Highly Specialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist OPS CMHT/Acute-HMR

Transformationunitgm; Rochdale; On-site; GBP 55,000 - GBP 63,000; Full time

Job summary

A prestigious NHS organization in Rochdale is seeking a Highly Specialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist to provide psychological assessments and therapies to older adult service users. This role demands a Professional Doctorate in clinical psychology and experience in clinical settings, focusing on trauma-informed care. The position offers generous annual leave, flexible working opportunities, and a commitment to professional development. Join a compassionate MDT dedicated to high-quality care for mental health challenges.

Benefits

Generous annual leave

Flexible working opportunities

Access to Continued Professional Development

Health and Wellbeing activities

Staff discounts across retail, leisure and travel

Qualifications

• Registered with HCPC.
• Specialist knowledge of psychological needs for older people.
• Experience in supervision of trainee clinical psychologists.

Responsibilities

• Provide psychological assessments and interventions for complex mental health problems.
• Support multi-disciplinary team through consultation and training.
• Implement evidence-based practices within the service.

Skills

Psychological assessment

Clinical supervision

Trauma informed care

Multidisciplinary teamwork

Education

Professional Doctorate in clinical psychology

Job description

Employer Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Watergrove / Beech Ward Birch Hill Hospital Town Rochdale Salary £55,690 - £62,682 pa Salary period Yearly Closing 16/02/2026 23:59 Interview date 04/03/2026

Highly Specialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist OPS CMHT/Acute-HMR

NHS AfC: Band 8a

If you are Kind, Fair, Ingenious and Determined then we want you to come and join our#PennineCarePeople

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an 8a, or 7/8a Preceptorship Clinical/ Counselling Psychologist to come and join the MDT's who support service users accessing help from both our Older Adult Inpatient ward (Beech ward) and our Older Adult CMHT in Rochdale.

This post has been newly created and is part of an increased investment in OA services, in recognition of the outstanding care we wish to provide for our OA communities. We hope this additional resource will develop a robust offer across the Trust's footprint.

There will be appropriate support, supervision and guidance available and you will belong to a compassionate and invested Older Adult MDT who are committed to providing evidence based, trauma informed clinical care to those who are supported by our services.

You will be afforded various CPD opportunities throughout alongside the chance to develop leadership skills that will serve to enhance your contribution to the older adult network and your own career progression.

Main duties of the job

To provide and supervise psychological assessments, formulations, interventions / therapies appropriate to a specialist psychological therapy service for service users with highly complex mental health problems / organic illnesses cared for within the Older People’s Community Services and Inpatient settings. To support the delivery of trauma informed and personalised care to meet presenting need.

Working closely as part of the multi-disciplinary team, a key function of the role will be to support staff through consultation, care-planning, reflective practice, team formulation and training to develop a psychological understanding and context for service users and carers, that is formulation driven, recovery focussed and trauma and gender informed. To support the CMHT practitioners and staff in the acute care pathway to develop a psychological understanding and context for service users and carers.

To provide line management and clinical supervision and to play an active role in service developments and governance within the service as required. The post holders will propose and implement evidence-based practice, utilising research skills for audit and service developments. The post holder will work autonomously within professional guidelines and within the overall framework of the Trust and service policies.

Working for our organisation

We are proud to provide high quality mental health and learning disability services, both inpatient and in the community across five boroughs of Greater Manchester - Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport and Tameside and Glossop.

Our vision is for a happier and more hopeful life for everyone in our communities and our staff work hard to deliver the very best care for the people who use our services. We’re really proud of our#PennineCarePeopleand do everything we can to make sure we’re a great place to work.

All individuals regardless of race, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership are encouraged to apply for this post. We would also encourage applications from individuals with a lived experience of mental illness, either individually or as a carer.

