Aspiring Psychologist Scheme

The Aspiring Psychologist Scheme is a paid work experience programme funded by NHS England to support graduates from underrepresented groups gain clinical experience.

We are offering four aspiring psychology roles at Oxleas; each role is a work experience placement paid at Agenda for Change Band 4 and is intended to be offered as part time, working three days a week for 6 months however there is some flexibility in the hours and duration of the contract which can be agreed with successful applicants to accommodate other commitments.
Our aspiring psychology roles have been developed with careful consideration to offer you experience in an array of clinical and non-clinical activities integral in the running of a successful psychology service. You will have the opportunity to shadow qualified staff, support assessments with service users, contribute to service evaluation and to be part of a vibrant and passionate team of psychological professionals.
Lastly, you will be ‘buddied’ with a assistant psychologist that will offer you mentorship and support throughout your time in the role.

Interviews will take place on the 25th & 26th March and 3rd April 2024.

Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.

We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.

Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
We’re Kind

We’re Fair

We Listen

We Care

We have four aspiring psychologist roles available and are offering 1 assistant psychologist role in each of the services below:

- HMP/YOI Isis (South-East London)
- The Sheppey cluster (Kent)
- The Bracton Centre (Dartford)
- The Integrated Community Pathways Services (ICPS)

HMP/YOI Isis
HMP/YOI Isis is a Category C/Young Offenders prison that houses young men between the ages of 18-27 years old who have been sentenced. The Psychological Therapies Service at HMP/YOI Isis works within the wider Integrated Mental Health Team, which is a multidisciplinary team, comprising psychologists and psychotherapists, psychiatrists, nursing staff and occupational therapists. The Psychological Therapies Service provides psychological assessment, psychological formulation and psychological interventions (group or individual) for young men who would like to engage with the service and improve their mental health. The team work within a trauma informed care model which includes supporting prison colleagues by providing teaching, training and consultation.

Sheppey Sites

The integrated mental health teams within Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust offer a trauma informed and needs led service that intends to provide rapid and easy access to a range of low and high intensity interventions for differing degrees of mental health need among prisoners across the Isle of Sheppey establishments: HMP Elmley (a local remand prison serving the Kent courts) and HMP Swaleside, offering long term high security for over 800 men. The service’s operational model comprises of a phased based approach, offering structured and time limited evidence-based psychological interventions to those with mental health problems. The IMHT has the expertise to provide consultation and advice on the delivery of a range of mental health psychological services for service users ranging from self-help literature to medium term group interventions designed to, for example, raise awareness and coping skills for behaviours and emotional instability typically associated with personality disturbance. It includes self-help, guided self-help, psychoeducational workshops, short
- and medium-term group work, and individual psychological therapies and counselling.

The Bracton Centre
You will be based at the Bracton Centre, a medium-secure mental health service for people who have h