Job Overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen to join our Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) Team in North East Essex (Colchester and Tendring).
Our EIP teams across Essex provide specialist services for people aged 14 – 65 years old who are experiencing psychosis for the first time. We support people and their families through what can be a difficult and confusing time, helping them to make sense of what is happening, feel more in control, and work towards their goals.
National standards for EIP highlight the importance quick access to services and we develop a collaborative plan with people within two weeks of referral. These standards also emphasise timely interventions, specifically CBT for psychosis (CBTp), evidence-based Family Interventions (FIp), and psychological support for carers and family members. We have innovative approaches for early access to psychological interventions. Psychologists are supported and encouraged to pursue further training, with people recently trained in CBTp and FIp (including supervision training), and EMDR. Value is also placed on psychologists being involved in service development, including working with our developing At Risk Mental States (ARMS) service.
We also welcome applications from newly qualified Clinical Psychologists seeking a preceptorship opportunity.
For further information, please contact Dr Claire Wheeler, Principal Clinical Psychologist (
[email protected], 01206 334000)
Main duties of the job
The EIP team provides a community based service for people from 14-65 who are experiencing a first episode of psychosis. The psychological therapists in the teams work autonomously within professional guidelines to provide a high quality specialist psychology service to service users, their families, and other professionals/services involved in the life and care of service users.
You would ensure that effective, tailored, evidence based psychological assessments and interventions are delivered to service users and their families and deliver interventions underpinned by evidence based practice, NICE guidance, and DH guidance.
You would be responsible for robust assessment and formulation of a service user’s psychological needs, offering highly skilled care planning in response to the formulation and communicating this accordingly to those involved in the care of the service user.
You would contribute to the management of referrals by attending MDTs and weekly team meetings, assisting colleagues to develop working hypotheses of patients’ presenting needs and informing the next steps in their care.
You would assist in and contribute to the development of services, teams, projects and interventions and contribute to the review and evaluation of these developments, giving expert clinical advice to management.
In delivering your duties you are expected to display behaviours that are aligned with the Trust values and your professional body.
Working for our organisation
EPUT are looking for motivated staff who shares our Trust values of Care, Learn and Empower. In return, EPUT can offer you a range of benefits and development including;
- Season Ticket Loans
- NHS discounts for staff
- Excellent Training facilities and opportunities
- Buying and Selling annual leave scheme
- The opportunity to work bank shifts and expand knowledge and experience in other areas
- Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work
- Day One Flexible Employer
The Trust supports and actively encourages flexible working for all employees. We offer many options and you are encouraged to ask the recruiting manager what is possible for this role. If appointed, you will have the opportunity to apply for a flexible working request from the first day of your employment
Join our Staff bank
What is Staff Bank?
Our EPUT NHS staff bank is an entity managed by the trust that hires clinical and non-clinical healthcare professionals to take on shifts at our trust hospitals and community settings. Here at EPUT we maintain our own bank of specialist staff to ensure that we are able offer safe and effective care at all times.
All our permanent staff are automatically enrolled onto the staff bank however this does not mean you have to work any additional shifts, but the option is there for you if you wish.
If you are joining our Trust in a fixed term role, please indicate on your New Starter Paperwork that you wish to join our staff bank.
Important note: please ensure that as part of your application, you include professional references with business contact information covering your last three years of employment history. We are unable to accept personal or character references.
As a newly appointed employee, you are responsible for incurring the cost of your initial DBS check relevant to your post; the amount will be deducted from your first salary with the Trust.
Our Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We particularly welcome applications from people with experience of using mental health services. We also hold the Disability two tick symbol and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with learning disabilities, we encourage people with a disability to apply. If you require this application form in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape etc, please contact the Recruitment Department on 01375 364513 or email
[email protected] and we can arrange for this to be dispatched to you.
The Trust has the right to expire vacancies prior to the closing date if they so wish. The Trust makes every attempt to contact all applicants and we strongly advise that you check the email account which is registered with NHS Jobs regularly, we would advise however due to the high number of applications we receive that if you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expect all staff to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to robust safer recruitment processes.
Important Notice: Recently the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2021 (the Regulations) which amended on 22 July 2021 and come into force on 11 November 2021 that anyone directly employed to work in a Care Home or who are required as part of their role to be deployed to a CQC registered care home are required to have had both their COVID vaccinations, unless they are exempt. This is therefore a requirement of this role and will form part of our pre-employment checks.
Please note - staff who are formally at risk within the organisation will be given priority in securing alternative employment. Should it come to light that a post being advertised by the Trust is considered ‘suitable alternative employment’ to an individual who is at risk, the recruiting manager will be advised and the post will be withdrawn from NHS Jobs.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.