If you come and work for us we will offer a range of benefits and opportunities, including:

• Generous annual leave entitlement for Agenda for Change and Medical and Dental staff.
• Flexible working opportunities to support your work/life balance
• Access to Continued Professional Development
• Involvement in improvement and research activities
• Health and Wellbeing activities and access to an excellent staff wellbeing service
• Access to staff discounts across retail, leisure and travel

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for additional details regarding primary responsibilities.

Person specification

Education / Qualifications

• • Professional Doctorate in clinical psychology recognised by the British Psychological Society / or Counselling Psychology and registration with HCPC.
• • Specialist professional knowledge of psychological needs and services for older people and their carers, with some further specialisation within this. This includes relevant psychological theories, methods and evidence.
• • Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and / or other fields of applied psychology.
• • Further training / qualification in a specialist therapy, model of consultation or leadership skills.
• • Completion of training in supervision of trainee clinical psychologist.

Experience

• Clinical experience as a specialist clinical psychologist in a relevant field of practice.
• Experience of specialist psychological assessment, formulation and intervention for service users presenting with complexity in a variety of settings including primary and secondary care, community, outpatient and inpatient settings.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of service user groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• MDT working (including across community and acute care pathways).
• Experience of teaching, training, consultation and supervision.

Knowledge

• • Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
• • Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS
• • Knowledge of the practice implications of the National policy and guidance with secondary care service users.
• • Knowledge of legislation in relation to the secondary care service users and mental health.
• • Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. CERN, dual diagnosis, people with additional disabilities etc.).
• • High–level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
• • Formal training in the supervision of other psychologists.

Skills and Abilities

• • 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 complex, highly technical and / or clinically sensitive information to service users, their families and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• • Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• • Ability to teach and train others using a variety of complex and multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
• • Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
• • Experience of working with a multicultural framework.
• • Experience of working within an Older People Service.
• • Strong interest in developing ways of increasing psychologically based interventions in acute care settings.

Work Related Circumstances

• • Use of a car or access to a means of mobility to travel across the Trust footprint in line with service needs
• • Willing to carry out all duties and responsibilities of the post in accordance with the Trust’s Equal Opportunities and Equality and Diversity policies
• • Appointments to regulated and controlled activities require an enhanced DBS disclosure.

🌍 Sponsorship Information - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.

📬 After You Apply - Once your application is submitted, you’ll receive updates via email. Shortlisting is based on how well you meet the criteria outlined in the person specification. Only shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview, and invitations will be sent by email.

✅ If You're Offered the Role - If successful, the hiring manager will contact you directly with a verbal offer. They will then notify the Recruitment Team and submit the necessary paperwork. You’ll receive a formal conditional offer via email

🔍 Pre-Employment Checks - To confirm your suitability for the role, we will carry out pre-employment checks in line with NHS Employment Check Standards . These include:

• Identity verification
• Right to work check
• Disclosure and barring service (DBS)/Criminal record check (dependent on role)
• Professional registration and/or qualification check
• Occupational health assessment
• Employment history and reference validation

All applicants external to Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust will be required to provide their HMRC employment history to cover the most recent three years employment. This information will used to validate employment history andreferences.

If you require sponsorship, we will assess your eligibility based on current government guidance. If the role is not eligible and you cannot demonstrate your right to work, your conditional offer may be withdrawn.

🚀 Once Checks Are Complete -

The Recruitment Team will coordinate with you and the hiring manager to confirm a start date. You’ll be booked onto a Trust Welcome Session and receive your Pennine Care NHS Terms and Conditions.

We are committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), and we strive to ensure our workforce reflects the communities we serve. We actively encourage applications from individuals of diverse backgrounds to help us grow, innovate, and improve.

If you wish to be considered under the Disability Confident Scheme, you will be guaranteed an interview if you meet the essential criteria for the role.

If you need reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please contact us on 0161 716 3181 as early as possible so we can support you.

Please note:

• We do not accept unsolicited contact from recruitment agencies. Hiring managers should not be contacted directly.
• We may close vacancies early if we receive a high volume of applications. To ensure your application is considered, please apply as soon as possible.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.