Job summary
Are you an enthusiastic, motivated senior assistant psychologist with an interest in working with secure inpatients ready to join our team at Ravenswood House Secure Unit ? This post offers exciting opportunities to provide high quality psychological input to people with complex needs including mental health difficulties, personality presentations & risk. We work to a recovery-based ethos putting patients at the centre of all we do.

Successful applicants will join a multidisciplinary team in a varied role providing opportunities to develop competencies such as assessment, formulation, group/individual interventions & research. We have a variety of specialisms within the team, both evidence-based interventions and providing practice-based evidence to support new ways of working.

There is a commitment within the Psychological Therapies Service to professional development & you will receive direct support, supervision & training from a qualified clinical psychologist. We have good links with the Clinical Psychology Doctorate at the University of Southampton.

Within your personal statement, please address the following within 500 words to be considered for the role:

Write a reflective statement on the challenges faced by secure inpatients & how this might impact on their engagement with treatment and recovery.

Please note this advert may close earlier than advertised if the maximum number of applications has been reached.

This is a 6 month part time fixed term contract, 22.5 hours per week

Main duties of the job
The assistant psychologist will be required to support and enhance the delivery of psychological therapies and contribute to psychological thinking across the multi-disciplinary teams. They will be contributing to research within the team, either through audit, service evaluation or team research projects. They will assist in clinically related administration (i.e., clinical records, reports, supporting the work of qualified psychologists where appropriate) and completing outcome measures.

The post holder will work under the direct supervision of a qualified Clinical Psychologist, independently according to a plan agreed with a qualified psychologist and within the overall framework of the team's policies and procedures. This will include some individual work and co-facilitation of groups. You will develop your culturally sensitive assessment and formulation skills under close supervision of the qualified psychologist, and in line with BPS (British Psychological Society) and ACP (Association of Clinical Psychologists) guidance. You will be expected to attend weekly supervision with a qualified psychologist and use this space to reflect and enhance your practice.

About us
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides joined-up mental and physical healthcare for around two million people across our communities. With over 13,000 staff working in the community and local hospitals, we deliver care at every stage of life, helping people live their best and healthiest lives.

Our mental health services include community-based support and early intervention in psychosis (EIP) for both adults and young people, alongside a network of specialist inpatient wards covering forensic, learning disability, eating disorder and older person's care.

We deliver extensive physical health services too, from urgent community response teams helping frail and older patients remain safely at home, to hospitals at home teams providing acute-level care in familiar surroundings. Our neurological services offer rehabilitation and treatment for conditions including Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Motor Neurone Disease, Head Injury, Cerebral Palsy and Stroke. Across Hampshire, our community hospitals provide inpatient rehabilitation as a step down from acute care, and our dedicated teams also staff Treetops Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Portsmouth, offering expert, compassionate support.

Everything we do is underpinned by our CARE values of compassion, accountability, respect and excellence

Details
Date posted: 13 July 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 5
Salary: £32,073 to £39,043 a year
Contract: Fixed term
Duration: 6 months
Working pattern: Part-time
Reference number: 348-SAC-11842
Job locations: Ravenswood House, Mayles Lane, Knowle, Fareham, Hampshire, PO17 5NA, United Kingdom
Closing date: 26 July 2026

Job description
Job responsibilities
Further information about the Trust and this role can be found on the Job Description and Person Specification document attached. It is important to us that we ensure our recruitment processes are accessible and inclusive to everyone - if as a potential candidate you are concerned a person specification may prevent or restrict your application for employment as a result of unintentional barriers on the grounds of your sex, race, age, sexual orientation, religion/belief or disability please initially contact the Trust's Recruitment team - detailed in the advert. The Trust will seek to resolve this issue wherever possible.

We are happy to talk Flexible Working - all requests for flexible working options can be discussed as part of the interview process.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• An upper second-class honours degree or higher in psychology
• Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society

Desirable

• Further postgraduate training in relevant areas of psychology or neuropsychology

Experience
Essential

• Experience in direct care provision, including the delivery of psychological interventions. For example, having worked as an Assistant Psychologist, Psychological Well-being Practitioner in IAPT setting, or under the direct supervision of an applied psychologist
• Experience of working in a mental health/learning disability setting
• Experience of delivering psychological interventions
• Experience of co-facilitating groups
• Experience of conducting outcome measures and psychometric testing (delivery, scoring and interpretation).
• Experience of using computers for databases or data-analysis, especially SPSS for Windows
• Ability to meet the travel requirements for the post

Desirable

• Experience of working in an inpatient setting
• Experience of working in a forensic setting
• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of patients across a wide range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and inpatient settings
• Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team
• Experience of delivering training to staff

Additional Criteria
Essential

• Ability to build positive working relationships, providing a caring, consistent and compassionate approach to working with service users.

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.

Employer details
Employer name: Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Ravenswood House, Mayles Lane, Knowle, Fareham, Hampshire, PO17 5NA, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://hiowhealthcare.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)
Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Hiring Manager Dr Sophie Collingwood
Email: sophie.collingwood5@nhs.net
Phone: 02382310800