South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Access Clinical Lead
The closing date is 19 July 2026

Job Summary
The primary purpose of this role is to contribute to the continued development and provision of a very high quality therapy service to meet the needs of people with common mental health problems in Lambeth. The Access Clinical Lead will be an experienced psychological therapist with extensive experience working within an NHS Talking Therapies service and will be part of the management team and work closely with the service lead and deputy service lead. They will play a key role in supporting, inspiring and guiding the clinical work of their team, with a focus on continuing service improvement.

Main duties of the job

• With support from the Triage manager, and the Access Team Lead to manage the day to day running of registration, screening and triage
• Plan and manage triage capacity to meet completed treatment targets
• Lead on the recruitment for Assistant Psychologists to ensure the Access team is fully staffed throughout the year
• Line manage the team of Assistant Psychologists, supporting their well-being and development and managing their performance
• Lead monthly Access team meetings
• Monitor referral numbers and take steps to increase referrals when needed in order to meet access targets

About us
The post-holder will work within the Lambeth Talking Therapies Service. The service consists of approximately 120 WTE clinical and administration staff providing a service across Lambeth. The main service bases are Dalbury House in Brixton, Stockwell Gardens, Palace Rd Streatham, Brixton Rd and Streatham High Rd. This is a borough of high social and psychological needs with considerable cultural diversity. The service sees clients with a wide range of common mental health problems and varying levels of severity. Many clients present with multiple problems including social, housing and employment issues. The postholder will work with people with different cultural backgrounds and ages, using interpreters when necessary and should be committed to equal opportunities.

Details
Date posted: 06 July 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 8b
Salary: £70,387 to £80,465 a year per annum inclusive of Inner HCAs
Contract: Fixed term
Duration: 12 months
Working pattern: Full-time, Part-time
Reference number: 334-CLI-8110659
Job locations: Lambeth NHS Talking Therapies, 1A Dalbury House, Edmundsbury Estate, Ferndale Road, London, SW9 8AP, United Kingdom

Job description
Job responsibilities

• With support from the Triage manager, and the Access Team Lead to manage the day to day running of registration, screening and triage
• Develop Access policies and procedures to meet changing needs
• Plan and manage triage capacity to meet completed treatment targets
• Line manage the team of Assistant Psychologists , supporting their well-being and development and managing their performance
• Lead monthly Access team meetings
• Work closely with the Business Manager and the admin team to ensure the effective team working of the access team
• Lead on the recruitment for Assistant Psychologists to ensure the Access team is fully staffed throughout the year
• Monitor referral numbers and take steps to increase referrals when needed in order to meet access targets
• Liaise with key stakeholders (e.g. GP leads, Council representatives, voluntary sector) to promote the service
• Lead the community engagement initiatives in the service
• To work collaboratively with the service lead to plan the future development of the service, and to lead specific service developments and new initiatives
• To work with service users, referrers and other providers to improve existing services to clients and to develop new care pathways and services
• To support the service lead in maintaining a strong, committed and motivated team
• To work autonomously as a Senior Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the service's policies and procedures.
• To continue to undertake advanced and highly specialist continuing professional development in cognitive behavioural psychotherapy.
• To provide high quality specialist CBT supervision

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Qualified therapist in CBT from an NHS Talking Therapies-approved High Intensity training at post-graduate diploma level (A)
• Practitioner accreditation status with BABCP

Experience
Essential

• Experience of providing specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature in a NHS Talking Therapies service (A/I)
• Experience of clinically supervising psychological therapists including qualified HIs within NHS Talking Therapies Service (A/I)
• Significant experience in NHS Talking Therapies staff management including line management, performance management and appraisal (A/I)
• Experience of managing the day-to-day running and performance of a significant service or function within an NHS Talking Therapies service (A/I)
• Experience of using data to plan capacity and demand (A/I)
• Experience of developing partnerships and clinical pathways with external services and agencies

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: South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Lambeth NHS Talking Therapies, 1A Dalbury House, Edmundsbury Estate, Ferndale Road, London, SW9 8AP, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.slam.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Deputy Service Lead: Nina Levi
Email: nina.levi@slam.nhs.uk
Phone: 07885202142
Supporting documents
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