Job Summary
This is an exciting fixed term opportunity to be a part of the psychology team within the Early Intervention for Psychosis Service in Mersey Care, based at Baird House, Liverpool.
The post is open to applicants who are qualified as HCPC registered practitioner psychologists and/or BABCP accredited CBT therapists and a major part of the role will be the provision of CBT to service users experiencing first episode psychosis.
The role is 0.6wte (22.5hrs/week) over a 9 month period to cover maternity leave within an established and highly regarded Early Intervention service working in a specialist multidisciplinary community based team to support the recovery of people who have experienced a first episode of psychosis.
High quality supervision is available to support further development of your clinical skills whilst working in a friendly and caring team environment that is both supportive and rewarding. The post provides an ideal development opportunity for someone wishing to build their knowledge and skills in working with this client group.
If you have a passion for providing exceptional care and are looking for an exciting, varied and challenging role within EIP, we would welcome your talents and skills.
The team is based on Baird House, Liverpool, and travel around the patch will be required.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will apply and maintain those skills acquired through further specialist training and experience to monitor and ensure the systematic provision of highly specialised psychological services, provide a service to clients referred to the team, across all sectors of care, within an equality and human rights framework care and supervise and support the other clinical members of the team who provide psychologically based care and treatment.
The post holder will exercise delegated management responsibilities where appropriate and work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematicgovernance of psychological practice within the team. The post holder will utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research and propose and implement policy changes within the area served by the team.
A work plan will be developed with the post holder which will be reviewed on a regular basis depending on the needs of the service.
About Us
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.
Details
Date posted
05 December 2025
Pay scheme
Agenda for change
Band
Band 7
Salary
£47,810 to £62,682 a year per annum pro rata
Contract
Fixed term
Duration
9 months
Working pattern
Part-time, Flexible working
Reference number
350-MHC7477299-B
Job locations
Baird House
16, Liverpool Innovation Park, Baird House, Building, Edge Lane
Liverpool
L7 9NJ
Job Description
Job responsibilities
To provide specialist psychological assessments of service users referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews withservice users, and others involved in the service users care.
To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a service users psychological problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the service users problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy.
To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
To evaluate, monitor progress and make highly skilled evaluations and 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, or group.
To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of service users whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.
To provide specialist psychological advice guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to service users formulation, diagnosis and treatment plans.
To ensure that all members of the clinical team have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding and care of service users, through the provision of advice and consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory.
To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual service users and to provide both general and specialist advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, highly complex information concerning the assessment, formulation, and treatment plans of service users under their care where there may be conflicting views, high emotion and significant barriers to understanding and change, and to monitor and evaluate progress during the course of both uni- and multidisciplinary care.
To provide expertise, advice and support to facilitate the effective and appropriate provision of psychological care by all members of the treatment team.
Please refer to attached Job Description and Person Specification for a full list of duties and responsibilities.
Job Description
Job responsibilities
To provide specialist psychological assessments of service users referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews withservice users, and others involved in the service users care.
To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a service users psychological problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the service users problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy.
To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
To evaluate, monitor progress and make highly skilled evaluations and 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, or group.
To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of service users whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.
To provide specialist psychological advice guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to service users formulation, diagnosis and treatment plans.
To ensure that all members of the clinical team have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding and care of service users, through the provision of advice and consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory.
To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual service users and to provide both general and specialist advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, highly complex information concerning the assessment, formulation, and treatment plans of service users under their care where there may be conflicting views, high emotion and significant barriers to understanding and change, and to monitor and evaluate progress during the course of both uni- and multidisciplinary care.
To provide expertise, advice and support to facilitate the effective and appropriate provision of psychological care by all members of the treatment team.
Please refer to attached Job Description and Person Specification for a full list of duties and responsibilities.
Person Specification
Essential
Qualifications
- Doctoral level training in clinical psychology accredited by the BPS or its approved equivalent. and Registration with Health Professions Council as Practitioner Psychologist.
- To have a recognised qualification (i.e., Post Graduate Diploma in Cognitive Therapy) with BABCP, UKCP, BACP or other equivalent accreditation applicable within the UK. and Additional training in another specialist psychological therapy
Desirable
- Postgraduate/doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice.
- Experience of working within secondary mental health services
Essential
Experience/Knowledge
- Assessed experience of working as a qualified clinical psychologist or psychotherapist at a specialist level for a significant period.
- Significant experience of representing psychology within the context of multi-disciplinary care.
- Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and also within the context of a multi-disciplinary care plan.
- Experience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision.
- Knowledge and skill development to meet KSF factor 2 Level 8 requirements.
- Expertise in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, formulation, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- Knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex, multivariate data analysis.
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
Desirable
- Experience of assessing and treating clients across the full range of care settings.
- Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g., personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc.)
- High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
Values
Essential
- Continuous Improvement
- Accountability
- Respectfulness
- Enthusiasm
- Support
- High professional standards
- Responsive to service users
- Engaging leadership style
- Strong customer service belief
- Transparency and honesty
- Discreet
- Change oriented
Essential
Skills
- Able to evidence well developed and effective communication skills, oral and written, to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
- Able to evidence skills in providing consultation to other professional and nonprofessional groups.
- Evidence of continuing professional development.
Person Specification
Essential
- Able to evidence well developed and effective communication skills, oral and written, to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
- Able to evidence skills in providing consultation to other professional and nonprofessional groups.
- Evidence of continuing professional development.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details
Employer name
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
Address
Baird House
16, Liverpool Innovation Park, Baird House, Building, Edge Lane
Liverpool
L7 9NJ
Employer's website
https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)
Employer details
Employer name
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
Address
Baird House
16, Liverpool Innovation Park, Baird House, Building, Edge Lane
Liverpool
L7 9NJ
Employer's website
https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)
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