Clinical Psychologist in Sexual Function

We care for you as much as you care for others. There’s a place for you at CNWL. We’re passionate about delivering first-class patient-centred, safe and effective care, whether it is in a hospital setting, in a community clinic or in the patient’s own home. Patients are at the heart of everything we do. Providing top quality care depends on our ability to employ the best people. We’re always looking to recruit outstanding people who will go the extra mile to support our patients, colleagues, teams and the Trust. With every new employee we’re hoping to find our future leaders and we’ll support our staff by providing opportunities to develop your career.

CNWL (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust) has almost 8,000 staff providing integrated healthcare to a third of London's population, Milton Keynes and areas beyond. We involve service users, carers, the public, staff and partner organisations in the way that we are run. Our catchment area spans diverse communities, with over 100 first languages spoken. It contains areas of great affluence as well as areas of much deprivation. We are committed to providing services that meet the needs of the people who use them, and we actively encourage involvement from local people who can help make a difference. We’re proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME and people with disabilities to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.

Job overview: Clinical Psychologist – Jane Wadsworth Sexual Function Service (Band 7, part-time at .5 wte, Fixed Term 1 Year) Based at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust – St Mary’s Hospital. Join a nationally respected sexual function service at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. We are looking for a Clinical Psychologist with interest and experience in working therapeutically with sexual problems (Band 7 .5 WTE) to join our Sexual Function Service based at St Mary’s Hospital. This is an opportunity to contribute to a specialist MDT with a reputation for clinical excellence, collaborative working, and compassionate, patient‑centred care.

You will work with adults across genders presenting with a wide range of sexual difficulties. The postholder will have confidence and sensitivity in working with people from diverse cultural, societal, and religious backgrounds. The role sits within the wider Clinical Health Psychology department, which provides services across all Imperial College Healthcare hospital sites — offering you support from peers and a wide range of CPD opportunities offered by CNWL Foundation Trust. You will receive supervision from a Consultant Clinical Psychologist who also supervises sex therapists in training. This provides a rich environment for ongoing development, reflective practice, and specialist skill‑building.

Main duties of the job:

• To assess and treat patients referred to the Jane Wadsworth sexual function clinic by their GPs, using evidence-based approaches, working with individuals or with groups as appropriate.
• To administer outcome measures and to track patient progress by these and qualitative means.
• To keep contemporaneous notes of patient attendance and the content of sessions.
• To contribute to audit and research relevant to the service.
• To attend supervision with the relevant information about patients so as to be able to benefit from supervision.
• To be active in liaising as appropriate with other departments, agencies or individuals relevant to the patient.
• To attend and contribute to the Jane Wadsworth MDT meeting, including the journal club.
• To pursue CPD relevant to the role and to share CPD learning with other members of the team.
• To attend and contribute both to psychology meetings discussing the sexual health service overall as well as the weekly Department Meeting.
• As appropriate to contribute to the supervision of Assistant Psychologists or trainees.
• To support other members of the Jane Wadsworth team and Clinical Health Psychology department contributing to a psychologically safe environment.

Person specification:

Qualifications:

• Entry-level qualification in Clinical Psychology (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level additional training) that has been accepted by the HCPC for purposes of professional registration.
• Registered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist.
• Additional training related to sexual function.

Experience:

• Proven interest in sexual health and/or sexual function.
• Experience of working with patients with physical health concerns.
• Experience of receiving clinical supervision across a range of client needs.
• Experience of psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature.
• Experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities.
• Evidence of an interest in research beyond the formal requirements of doctoral training.
• Experience in treating individuals with sexual concerns.
• Experience of working in an acute hospital environment.

Knowledge:

• Theoretical knowledge of sexual function issues and existing evidence base for the relevant treatment.
• Knowledge of psychological assessment and clinical psychometrics.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities.
• Doctoral level knowledge of psychological research methodology and complex statistical analysis.
• Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of psychologically based treatments.
• Experience of delivering psychological therapy across gender, sexuality, ethnic, age, cultural and other differences.
• Skill in selecting and administering specialist psychological assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several sources.

Skills:

• Sensitivity and tact in communicating with clients on intimate topics in ways which take account of their background and treatment needs.
• To plan and schedule assessment and interventions for individual clients and groups and carers.
• To plan allocation of tasks to assistant psychologists.
• To be skilled in the administration of psychometric and neuropsychological tests.
• Well-developed IT skills including entry and analysis of research data.

The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.