Clinical/Counselling/Health/Practitioner Psychologist

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North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) are working towards merging as one organisation from July 2026.

This will create an exciting future that brings together the best of both organisations. As a single, strong and sustainable organisation, we will not only be able to deliver better outcomes for our patients and fairer care for our population, but it will also provide greater opportunities for our people.

Should you join NBT as an employee prior to our organisations merging, your employment will be automatically transferred across to UHBW. Should your employment begin after our two Trusts merge, you will be employed directly by UHBW and therefore UHBW terms and conditions of service will apply

Our job adverts may close as soon as sufficient applications have been received. Considering this, if you are interested in this role, please do apply as soon as you can.

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Job Overview

The post holder will be a member of the NBT Psychology Services department at Southmead Hospital, located within the pain management team. They will provide expertise in the management of complex pain and long term conditions following a biopsychosocial model of care. Responsibilities include assessments of people referred to the service and the provision of psychological interventions in both group and one-to-one format. The post holder will be part of multidisciplinary teams where psychology is highly valued.

The main areas of work are with people living with chronic pain, including those experiencing the psychological effects of trauma. This is predominantly with people attending as outpatients, but there may also some ward-based work in acute care. The post demands the flexibility to adapt work across these different areas as priorities change, such as with the incorporation of new project work within the service.

Please note that this post is 22.5 hours per week.

Main duties of the job

• To offer psychological assessments and support to patients living with chronic pain.

To support people living with chronic pain in developing self management and coping strategies.

To provide individual and group based psychological interventions.

To be able to work effectively with severe psychological distress.

To convey sensitive and complex information in a clear and appropriate manner.

To draw together multiple sources of information to formulate a rationale for intervention.

To effectively communicate psychological perspectives to service users and fellow professionals.

To be a valued member of multidisciplinary teams.

To manage competing demands and work-load.

To offer supervision depending on experience.

Working for our organisation

North Bristol NHS Trust employs over 12,000 staff providing healthcare to the residents of Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset from our award-winning hospital building at Southmead. We are the regional Major Trauma Centre, and an internationally recognised centre of excellence in a range of services and major specialities. Our vision is that by enabling our teams to be the best that they can be, we will provide exceptional healthcare, personally delivered.

North Bristol NHS Trust values all people as individuals. We aim to be an anti-discriminatory organisation and are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We welcome applicants from all underrepresented groups.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

The NBT pain management service provides person centred assessments and interventions using a biopsychosocial model. The successful candidate will be a Counselling, Health or Clinical Psychologist with experience in supporting patients to live optimally with ongoing health problems. Please see the job description for further information.

Person specification

Education

Essential criteria

• Doctorate training completed or about to be completed
  
  

Education/Prof registration

Essential criteria

• Registered as a Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council
  
  

Please note that if you apply for a position with North Bristol NHS Trust, you may be contacted via TRAC or via email. This includes invites for job interviews. We therefore recommend that you regularly check your TRAC Account and email accounts including junk and spam folders.

If you apply for this vacancy and have not received a communication from North Bristol NHS Trust within three weeks of the closing date, please assume that on this occasion your application has been unsuccessful.

Please note that North Bristol NHS Trust does not reimburse travel expenses relating to interview attendance.

If you feel you meet the requirements of the Disability Act / Two Ticks scheme and require further support/advice, please contact us on tel 0117 414 1151.

North Bristol NHS Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

The successful applicant(s) will normally commence at the minimum of the scale unless they have previous NHS service at the same band. Progression through the scale is by annual increments.

At North Bristol Trust (NBT), we know diverse and inclusive environments lead to happier and healthier teams and improved patient care and outcomes. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are currently underrepresented in NBT’s workforce at Band 8a and above. These include people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people and LGBTQIA+ people.

Please note that stringent pre-employment checks are undertaken on all successful applicants prior to commencement in post.