Principal Psychologist

Job Description

About the team:A rare opportunity has arisen for a Principal Psychologist role to lead the male medium secure ward provision at River House Medium Secure Unit, within the Behavioural & Developmental Psychiatry Operational Directorate. The in-patient provision is part of the South London & Maudsley Forensic & Offender Health Pathway. The male wards include two admission wards and two wards for service users who have achieved some stability and who are making greater use of therapeutic and recovery-oriented activities. Each ward has a full multi-professional team, that includes dedicated qualified and assistant psychology provision. The postholder will be aligned for direct clinical service provision to one ward and will join a forensic clinical psychology & psychotherapy team that provides in-patient and community-based interventions.The male medium secure in-patient provision at River House is an integral part of the South London Partnership (SLP) acute pathway and rehabilitation pathway. There are close links with low secure provision and community forensic mental health teams, as well as other mental health services, prisons and criminal justice agencies.About the role:The postholder will join and lead a team of psychologists, assistant psychologists and therapists, who work closely with the multi-professional teams in these in-patient services.While supervision and oversight of services will be a major component of the role, there will also be an expectation of on-going direct clinical service delivery on a specific ward, for which the postholder will act as the ward psychologist.The postholder will work with the wider forensic psychology & psychological therapies team across the in-patient secure services to deliver specialist assessments and an interventions programme.The postholder will have a strong commitment to recovery-orientated practice in-patient work with forensic mental health clients generally, and a specific interest in working with men in secure care.We intend to recruit someone who has a proven track-record of commitment to people with forensic mental health needs and special interests relevant to the area will be encouraged.There are ample opportunities for continuing professional development and the service actively supports participation in a strong research, evaluation and audit culture.There are strong links with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neurosciences (IoPPN), and there are opportunities to contribute to teaching, research and service evaluation.Interested candidates are strongly encouraged to make contact and to visit the service where possible.About the location:The medium secure in-patient services are based in River House MSU at the Bethlem Royal Hospital.Benefits:We are committed to ensuring our staff get the most out of their benefits package and understand the importance of a healthy work life balance. There is an extensive range of excellent benefits for you and your family. We want you to feel like you are part of a close knit team at SLaM. It’s important to us that you valued and appreciated and that are why we have a comprehensive benefits package on offerSome of our benefits are highlighted here:

Generous pay, pensions and leave, we offer a comprehensive pay, pensions and leave package which is dependent on the role and length of service.

Work life balance, flexible working and support a range of flexible options, such as: part-time working and job sharing.

Career development, There are plenty of opportunities to progress your career and we support your development through a number of programmes such as mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership and other talent programmes

Car lease, our staff benefits from competitive deals to lease cars

Accommodation, our staff benefits from keyworker housing available which is available on selected sites

NHS discounts, with discounts up to 10% from a variety of well-known retail brands though Health Service Discounts website.

Other benefits include:

Counselling services

Wellbeing events

Long service awards

Cycle to work scheme

Season ticket loan

Staff restaurants

We look forward to receiving your application.For further details / informal visits contact:NameDr Gerard DrennanJob titleLead PsychologistEmail addressgerard.drennan@slam.nhs.uk