Job summary
We are offering an exciting fixed term post (0.35WTE) within the large regional plastic surgery unit of the Royal Free Hospital, where you will join the plastic surgery psychology team consisting of b8b lead and 1.2WTE b8a. The post is based at the Royal Free Hospital and will offer you opportunities to develop clinical skills in a supported environment focused on managing long-term conditions and adjustment to disease and injury within an MDT setting.

The plastic surgery psychology team is an established and well-regarded specialist team based within the larger surgical department. The surgery largely covers reconstructive surgery in the context of disease (often cancer) or injury (often hand trauma) and has some specialisms around rare diseases (e.g. scleroderma) or complex surgery (e.g. facial reanimation).

You will also have access to the Trust's psychological support structure including access to specialist supervision groups, regular training events and collaboration with colleagues from the same profession.

Main duties of the job
You will be responsible for providing psychological care across both our in-patient and out-patient service, face-to-face and virtually. The focus of clinical work is often on decision-making, addressing the psychological consequences of injury or disease, removing barriers to rehabilitation and care or work around body image and appearance. You will be expected to provide guidance to colleagues and families as appropriate and engage in joint work, as well as attend multi-disciplinary meetings. There are other opportunities for training our colleagues. You can also gain experience in service development and supervision. You will have access to supervision and training, with a variety of different therapeutic modalities within our service.

About us
The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK's biggest and most innovative trusts. Across three main hospitals, our dedicated army of staff care for over 1.6 million patients, treat more than 200,000 in A&E, deliver over 8,000 babies and carry out more than 17 million tests.

As a trust we stand for being positively welcoming, actively respectful, clearly communicating and visibly reassuring. We focus on delivering excellent and equitable care, ensure an outstanding experience for our patients and carers, where colleagues feel a strong connection to their work and organisation and are enabled to deliver and realise their potential.

For more information please follow link - Apply through our website

Details
Date posted: 14 October 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 7
Salary: £58,133 to £65,261 a year per Annum (pro rata) inclusive of HCAS
Contract: Fixed term
Duration: 12 months
Working pattern: Part-time
Reference number: 391-RFL-8282468
Job locations: Royal Free Hospital, Pond Street, London, NW3 2QG, United Kingdom

Person Specification
Education and professional qualifications

• Essential: Post-graduate doctoral level training in psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 2000) as accredited by the British Psychological Society
• Essential: HCPC registration as Practitioner Psychologist

Royal Free shared commitments

• Essential: Demonstrable ability to meet the Trust shared commitments.

Experience

• Essential: Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including community, primary care, outpatient and inpatient settings
• Essential: Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity
• Essential: Experience of work within interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary environments, including joint consultations with medical/physical health staff.
• Essential: Experienced in oral presentations, working with people in groups
• Essential: Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts
• Desirable: Audit experience
• Desirable: Experience of working within a plastic surgery, burns or acute/community health setting, providing specialist psychological assessment and treatment of patients, including outpatient and inpatient settings.
• Desirable: Experience in working with people who have had cancer, chronic health conditions and other health problems across the lifespan.

Skills and aptitudes

• Essential: Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management
• Essential: Knowledge of theoretical models and psychological interventions relevant to the needs of patients with disfiguring conditions, body image anxiety and PTSD and those experiencing psychological difficulties secondary to their health condition
• Essential: Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and quantitative data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology
• Essential: Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the British Psychological Society/HCPC.

Qualities and attributes

• Essential: Ability to work independently and as part of a team and able to use time effectively and prioritise workload
• Essential: Ability to be reflective about own practice and style and enthusiastic about psychology in health settings
• Essential: Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate to support and maintain clinical practice and service delivery

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. 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.

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

Contact
For questions about the job, contact: Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Dr Esther Hansen, esther.hansen@nhs.net, 02074726247

The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust privacy notice applies to all applications.