Principal Clinical Psychologist

To ensure the systematic provision of a high-quality specialist perinatal mental health service to women and birthing people across Cheshire and Merseyside. To advise, supervise and support the assessment and treatment provided by clinical members of the teams who provide psychologically based care and treatment within the service. To work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the service/team. To utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research. To propose and implement policy changes within the area served by the service. To work in an effective partnership with the clinical service leadership including maternity, perinatal, Talking Therapies, Maternal Mental Health, primary care, Family Hubs and members of other agencies responsible for a client's care. To provide clinical leadership within the established clinical service model and integrated care pathway Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service (SPMMHS) for Cheshire and Merseyside. To establish responsive relationships and collaborate with colleagues in maternity, mental health, third sector organisations, and the regional transformation programmes. To work collaboratively with families and 'experts by experience' and support co-production methodologies to inform service model.

Main duties of the job

Clinical 1. To provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to the servicebased upon the appropriate use, interpretation, and integration of complexpsychological data from a variety of sources including psychological andneuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirectstructured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family membersand others involved in the client's care. 2. To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/ormanagement of a client's mental health problems, based upon an appropriateconceptual framework of the client's problems, and employing methods of provenefficacy, across the full range of care settings. 3. To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions forindividuals and groups, within and across Cheshire and Merseyside adjusting andrefining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models andmaintaining a number of provisional hypotheses. 4. To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account boththeoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historicaland developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group. 5. To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatmentand discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based care.

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

07 October 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8b

Salary

£66,582 to £77,368 a year

pro rata

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

12 months

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

350-MHC83049744

Job locations

Hollins Park

Winwick

Warrington

WA2 8WA

United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

Policy and Service Development 14. To participate as a senior clinician in the development of a high quality, responsiveand accessible service including advising both service and professional managementon those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational mattersneed addressing. Professional Leadership and Management 15. To exercise delegated responsibility for managing the psychological resourcesavailable to the service, whether in the form of additional qualified and unqualifiedgraduate psychology staff, or in the form of psychological materials employed in theassessment and treatment of patients. 16. To exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practicewithin the service. 17. To participate as appropriate in staff recruitment, both in the short-listing process andas a member of interview panels for assistant, trainees, and qualified clinicalpsychologists. Clinical Supervision, Teaching and Training 18. To provide clinical placements for trainee psychologists and psychological therapists,ensuring that trainees acquire the necessary skills, competencies and experience to contribute effectively to good mental health care and to contribute to the assessmentand evaluation of such competencies. 19. To provide post-qualification training (CPD) and clinical professional supervision torecently qualified psychologists attached to the service. 20. To provide specialist advice, consultation and training and clinical supervision to othermembers of the service for their provision of psychologically based interventions tohelp improve clients functioning. 21. To provide pre- and post-qualification teaching of psychology as appropriate. 22. To maintain and develop skills in the area of professional pre- and post-graduatetraining and clinical supervision. 23. To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client groupacross a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate. 24. In common with all Clinical Psychologists, receive. 25. regular clinical supervision in accordance with good practice guidelines. 26. Receive specific specialist clinical supervision in psychological approaches in trauma-focused / -related mental health issues and presentations.

Research and Development Activity 27. To take the psychology lead, as a senior clinician, in the evaluation, monitoring anddevelopment of the teams operational policies, through the deployment ofprofessional skills in research, service evaluation and audit and ensuring incorporationof psychological frameworks for understanding and provision of high- quality care. 28. To utilise theory, evidence-based literature, and research to support evidence-basedpractice in individual work and work with other team members. 29. To undertake a personal research and development programme and provide researchadvice to other staff undertaking research as a major job responsibility. 30. To initiate project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, withcolleagues within and across the service to help develop and improve services toclients and their families. Information Technology 31. To use IT skills as required including updating client records. General 32. To ensure the development and articulation of best practice in psychology within theservice area and contribute across the service by exercising the skills of a reflexiveand reflective scientist practitioner, taking part in regular professional supervision andappraisal, and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in thefield of clinical psychology and related disciplines.

