We are excited to be recruiting a Principal Practitioner Psychologist for our growing Forensic Intensive Recovery Support Team (FIRST). We are looking for experienced, enthusiastic and innovative candidates interested in shaping the development of new elements of our service.
The Forensic Intensive Recovery Support Team (FIRST) is a specialist forensic community mental health team, based in South Birmingham and covering the West Midlands area. The aim of the service is to contribute to the successful transition of patients with significant risk histories out of secure inpatient services and support their continued recovery and risk management in the community. FIRST is currently looking to expand the provision offered by developing a consultation service, with the aim of providing specialist forensic advice and liaison to external agencies, including secondary mental health services.
As the principal psychologist, your role would involve co-ordinating this provision and overseeing senior practitioner psychologists within this new team, who may be working across different ‘hubs’ within the West Midlands. We are keen that applicants have experience of working with complex forensic presentations, balancing clinical need with risk management, as well as supervising others in this area.
Although there will be a need for autonomous working and development of the role, the successful candidate will be required to build strong working relationships with colleagues from a broad range of disciplines, both within and externally to FIRST, to understand service needs and to develop appropriate service model and specifications. Ongoing use of evaluation and quality improvement methodologies will be an important part of service development and monitoring of outcomes.
FIRST is a dynamic, diverse and friendly team, where staff report strong working relationships and feeling well supported by colleagues. Within the wider Secure Care and Offender Health (SCOH) division, you will be part of a large group of practitioner psychologists with a wealth of experience and skills across secure services, which affords a range of opportunities for model-specific supervision and peer support.
Welcome to Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. Our 4000 clinical and support staff help us to improve mental health wellbeing and meet the needs of the 70,000 people we serve each year. We provide a range of mental healthcare services across Birmingham and Solihull, as well as specialised services nationally. We also offer medical, nursing and psychology training and are proud of our international reputation for both research and innovation.
Our population is culturally diverse, characterised in places by high levels of deprivation which create an increasing demand for our services and a necessity for us to make sure everyone can access the help they need. We are a team of compassionate, inclusive and committed people working together to provide excellent care to support our community. If you are looking for a place to belong, where you can make a real difference to people’s lives, join our team where our warm welcome is waiting for you.
For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Elspeth Hampton Job title: Principal Forensic Psychologist Email address:
[email protected] Telephone number: 0121 301 3173
If you are interested in this role and would like to have a further discussion about aspects of the job or proposed service development, please contact Dr Elspeth Hampton, Lead Psychologist in FIRST (
[email protected]), or Dr Lauren Richards, Lead Consultant Psychologist for Secure Care & Offender Health (
[email protected]).
