We are seeking a practitioner psychologist to join our dynamic and busy psychology and psychological therapies provision that sits within the multi-professional mental health and well‑being team at HMP Forest Bank.
Men at HMP Forest Bankare provided with the equivalence of care received within the community and as such you will be joining a large team of professionals who work across the prison establishment providing mental health and well‑being support. Psychological and formulation driven intervention is offered across all areas of a stepped care model, including self‑help, short and medium term intervention and therapies, MDT care planning and preventing unnecessary hospitalisations. This is a well‑established role, the post holder will work alongside all staff but most closely with our other Practitioner psychologists, CBT therapist and psychological wellbeing practitioners providing intervention and therapy at Step 2 and 3, and our clinical nurse specialists, mental health nurses and psychiatrists offering Step 4 provision. You will also supervise and line manage Assistant psychologists and assist in client formulation and multi‑professional planning to support transition and referrals to other services or back into the community. The post holder will also be expected to contribute to the reflective, compassionate and trauma informed culture within the mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions teams.
Main duties of the job
To work within the integrated mental health team and contribute to the psychological care provided to service users at HMP Forest Bank.
To work with individual service-users and others involved in their care to support improved psychological health and well‑being.
To carefully consider service‑user’s interpersonal interactions, management of emotional regulation, past traumatic experiences and develop detailed assessments and formulations to consider how this is linked to their mental health and behavioural presentation within custody.
To provide individual therapy, which is driven by a strong working formulation and is evaluated.
To contribute to the development of psychologically informed ways of working and support staff within the mental health team and the wider establishment to consider psychologically informed interactions.
To provide psychological advice and psychological opinion within a range of multi‑disciplinary and professional forums.
To provide supervision and line management to others, including less senior psychological staff, including PWP staff.
To contribute to clinical, operational and referral meetings and attend relevant HMPPS and partnership meetings where directed.
To provide monthly outcome data and contribute to annual reporting.
To participate in own appraisal processes, line management and clinical supervision and use reflective practice to develop a strong awareness of abilities, strengths and limitations.
Working for our organisation
Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) Foundation Trust employs over 7,000members of staff, who deliver services from more than122locations.
We provide inpatient and community‑based mental health care for people living in Bolton, the city of Manchester, Salford,Trafford and the borough of Wigan, and a wide range of specialist mental health and substance misuse services across Greater Manchester, the north west of England and beyond.
Greater Manchester is one of the world's most innovative, original and exciting places to live and work. From the beauty of the surrounding countryside to the heart of the vibrant inner city with great shopping, entertainment and dining options.
Wherever you go you will experience a great northern welcome with people famed for their warmth, humour and generosity.
Our people enjoy their work, have opportunities to learn and develop their skills and are encouraged to generate new ideas that improve care for our service users.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
See attached detailed job description and person specification:
- Pay Enhancements – 30% additional for Evenings (8pm onwards) and Saturdays and 60% additional for Sundays and Bank holidays.
- 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays rising to 29 after 5 years and 33 days after 10 years
- Postgraduate doctorate in clinical or counselling psychology, or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996, or the equivalent Stage 2 British Psychological Society (BPS) training for forensic psychologists
- Additional postgraduate academic masters or doctoral-level qualifications
HCPC Registration
- Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council as a Practitioner Psychologist
- Awaiting HCPC registration/in final year of training
Experience
- Psychological therapy and intervention with complex presentations
- providing supervision to others
- working in prison or secure
Knowledge and application
- awareness and application of treatments for those presenting with complex presentations
- working within Stepped care / experience of triage
Important Information about working for GMMH:
All positions within the Trust are subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks, for further information on the checks required please visit the NHS Employers website www.nhsemployers.org
The Trust mandates all post holders who require a DBS for their role to subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will be required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration throughout your employment with GMMH.
Applicants are encouraged to apply for posts at Greater Manchester Mental Health who have direct experience of mental health, learning disability or drug and alcohol services either as a service user or a carer.
The Trust is also committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and requires all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
We are aspiring to ensure our workforce is representative of the diverse communities that we serve, and we are strongly committed to removing barriers to employment for candidates from under‑represented groups, for example BAME, Disabled and LGBT+ communities. If you would like to have an informal chat about the recruitment process for this role or would value some additional support, we’d love to hear from you.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) when writing job applications
A candidate may utilise the help of AI when writing job application.The assessment of an application is made on its entirety and most times AI‑generated content does not fully grasp the context and requirements of the job one applies for thus producing inaccurate and misleading information, especially in the supporting statement section of an application that can lack real life examples of one’s achievements, success and challenges.
We have added a disclaimer to our application process advising that the use of AI is monitored. GMMH reserves the right to follow up with a candidate at the interview on specific responses and those examples used in the supporting statement to explore it further.
Sponsorship
We are proud to be an approved sponsor for the Skilled Worker visa. Applications from individuals who require sponsorship will be considered alongside all other applications. Please be aware that not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible roles and salary requirements on the UK Government’s website – .
If you are offered a role with us and you require sponsorship, we will check your eligibility in line with the information on the above website. Your offer of employment could be withdrawn if the role is not eligible for sponsorship, and you are not otherwise able to evidence your right to work in the UK.
The Home Office introduces new changes from 22/07/2025 that impact the health and care sector, you may wish to familiarise with it.
Do you have experience outside the NHS?
We want to attract and retain people with diverse skills and experience, to deliver inclusive healthcare services to our communities.
We will consider relevant experience outside the NHS to calculate your salary on appointment. Please contact our Recruitment Team for more information.
**Please note, this vacancy may be closed at any time if sufficient applications have been received**
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.
Name Dr Mairead Hughes Job title Principal Clinical Psychologist Email address Mairead.Hughes@gmmh.nhs.uk Additional information
Dr Kelly McCarthy, Consultant clinical psychologist - Kelly.Mccarthy@gmmh.nhs.uk
Emma Smith, Integrated Mental Health Team Manager Forest Bank - Emma.Smith@gmmh.nhs.uk
As a service user, relative or carer using our services, sometimes you may need to turn to someone for help, advice, and support.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