Job responsibilities

Policy and Service Development 14. To participate as a senior clinician in the development of a high quality, responsiveand accessible service including advising both service and professional managementon those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational mattersneed addressing. Professional Leadership and Management 15. To exercise delegated responsibility for managing the psychological resourcesavailable to the service, whether in the form of additional qualified and unqualifiedgraduate psychology staff, or in the form of psychological materials employed in theassessment and treatment of patients. 16. To exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practicewithin the service. 17. To participate as appropriate in staff recruitment, both in the short-listing process andas a member of interview panels for assistant, trainees, and qualified clinicalpsychologists. Clinical Supervision, Teaching and Training 18. To provide clinical placements for trainee psychologists and psychological therapists,ensuring that trainees acquire the necessary skills, competencies and experience to contribute effectively to good mental health care and to contribute to the assessmentand evaluation of such competencies. 19. To provide post-qualification training (CPD) and clinical professional supervision torecently qualified psychologists attached to the service. 20. To provide specialist advice, consultation and training and clinical supervision to othermembers of the service for their provision of psychologically based interventions tohelp improve clients functioning. 21. To provide pre- and post-qualification teaching of psychology as appropriate. 22. To maintain and develop skills in the area of professional pre- and post-graduatetraining and clinical supervision. 23. To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client groupacross a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate. 24. In common with all Clinical Psychologists, receive. 25. regular clinical supervision in accordance with good practice guidelines. 26. Receive specific specialist clinical supervision in psychological approaches in trauma-focused / -related mental health issues and presentations.

Research and Development Activity 27. To take the psychology lead, as a senior clinician, in the evaluation, monitoring anddevelopment of the teams operational policies, through the deployment ofprofessional skills in research, service evaluation and audit and ensuring incorporationof psychological frameworks for understanding and provision of high- quality care. 28. To utilise theory, evidence-based literature, and research to support evidence-basedpractice in individual work and work with other team members. 29. To undertake a personal research and development programme and provide researchadvice to other staff undertaking research as a major job responsibility. 30. To initiate project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, withcolleagues within and across the service to help develop and improve services toclients and their families. Information Technology 31. To use IT skills as required including updating client records. General 32. To ensure the development and articulation of best practice in psychology within theservice area and contribute across the service by exercising the skills of a reflexiveand reflective scientist practitioner, taking part in regular professional supervision andappraisal, and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in thefield of clinical psychology and related disciplines.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Post-graduate training that confers HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist.
• Registration with Health & Care Professions Council as Practitioner Psychologist.

Desirable

• Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice
• Post-qualification specialist training in particular psychotherapeutic approaches e.g., cognitive analytic psychotherapy, dialectical behaviour therapy, EMDR etc.
• Post-qualification specialist training in perinatal, maternal or parent-infant mental health

Experience

Essential

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration
• Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and nonprofessional groups.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.
• Post doctoral supervision training.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across a variety of settings including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• Specialist experience in the area of complex trauma- related mental health .
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment.
• Experience of planning and delivering ongoing training and CPD to clinical staff at steps two and three within a stepped care model.
• Ability to meet agreed/specified service targets.

Desirable

• Experience of representing psychology within the context of multidisciplinary care.
• Experience of assessing and treating clients across the full range of care settings.
• Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts .
• Experience of working within a multicultural framework.

Knowledge

Essential

• Expertise and knowledge across the spectrum of a perinatal and maternal mental health service.
• Worked in a service where agreed targets in place demonstrating clinical outcomes.
• Knowledge of perinatal mental health national drivers and guidance.
• Demonstrates an understanding for the need to use evidence based psychological therapies and how it relates to this post.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
• Knowledge of attachment theory.

