Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Our Vision is to provide the best mental health, learning disability, autism and community based services for the populations we serve. As an integrated mental health, learning disability and community Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including:

• Primary and secondary mental health care for children and adults including specialist inpatient child and adolescent mental health provision, perinatal mental health, forensic services including low and medium secure care.
• Specialist community support for children and adults with learning disabilities and autism, including intensive support.
• Community physical health and well-being services for children and adults.

The Trust was first established in 2002 and employs approximately 7,000 staff who provide care from more than 400 sites. The organisation offers opportunities for medics, mental health and general nurses, allied health professionals, psychology, administration and clerical staff, apprentices and volunteers.

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust supports flexible working, believing that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours, home/remote working, and flexi-time.

We are excited to announce a fantastic opportunity has arisen for an 8c Consultant Clinical Psychologist to be part of the senior leadership team for the brand new mental health Inpatient Learning Disability Services at Water Meadow View. This purpose built unit, which was collaboratively designed with service users, is due to open in November 2025 on our site in Whittingham, Preston. As we prepare for the opening we are recruiting to the senior leadership team in preparation for a start date for staff of October 2025.

One of the Trust's aims is to deliver the best possible care to our patients. Water Meadow View will offer trauma informed care, clinical excellence, support and safety with patient-centred care at its heart. Working in collaboration with the senior leadership team and MDT the successful post holder will be a leader in ensuring the delivery of psychologically informed high-quality, compassionate, evidence based care and patient experience.

An experienced candidate is required to provide psychological leadership, strategic oversight, governance and clinical supervision, and to work closely with their counterparts in the community service to ensure continuity in the application of psychological input across the transition. This new post offers an opportunity to help develop a fantastic new psychologically informed service and make a real difference to service users, their carers and their families.

Main duties of the job include:

• Work as a senior member of the service to assist in providing clinical leadership, supervision and strategic service development to the learning disability inpatient service.
• Work closely with other senior clinical and managerial staff within Water Meadow View to provide a psychological perspective to service planning, service development and clinical service delivery.
• Hold a clinical case load within the Learning disability Inpatient service.
• Contribute to LSCFT wide discussions regarding Learning Disability Inpatient Services.
• Provide supervision to colleagues in the service and more junior psychology staff.
• Provide consultation to colleagues and other services.
• Provide training.
• Provide governance/ oversight for interventions, referrals, waiting lists and clinical delivery.
• Provide psychological leadership.

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including secondary mental health care across this area. Specialist provision comprises inpatient child and adolescent mental health services, perinatal mental health and forensic services including low and medium secure care.

The Trust also provides a range of physical health and well-being services in the community alongside a range of partners in the Lancashire, Cumbria and Sefton area.

For more information or an informal discussion please contact either: Dr Rebecca Brockhouse, Associate Network Director for Psychological Professions, Specialist Network- Rebecca.Brockhouse@lscft.nhs.uk or Stuart Sheridan, Interim Learning Disability Operational Lead, Stuart.Sheridan@lscft.nhs.uk.

Person specification includes:

• Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent for those who trained prior to 1996, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS.
• HCPC registered as a practitioner psychologist (clinical).
• Eligibility for consultant clinical psychologist appointment approval from external BPS assessor.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.
• Completed or have a willingness/ ability to complete Approved Clinician Training.

Essential criteria also includes substantial post qualification experience including experience within the designated specialty/type of service, experience of working with a wide variety of client groups across the whole life course, and experience of exercising full clinical responsibilities for clients' psychological care and treatment.

Applications from job share partners are welcome and other forms of flexible working will be considered for all posts.