Senior Principal Clinical Psychologist

Nhsayrshireandarran; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 50,000 - GBP 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare provider in the UK is seeking a Senior Principal Clinical Psychologist to join their Older Adult Psychology Services within the Discharge Without Delay Programme. This full-time role, based at Crosshouse Hospital, involves providing specialist psychological assessments, working collaboratively with MDTs, and supervising other psychologists. Candidates must be HCPC registered with relevant experience in older adult mental health. This position is fixed term for 18 months, offering a chance to impact patient care significantly.

Benefits

Contribution to service development

Opportunity for collaboration with multidisciplinary teams

Qualifications

• You must be an HCPC registered Clinical Psychologist.
• Older adult psychology specialty training is required.
• Relevant experience in mental health settings is essential.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist psychological assessment in acute settings.
• Engage with multidisciplinary teams to support patient care.
• Supervise other clinical psychologists and contribute to service development.

Skills

HCPC registered

Older adult psychology specialty training

Experience in psychological assessment

Strong communication skills

Education

Doctorate in Clinical Psychology

Tools

Psychological assessment tools

Job description

Overview

NHS Scotland is committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce and eliminating unlawful discrimination. The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. NHS Scotland welcomes applications from all sections of society.

NHS Ayrshire and Arran is one of 14 territorial NHS Boards within NHS Scotland. In support of our core purpose of Working together to achieve the healthiest life possible for everyone in Ayrshire and Arran we are committed to a culture that is Caring, Safe, and Respectful. You will be required to work collaboratively in a safe, caring and respectful way. To find out more about NHS Ayrshire and Arran please visit our website - NHS Ayrshire & Arran - Home (nhsaaa.net)

Position

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Senior Principal Clinical Psychologist within Older Adult Psychology Services to be part of a new innovative service development within the Discharge Without Delay (DWD) Programme, specifically within an Acute Frailty Multidisciplinary Team. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of whole system change for psychology workforce that will have a real impact on patient outcomes. The post will be based at Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock, working in an integrated team that has shared values, vision, drive and an improvement focus.

Hours

From 1 April 2026, the working week for NHS Agenda for Change staff in Scotland will be reduced. Full-time hours will reduce from 37 to 36 hours (pro rata for part-time staff) without loss of earnings. This post (37 hours) is offered on a full-time basis (Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm), but variation in contracted hours may be considered.

Attending the University Hospital Crosshouse for daily huddles and providing an on-site clinical role is a key requirement of the post. This post is offered on a fixed term basis for 18 months or until 30th March 2027. Secondments may be considered.

UK Driving Licence/Car Ownership: Full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle is essential to this role.

What You Will Do

Job Purpose: The post holder will form part of an expanded integrated MDT as part of an innovative whole system approach to meet the aims of the Discharge Without Delay Programme in Ayrshire and Arran. Specifically, the role will provide Specialist Psychological Assessment at the ‘Front Door’ of patients being admitted with complex Frailty within the Acute Frailty Unit and Medicine for the Elderly inpatient wards. The role will contribute to team assessment, inform team decision making, whilst liaising and working closely with Health, Community, and Social care partners, ensuring patients with complex psychological and cognitive needs are managed throughout their journey of care by supporting other teams involved in supported discharge and preventing readmissions. The role also includes service development and impact assessment for the programme locally specific to psychology impact, and possibly wider regarding research methodology support to the team, whilst supervising another member of psychology workforce within the programme at another acute site.

Outline of main tasks, duties and responsibilities of the role: The postholder will work with Acute Frailty leads and clinicians, and key collaborators across all HSCP teams involved in managing and delivering care within the DWD Programme such as Discharge to Assess (D2A)/Home First teams, Community Hospital/Step Down Units, or Hospital at Home (H@H) to provide highly specialist psychological care and contribute to programme development. Clinical Supervision of another qualified Clinical Psychologist delivering a clinical role within Frailty/DWD programme is part of the Senior role. Service development within Frailty/DWD and pathway development support will be provided by the Older Adult Psychology Clinical Lead. Formal assessment of the impact of the role/expanded MDT via Quality Improvement and formal research is a main task within the role. Disseminating updates, impact assessments, and data outcomes to the DWD programme is expected. Engaging with key members of the team, collaborating together and ensuring whole system strategic consideration is required. The role will provide highly specialist psychological assessment and consultation specific to cognitive and psychological care for complex frail patients who are at risk for long stays in acute hospitals, contributing to diagnostic clarity and support earlier discharge to final discharge destination from the Acute Frailty Unit and Medicine for Elderly inpatient beds. Supervising one other Clinical Psychologist in another acute hospital site the role will enable psychology workforce within frailty to develop sound methodology to assess DWD impact using QI and formal research methods for the DWD programme.

Knowledge, Training And/Or Experience Required To Do The Job

You will be an HCPC registered Clinical Psychologist, with older adult psychology specialty training, knowledge and experience relevant to the post.

Further Information

For further information on the requirements for the role please view the person specification. If you want to find out more about the role, please contact Dr Ying Teh at [e-mail] or Dr Leigh Whitnall at [e-mail]

Additional Information For Overseas Candidates

To work in the United Kingdom, there is a legal requirement for an individual to demonstrate that they have the relevant permission to work in the country. This permission is, without exception, granted by the UK Visa and Immigrations Service. Further information on what NHS Scotland Boards are required to do to check this as well as what your responsibilities include can be found within the attached Candidate Information Pack. It is ESSENTIAL that you have checked that you either already have an appropriate right to work in the UK or that the post would be eligible to be sponsored BEFORE submitting your application form. The Recruitment Team are unable to answer individual queries at application stage about this, please visit here for further information. We are unable to provide sponsorship for bank contracts.

Additional Information For All Candidates

You should apply for this post by completing the application process on JobTrain.

Do not upload a CV as this will not be used for shortlisting purposes.

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