Desirable

• Well-developed 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).
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of highly specialised perinatal psychological therapies and assessment methodologies
• Knowledge of models of leadership and experience of applying these in practice.
• Knowledge and understand of maternal and perinatal mental health.
• Knowledge of perinatal trauma and loss.
• Knowledge of perinatal inequalities.

Skills

Essential

• Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly emotional situations.
• Able to lead a service and make decisions and judgments about the best possible way forward in a complex work environment where the evidence base is evolving
• Ability to identify, and employ, as appropriate, clinical governance mechanisms for the support and maintenance of clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material
• Ability to develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.
• Ability to demonstrate clinical leadership with a service sector.
• Ability to contain and work within organisational stress.
• Enthusiasm for a broad range of psychological approaches and interest in models of service delivery and ability to articulate the value added by clinical psychology services within the context of multi- disciplinary team working.
• IT literate.

Desirable

• Application of research skills in clinical contexts.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Post-graduate training that confers HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist.
• Registration with Health & Care Professions Council as Practitioner Psychologist.

Desirable

• Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice
• Post-qualification specialist training in particular psychotherapeutic approaches e.g., cognitive analytic psychotherapy, dialectical behaviour therapy, EMDR etc.
• Post-qualification specialist training in perinatal, maternal or parent-infant mental health

Experience

Essential

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration
• Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and nonprofessional groups.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.
• Post doctoral supervision training.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across a variety of settings including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• Specialist experience in the area of complex trauma- related mental health .
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment.
• Experience of planning and delivering ongoing training and CPD to clinical staff at steps two and three within a stepped care model.
• Ability to meet agreed/specified service targets.

Desirable

• Experience of representing psychology within the context of multidisciplinary care.
• Experience of assessing and treating clients across the full range of care settings.
• Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts .
• Experience of working within a multicultural framework.

Knowledge

Essential

• Expertise and knowledge across the spectrum of a perinatal and maternal mental health service.
• Worked in a service where agreed targets in place demonstrating clinical outcomes.
• Knowledge of perinatal mental health national drivers and guidance.
• Demonstrates an understanding for the need to use evidence based psychological therapies and how it relates to this post.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
• Knowledge of attachment theory.

Desirable

• Well-developed 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).
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of highly specialised perinatal psychological therapies and assessment methodologies
• Knowledge of models of leadership and experience of applying these in practice.
• Knowledge and understand of maternal and perinatal mental health.
• Knowledge of perinatal trauma and loss.
• Knowledge of perinatal inequalities.

Skills

Essential

• Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly emotional situations.
• Able to lead a service and make decisions and judgments about the best possible way forward in a complex work environment where the evidence base is evolving
• Ability to identify, and employ, as appropriate, clinical governance mechanisms for the support and maintenance of clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material
• Ability to develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.
• Ability to demonstrate clinical leadership with a service sector.
• Ability to contain and work within organisational stress.
• Enthusiasm for a broad range of psychological approaches and interest in models of service delivery and ability to articulate the value added by clinical psychology services within the context of multi- disciplinary team working.
• IT literate.

Desirable

• Application of research skills in clinical contexts.

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 .

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 .

