Job summary

• An opportunity has arisen for a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist to join our dedicated and well-established interdisciplinary chronic pain and fatigue management service with a focus on supporting people with Long COVID.

We welcome applications from newly qualified, or less experienced clinical psychologists who can initially be appointed to a Band 7 Development Post. The post holder will be supported to develop their skills across predetermined core competencies. Once they have been assessed as meeting these competencies, they will move to band 8a in the service.

The service works with people with a wide range of chronic pain conditions, ME/CFS and Long COVID. The post holder will be involved in assessment and a range of interventions including group, individual and workshops. The service is delivered from sites in Aylesbury and Amersham.

Good communication and team-working skills are essential. Previous experience with the identified client groups is not a prerequisite.

You will receive clinical supervision from the Principal Clinical Psychologist and have access to a wide range of CPD activities and a strong network of Psychologists working in the Trust. There are opportunities for service development, service evaluation/research and teaching/training. The Trust has excellent links with the Oxford Institute of Clinical Psychology Training and Research and regularly has trainees doing clinical placements.

Main duties of the job
To ensure the systematic provision of a high quality highly specialist clinical psychology service to persons with Long COVID, chronic pain, and chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) across all sectors of care, within the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Management Service and Long COVID assessment clinic. To support the psychological assessment and therapy provided by assistant psychologists, doctoral trainee clinical psychologists and other clinical members of the team who provide psychologically based care and treatment. To work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Management Service. To utilise research skills, for audit, policy and service development and research. To propose and implement policy changes which may impact on other professionals within the area served by the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Management Service.

About us
Listen to why colleagues think we are a great place to work! - BHT - A great place to work (buckshealthcare.nhs.uk)

What does Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust offer you?

• As part of our BHT family, you'll benefit from learning and development opportunities to support your career progression.
• We offer flexible and agile working opportunities, alongside your NHS benefits of generous annual leave entitlement, pension and access to NHS discount schemes.
• We provide a range of health and wellbeing services to promote a healthy, happy workforce.

Why work for us?

• We're committed to promoting inclusion and making sure all colleagues feel they belong. We encourage new colleagues from a diverse range of backgrounds to apply.
• As an employer, we aim to create a workplace where differences are valued and colleagues treat one another with dignity and respect.
• Greater diversity within our BHT family improves positive outcomes for the people and communities we serve.
• A keen supporter of the Armed Forces Community who know the value of employing a service leaver/veteran and their families.

What do we stand for?

• Our vision is to provide outstanding care, support healthy communities and be a great place to work.
• Our mission is to provide personal and compassionate care every time.
• Our care values are collaborate, aspire, respect and enable.

Details
Date posted: 19 October 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 8a
Salary: £57,528 to £64,750 a year per annum pro rata
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Part-time, Job share, Flexible working
Reference number: 434-CR8216482
Job locations: Rayners Hedge, Mandeville Road, Aylesbury, HP21 7RD, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
For a comprehensive list of responsibilities and duties, please kindly refer to the Job Description and Person Specification by downloading the JD and PS attachment in the advert.

If you are an internal applicant there is the option for secondment, all applicants must have the endorsement/support of their line manager prior to application.

If you have a disability that makes submitting this online application difficult and would like assistance, please contact us on bht.recruitment@nhs.net quoting the vacancy reference number.

Person Specification
Education/Qualification

• Essential: Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology or counselling psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996/Psychological Therapists) as accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS), including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
• Essential: Registration with HCPC

Experience

• Essential: Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, in-patient, and residential care settings, including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• Essential: Experience of providing teaching, training and professional clinical supervision
• Desirable: Assessed experience of working as a qualified psychologist/psychological therapist within the specialist field of Clinical Health Psychology.
• Desirable: Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified
• Desirable: Experience of providing teaching, training and professional clinical supervision.

Skills, abilities and knowledge

• Essential: Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management (frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration)
• Essential: Highly developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
• Essential: Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology.
• Essential: Knowledge of legislation in relation to patients with psychological difficulties.
• Essential: Knowledge and skills in the theory and practice of highly specialist psychological therapies and assessment methodologies, in particular CBT, and their application with adults with chronic pain, and fatigue and Long COVID.
• Desirable: Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.

Special Circumstances

• Essential: Ability to travel between sites within Buckinghamshire.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details
Employer name: Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
Address: Rayners Hedge, Mandeville Road, Aylesbury, HP21 7RD, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://careers.buckshealthcare.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Principal Clinical Psychologist, Dr Teresa Fediw, buc-tr.buckscpfms@nhs.net, 01296831320

Apply through our website.