provision to oncology and palliative care and work collaboratively with the existing psychologist and other health professionals and non-professional carers, particularly Clinical Nurse Specialists, Cancer Care Navigators, and palliative physicians and therapists.

As well as managing their own patient workload they will be responsible for supervising the work of less experienced psychologists, trainee clinical psychologists and other health professionals in the specialist area.

They will work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the palliative care service’s policies and procedures.

The post is a preceptorship at band 7 to 8a.

A post holder appointed at band 7 will be supported in developing the necessary knowledge and skills with a view to fulfilling the requirements of the 8a post.

A plan will be drawn up with the post holder to facilitate professional development over a period of approximately twenty four months.

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust is an integrated Trust and the only provider of NHS acute care in Walsall, serving a population of 284,300. It provides inpatient and outpatient services at the Manor Hospital as well as a wide range of services in the community.

Walsall Manor houses the full range of district general hospital services under one roof.

The £170 million development was completed in 2010, and ongoing upgrades ensure the Trust now has state-of-the-art facilities, including a Critical Care Unit, Neonatal Unit, Obstetric Theatre, and Integrated Assessment Unit.

A new Urgent and Emergency Care Centre, opened in March 2023, has significantly improved emergency care facilities and capacity, providing almost 5,000 square metres of additional clinical space.

• Clinical

Provide a specialist clinical service to patients and their families who have been diagnosed with cancer and other life limiting conditions.

Assess and interpret highly complex clinical situations and information from a variety of sources including psychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, structured observations and semi structured interviews with patients, family members and others involved in the patients care.

Develop formulations and use psychological models and frameworks to provide patients and their families with specialised programmes of care, based on evidence of efficacy, to help them adjust to and cope emotionally with the often significantly distressing aspects of cancer as a long term condition or terminal illness.

This may occur in individual or group settings.

Organise, coordinate and facilitate therapeutic group work including self management groups (Fatigue Anxiety and Sleep, Managing Stress Mindfully) and support groups ( Men and Cancer), and develop other groups that may be of benefit for patients, in collaboration with the existing psychologist

Evaluate and make 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.

Develop trusting and empathic relationships with patients and be able to communicate highly emotive…