Specialist Psychological Therapist

We welcome applicants who are newly qualified or are approaching qualification who are enthusiastic and dedicated to working in this field, with or without prior experience in secure or forensic services.

Oxleas Forensic Psychological Therapies department is an unusually large, long established and nationally well-regarded specialty. Psychological therapists are highly valued within the wider directorate and trust and occupy a variety of service-wide leadership roles, including as Responsible Clinicians. Staff in the Forensic Directorate report the highest levels of job satisfaction in a Trust recognised for positive employee feedback. The Psychological Therapies team is warm and friendly, whilst also being dynamic and innovative.

Within the psychological therapies department, there is a focus on attachment, trauma and systemic approaches with expert supervision available for several evidence-based therapy modalities such Mentalisation based Therapy (MBT) and Eye Movement Desensitisation therapy (EMDR).

This post is primarily based within HMP Bristol, Ashfield, Leyhill and Erlestoke, sites can be agreed.

The postholder will supervise pre-qualified psychological therapists including assistant psychologists, students and trainees.
- To provide direct psychological care (assessment and intervention) and support the delivery of psychologically informed care by all disciplines within the service.
- To provide highly specialist psychological therapy assessments, formulations and interventions.
- To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of community clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans, including taking responsibility for initiating planning and review of care plans with input from clients, their carers, referring agents and others involved in the network of care.

Oxleas - About Us

Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people living in South East London and Kent and to people in prison. 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 4,000 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes. We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations across the London Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent and manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital in Woolwich as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are one of the largest providers of prison health services providing healthcare to prisoners across 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

To engage in service improvements through audits and quality improvement initiatives.
- To ensure the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.
- Advise professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
- To participate in Trust and Directorate strategic development and implementation of new initiatives (e.g. national guidelines), including through membership of committees and/or working parties.
- Provide high quality services that are managed efficiently, according to the overall requirements of the Trust, NHS and government guidance and standards.
- Participate in service outcome monitoring.

KR 4 Management and supervision
- To provide line management to designated assistant psychologists.
- Provide supervision to students and trainees and to multi-disciplinary colleagues delivering psychological interventions.
- To support recruitment of assistant psychologists to the service.
- For those line managing, to ensure local standards are implemented for the allocation and review of work, job planning, review of performance, sickness management and initial stages of grievance or disciplinary action.
- To oversee quality line management and supervision within the team structure, ensuring that staff and trainees acquire the necessary skills, competencies and experience to contribute effectively to health care, and to contribute to the assessment and evaluation of such competencies.
- To provide highly specialist advice, consultation and training of staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings, where appr