Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen to work as a Clinical/Health Psychologist in our Clinical Health Psychology Department which provides specialist psychological therapy to service users experiencing distress as a consequence of their physical health conditions. Our service provides psychological intervention, consultation, supervision & training across a diverse range of physical health specialisms, working closely with our MDT colleagues.

There will also be opportunity to utilise complex clinical skills across the specialisms we serve, including stroke services, diabetes, cancer, pain, bariatrics, burns, plastics and other long term physical health conditions, both inpatients & outpatients. This is a great opportunity to exercise breadth in clinical work whilst developing your areas of interest further. We are a forward thinking service & want a dynamic psychologist to help grow, develop and drive the profile of Clinical Health Psychology. We are an outstanding and award winning Trust & our aim is for the Clinical Psychology Department to reflect this.

You will be part of a high performing Clinical Psychology Department with access to psychology colleagues to support, reflect with, maintain your CPD portfolio and receive high quality clinical supervision from. You will work with the broader MDT within your specialisms and be a key member of our MDT teams. You will provide treatment in inpatient settings, outpatient clinics in the department and virtual treatment.

Main duties of the job
We are a full team of Clinical and Health Psychologists working as one team to deliver high quality psychological care across a range of physical health conditions across St Helens and Knowsley locality. We also pride ourselves on offering EMDR and receive EMDR Consultant supervision to enable best practice delivery of this service offer. Applicants trained in EMDR are welcomed. EMDR training can be sought as a CPD opportunity for the successful candidate.

Main duties of this post will include individual and group work with outpatients and inpatients, working with clients with a range of psychological difficulties across the lifespan with long term physical health conditions. As a qualified clinician you will take responsibilities over aspects of the service offer to enable development. You will also provide clinical supervision for Trainees where placements are available. Supervision of MDT staff, teaching and training and consultation are also key opportunities of the role. There are opportunities to attend the MDTs of some specialties and to present to support groups and be involved in psychoeducational events. You will be involved in audit, evaluation and publishing to promote clinical health psychology for the Trust and beyond.

UK HCPC Registration is required

About us
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.

Our Services:

• Acute Care - Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
• Primary Care - Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
• Community Services - Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
• Specialist Regional Services - We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme

Job responsibilities
Interview will take place on 7th October, 2026

Please see the attached job description and person specification for full details.

The applicant should be a Clinical/Health Psychologist with an interest in working with clients with long term physical health conditions, in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Applicants should have the ability to work closely with medical and surgical colleagues and other disciplines, and have experience of multi-disciplinary team work and consultation to non-psychology staff.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Doctoral Degree or equivalent qualification in Clinical, Counselling or Health Psychology
• Full registration with the Health Professions Council
• Eligible for Chartered Status with the British Psychological Society or equivalent body

Desirable

• Formal training in supervision

Knowledge & Experience
Essential

• Experience during or post qualification in a physical health environment
• Experience of research design, methodology, data analysis and interpretation
• Experience of working effectively in an MDT
• Management of patients expressing suicidal ideation or plans

Desirable

• Experience in psychological assessment and intervention within clinical health psychology
• Experience of teaching health professionals
• Experience of providing consultation to health professionals
• Experience of clinical supervision of assistant psychologists, trainee clinical psychologists, other healthcare professionals

Skills
Essential

• Demonstrable skills in the assessment and treatment of patients presenting with a variety of complex problems
• Demonstrable skills in the assessment and treatment of patients presenting with multiple co-morbidities
• Demonstrable skills in the process of analysis, understanding and decision making, as applied to the psychological assessment, planning of intervention, and treatment of complex psychological problems
• Knowledge of psychological theory and therapy as applied to patients presenting with medical and psychological problems
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of highly specialised psychological therapies
• Knowledge of national and local legislation, policies and guidelines (e.g. Data Protection Act, NSF guidelines, NICE guidelines etc.)
• Well-developed skills in effectively communicating complex and sensitive and contentious information, orally and in writing, to individual patients, groups of patients, carers and other professionals
• The ability to access and use relevant scientific databases and literature
• Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology

Our Values
Essential

• We are Kind
• We are Open
• We are Inclusive

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.

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.

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.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Employer details
Employer name: Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Address: St Helens Hospital, Marshalls Cross Road, St Helens, WA9 3DA, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.merseywestlancs.nhs.uk/

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Clinical Psychology Manager
Leila Eccles
Leila.Eccles@sthk.nhs.uk
01744646864

Details
Date posted: 21 August 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 7
Salary: £49,387 to £56,515 a year
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time, Part-time, Job share, Flexible working, Compressed hours
Reference number: 409-8043662
Job locations: St Helens Hospital, Marshalls Cross Road, St Helens, WA9 3DA, United Kingdom