Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist - Team Lead in Stevenage

Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist - Team Lead

NHS AfC: Band 8b

Main area Musculoskeletal - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Grade NHS AfC: Band 8b Contract Permanent: 21 hours per week Hours Part time - 21 hours per week Job ref 812-ST-26-CFS-CP-B

Site Kingsway Health Centre Town Stevenage Salary £66,582 - £77,368 pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 10/11/2026 23:59

Job overview

Band 8b Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist Team Lead - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Persistent Pain Management

We are currently looking for an enthusiastic, creative and highly specialist Clinical Psychologist to join our team.

ACTIVATE is a multi-disciplinary community team consisting of Clinical Psychologists, Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists, GP's with extended role and an administrator. We provide highly specialist assessment and intervention for adults with CFS and / or persistent pain.

ACTIVATE adopts a primarily hands off approach to treatment which is aimed at motivating and educating service users to manage their condition more effectively and utilises both individual and group based interventions. Close multi-disciplinary working within the team, is a key part of the service delivery and the successful candidate will be expected to take an active role in the delivery of the Chronic Fatigue and Persistent Pain Management Programmes as well as offering individual and joint treatment sessions with other team members.

ACTIVATE team form part of the integrated community MSK Services working alongside the MSK Physiotherapy team and the MSK Clinical , Assessment and Treatment Service (MSKCATS). The post will also involve close liaison with relevant medical consultants, GP's and other health care professionals.

*Proposed interview date : 19th November 2026*

Main duties of the job

To support and enhance the work of the multi-disciplinary team providing a highly specialist service to people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and persistent pain.

To take a lead role in the clinical delivery and strategic development of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Persistent Pain service

To support and enhance the professional psychological care of patients within the service by providing highly specialist psychological assessment, formulation and therapy as well as consultation, advice and supervision to other members of the team.

To provide highly specialist clinical psychology input to adults, their families and carers referred to the ACTIVATE Team with CFS and Persistent Pain.

To provide highly specialist psychological assessment, formulation and therapy for complex cases within the service. This will be based upon clinical psychology and clinical health psychology theory and practice.

To work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the teams’ policies and procedures.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities To lead the development and delivery of highly specialist psychological assessments of patients with CFS/Persistent Pain referred to the service using interview, formal psychometric and other assessment methods as appropriate and in accordance with the profession. Produce reports conveying the results of these highly complex assessments and formulations and detailing recommendations about appropriate interventions for the patient.

To lead the development and delivery of treatment, advice and management of patients with CFS/Persistent Pain , using a range of appropriate psychological or biopsychosocial interventions according to their profession including 1:1 and group sessions.

To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment and treatment of patients with persistent pain, in accordance with the policies of the service.

To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual patients and provide advice and guidance on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management to colleagues within the service.

To provide specialist advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals, specifically GP’s, MSK services and local pain services to assist the formulation, diagnosis and treatment of patients with persistent pain

To deliver professional communications in a skilled and sensitive manner concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of patients.

To be involved in the planning, co-ordination and delivery of psycho-educational group programmes primarily for patients with CFS or persistent pain.

To develop and maintain good working relationships with other staff in the ACTIVATE team with the purpose of facilitating patient care planning and dissemination of relevant information and to promote service delivery and planning with colleagues.

Through the provision of advice and consultation, contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of patients of the service across all settings and agencies serving the patient groups.

To liaise with relevant others including the GPwER’s attached to the service, the wider MSK service and other CFS and persistent pain services.

Working for our organisation

A big thank you for considering joining us at Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust

You’ll find it a great place to work with many benefits offered to you as a member of our staff

We put our patients, their families and carers at the centre of our vision - Outstanding Services and Healthier Communities.

Our staff are proud to be Caring, Pioneering and Inclusive in their work to help achieve the Trust vision

We welcome diversity in our workforce and are interested in applicants from all backgrounds and ages

You’ve made a great decision to apply to join to HCT - we’re looking forward to taking the next steps of the journey with you.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To lead the development and delivery of highly specialist psychological assessments of patients with CFS/Persistent Pain referred to the service using interview, formal psychometric and other assessment methods as appropriate and in accordance with the profession. Produce reports conveying the results of these highly complex assessments and formulations and detailing recommendations about appropriate interventions for the patient.

To lead the development and delivery of treatment, advice and management of patients with CFS/Persistent Pain , using a range of appropriate psychological or biopsychosocial interventions according to their profession including 1:1 and group sessions.

To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment and treatment of patients with persistent pain, in accordance with the policies of the service.

To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual patients and provide advice and guidance on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management to colleagues within the service.

To provide specialist advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals, specifically GP's, MSK services and local pain services to assist the formulation, diagnosis and treatment of patients with persistent pain

To deliver professional communications in a skilled and sensitive manner concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of patients.

To be involved in the planning, co-ordination and delivery of psycho-educational group programmes primarily for patients with CFS or persistent pain.

To develop and maintain good working relationships with other staff in the ACTIVATE team with the purpose of facilitating patient care planning and dissemination of relevant information and to promote service delivery and planning with colleagues.

Through the provision of advice and consultation, contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of patients of the service across all settings and agencies serving the patient groups.

To liaise with relevant others including the GPwER's attached to the service, the wider MSK service and other CFS and persistent pain services.

HCT will prioritise recruitment of workers living in England under the new immigration rules for care workers effective from 9 April 2025. Employers must first prove that they have attempted to recruit a worker from within England who needs new sponsorship. This ensures that those who came to the UK to pursue a career in adult social care can do so.

The use of AI is monitored and if you have used it then you are required to declare this, as well as what type of AI tools you have used and for what purpose. We reserve the right to further test your individual knowledge and skills in relation to the requirements for the post through robust and thorough interview and assessment.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Post-graduate doctoral level training in Clinical/Health Psychology as accredited by the British Psychological Society or British Psychological Society Statement of Equivalence.
• Registration with HCPC as a Practitioner Psychologist.
• Completion of further post-graduate/qualification specialist relevant training in clinical supervision, including training in supervision of trainee clinical psychologists.

Experience

• Experience of working as a qualified clinical psychologist for a minimum of 4 years.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity.
• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment across the full range of service settings including outpatient and community.
• Experience of working effectively with other professionals in multidisciplinary teams in physical health settings.
• Experience of devising and leading treatment programmes at both individual and group level.

communication

• Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex 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.
• Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and ability to contain the stress of others Self-awareness and self-motivation as demonstrated through reflective practice.
• Ability to work with a patient group who are at times resistant to the psychological contribution to their symptoms.
• Demonstrate the ability to empathise with patients with a medically unexplained condition Ability to develop and maintain good collaborative working relationships with other colleagues and health care professionals

We will communicate any interview arrangements with applicants via e-mail so it is advisable that you check the email address you give on your application on a regular basis.

Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band. All new appointments (excluding Medical & Dental roles) are subject to a 26 week probation period.

We are proud to be an armed forces friendly employer and support the employment of the armed forces community, including veterans, spouses and partners. For more information, contact hct.armedforcesrecruitment@nhs.net

Applications from qualified job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications, subject to you meeting minimum criteria of the role and salary threshold. Please visit the Gov.UK website for detail.

If applicable to the role, staff are required to hold a full, valid, UK driving licence and have access to a car to use with business insurance (unless the member of staff has a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).

In submitting an application form, you authorise Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the Electronic Staff Record Inter Authority Transfer process should you be appointed to the post.

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.

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