Employer details

Employer name

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Hollins Park

Winwick

Warrington

WA2 8WA

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Hollins Park

Winwick

Warrington

WA2 8WA

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Job responsibilities

Policy and Service Development 14. To participate as a senior clinician in the development of a high quality, responsiveand accessible service including advising both service and professional managementon those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational mattersneed addressing. Professional Leadership and Management 15. To exercise delegated responsibility for managing the psychological resourcesavailable to the service, whether in the form of additional qualified and unqualifiedgraduate psychology staff, or in the form of psychological materials employed in theassessment and treatment of patients. 16. To exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practicewithin the service. 17. To participate as appropriate in staff recruitment, both in the short-listing process andas a member of interview panels for assistant, trainees, and qualified clinicalpsychologists. Clinical Supervision, Teaching and Training 18. To provide clinical placements for trainee psychologists and psychological therapists,ensuring that trainees acquire the necessary skills, competencies and experience to contribute effectively to good mental health care and to contribute to the assessmentand evaluation of such competencies. 19. To provide post-qualification training (CPD) and clinical professional supervision torecently qualified psychologists attached to the service. 20. To provide specialist advice, consultation and training and clinical supervision to othermembers of the service for their provision of psychologically based interventions tohelp improve clients functioning. 21. To provide pre- and post-qualification teaching of psychology as appropriate. 22. To maintain and develop skills in the area of professional pre- and post-graduatetraining and clinical supervision. 23. To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client groupacross a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate. 24. In common with all Clinical Psychologists, receive. 25. regular clinical supervision in accordance with good practice guidelines. 26. Receive specific specialist clinical supervision in psychological approaches in trauma-focused / -related mental health issues and presentations.

Research and Development Activity 27. To take the psychology lead, as a senior clinician, in the evaluation, monitoring anddevelopment of the teams operational policies, through the deployment ofprofessional skills in research, service evaluation and audit and ensuring incorporationof psychological frameworks for understanding and provision of high- quality care. 28. To utilise theory, evidence-based literature, and research to support evidence-basedpractice in individual work and work with other team members. 29. To undertake a personal research and development programme and provide researchadvice to other staff undertaking research as a major job responsibility. 30. To initiate project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, withcolleagues within and across the service to help develop and improve services toclients and their families. Information Technology 31. To use IT skills as required including updating client records. General 32. To ensure the development and articulation of best practice in psychology within theservice area and contribute across the service by exercising the skills of a reflexiveand reflective scientist practitioner, taking part in regular professional supervision andappraisal, and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in thefield of clinical psychology and related disciplines.

Qualifications

Essential

• Post-graduate training that confers HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist.
• Registration with Health & Care Professions Council as Practitioner Psychologist.

Desirable

• Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice
• Post-qualification specialist training in particular psychotherapeutic approaches e.g., cognitive analytic psychotherapy, dialectical behaviour therapy, EMDR etc.
• Post-qualification specialist training in perinatal, maternal or parent-infant mental health

Experience

Essential

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration
• Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and nonprofessional groups.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.
• Post doctoral supervision training.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across a variety of settings including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• Specialist experience in the area of complex trauma- related mental health .
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment.
• Experience of planning and delivering ongoing training and CPD to clinical staff at steps two and three within a stepped care model.
• Ability to meet agreed/specified service targets.

Desirable

• Experience of representing psychology within the context of multidisciplinary care.
• Experience of assessing and treating clients across the full range of care settings.
• Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts .
• Experience of working within a multicultural framework.

Knowledge

Essential

• Expertise and knowledge across the spectrum of a perinatal and maternal mental health service.
• Worked in a service where agreed targets in place demonstrating clinical outcomes.
• Knowledge of perinatal mental health national drivers and guidance.
• Demonstrates an understanding for the need to use evidence based psychological therapies and how it relates to this post.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
• Knowledge of attachment theory.

Desirable

• Well-developed 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).
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of highly specialised perinatal psychological therapies and assessment methodologies
• Knowledge of models of leadership and experience of applying these in practice.
• Knowledge and understand of maternal and perinatal mental health.
• Knowledge of perinatal trauma and loss.
• Knowledge of perinatal inequalities.

Skills

Essential

• Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly emotional situations.
• Able to lead a service and make decisions and judgments about the best possible way forward in a complex work environment where the evidence base is evolving
• Ability to identify, and employ, as appropriate, clinical governance mechanisms for the support and maintenance of clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material
• Ability to develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.
• Ability to demonstrate clinical leadership with a service sector.
• Ability to contain and work within organisational stress.
• Enthusiasm for a broad range of psychological approaches and interest in models of service delivery and ability to articulate the value added by clinical psychology services within the context of multi- disciplinary team working.
• IT literate.

Desirable

• Application of research skills in clinical contexts.