Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Lead in Milton Keynes

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Consultant Clinical Psychologist to join Milton Keynes Talking Therapies as Clinical Lead. Milton Keynes Talking Therapies is a well-established NHS Talking Therapies service providing evidence-based interventions for depression and anxiety disorders in line with NHS Talking Therapies national guidance. The service is delivered by a skilled multidisciplinary workforce, including Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWPs), High Intensity Therapists (HITS), Counsellors, Employment Advisers, Team Leaders and administrative teams, with a strong focus on clinical excellence, innovation, reducing health inequalities and supporting staff wellbeing. The team holds a contract for the MK Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) programme; the successful candidate would be the Responsible Clinician for that programme.

As Clinical Lead, you will provide strong clinical and strategic leadership, ensuring the ongoing delivery of a high-quality, safe and effective NHS Talking Therapies service. You will work closely with the Service Manager, Team Leads and senior clinical colleagues to ensure the service continues to meet the needs of the diverse Milton Keynes population while maintaining excellent clinical outcomes and operational performance.

Main duties of the job:

• Deliver strong clinical and strategic leadership within Milton Keynes Talking Therapies, ensuring the provision of a high-quality, safe and effective NHS Talking Therapies service.
• Exercise responsibility for the governance of psychological therapy practice within the service, ensuring robust supervision, clinical governance and quality assurance processes are in place and adhered to.
• Work collaboratively with clinical, operational and administrative colleagues to ensure the provision of effective, evidence-based psychological therapies.
• Lead on maintaining and improving clinical outcomes, service quality and patient experience.
• Support workforce development, staff wellbeing, recruitment and retention initiatives.
• Ensure the ongoing achievement of key performance indicators, including recovery rates, reliable improvement, completed treatment rates, waiting time standards and service access targets.
• Contribute to service transformation and continuous quality improvement initiatives in line with local and national priorities.
• Represent Milton Keynes Talking Therapies within wider organisational and regional networks.

Milton Keynes Talking Therapies provides evidence-based psychological therapies to adults experiencing common mental health difficulties, including depression and anxiety disorders. The service is committed to delivering high-quality care that is person-centred, accessible and outcomes-focused. We are proud of our supportive and inclusive culture and our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. We actively value the contributions of people from all backgrounds and experiences and strive to create a workplace where everyone can thrive.

Job responsibilities:

• To ensure the systematic provision of a high quality psychological therapy service to clients of the MKTT Service in Milton Keynes.
• To take responsibility (delegate as appropriate) for the day-to-day operational and clinical practice of psychological therapists working in the service.
• To supervise and support the psychological assessment and therapy provided by other psychological therapists in the team who provide psychologically based care and treatment.
• To act as Responsible Clinician for the Mental Health Treatment Requirement programme commissioned and run within MKTT.
• To act as a point of liaison between the service and other relevant services in the directorate e.g., secondary care CMHTs, Specialist Therapies Service, local Counselling services, Primary Care Plus, Third Sector organisations.
• To work with other Therapy Leads in the directorate to develop and coordinate delivery of psychological services across the directorate.
• To ensure the provision of a consistent, evidence-based and well-integrated psychological therapy service model across Milton Keynes with the goal of ensuring the operation of an effective stepped care model of psychological service delivery in conjunction with other service providers.
• Together with the team manager, to ensure that systems are in place and working effectively for the clinical and professional supervision and clinical governance of all therapists within the service.
• To work closely with the psychological therapists and team administrators to ensure there are efficient administrative systems in place to effectively manage referrals, waiting lists, and recording of clinical activity.
• To take lead responsibility for workforce planning and related recruitment and staff professional development activities.
• To provide necessary service activity reports in a timely and organised fashion.
• To manage the financial budgets for the service in conjunction with MKTT Service Manager ensuring efficient monitoring of budgetary income and expenditure.
• To carry out necessary audit, policy and service development and research activities within the service.
• To ensure compliance with Trust policies and procedures in a variety of areas.
• To contribute significantly to service development and expansion, following the Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression (MKTT) model.
• To support the MKTT Service Manager and MK Lead Psychologist in mental health in contributing to wider service development across the directorate.

Person Specification:

Qualifications

• Essential: Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology. Registration with HCPC as a practitioner psychologist.
• Desirable: Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice. BABCP professional accreditation. Further training in management/leadership theories and models.

Experience

• Essential: Assessed experience of working as a qualified clinical psychologist for a significant period including substantial post qualification experience supervising staff. Experience of leadership or a managerial role.
• Desirable: Experience of professional management of qualified and pre-qualified clinical psychologists and/or other psychological therapists.

Knowledge

• Essential: Doctoral level knowledge of clinical psychology including highly developed knowledge of lifespan developmental psychology, models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, and two or more distinct psychological therapies.
• A high level ability to communicate effectively at both a written and oral level complex, highly technical and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and a wide range of lay and professional persons within and outside the NHS.