South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Assistant Psychologist (Cancer)
The closing date is 13 November 2026

Job summary
We are looking for an experienced and enthusiastic assistant psychologist to join our Cancer team. The team works across Group Hospitals of Tees.

To provide, under supervision, a specialist medical psychology service, ensuring effective, caring and compassionate services to patients.

To support in providing a psychologically informed service to patients in the Cancer and Palliative service.

To aid in the provision of specialist, multi-disciplinary assessments and interventions as part of a multi-disciplinary team, under the supervision of a Clinical Psychologist.

To undertake psychological screening and triage of medical patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

To undertake, under supervision, psychological / neuropsychological assessments.

To deliver, under supervision, psychological interventions in line with agreed protocols for medical patients

Main duties of the job
The post will include working with patients to support their psychological well-being during their time in the Service. The role involves attending clinics, conducting home visits, delivering group sessions and assessing patients with cancer. The post-holder would also be a key worker within the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT).

Enthusiasm and passion for joining all relevant aspects of the service and working with others embedded in the team will be essential.

The post-holder will also be a member of the Medical Psychology team with access to support, training and supervision as well as networking with other assistant psychologists and clinicians.

About us
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust have come together to form University Hospitals Tees. As a result, post holders may be required to work across sites within both organisations.

Across University Hospitals Tees, our ambition is to be the best place to work, ensuring we have the right staff in the right roles at the right time to deliver outstanding patient care and experience.

We are committed to supporting our staff through an inclusive and supportive working environment, offering health and wellbeing initiatives, staff benefits, and opportunities for personal and professional development.

We support the 'Making Every Contact Count' approach to behaviour change in the promotion of health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.

Details
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 5
Salary: £32,073 to £39,043 a year per annum (pro rata)
Contract: Fixed term
Duration: 12 months
Working pattern: Part-time
Reference number: 328-CSU9-8242655
Job location: The James Cook University Hospital, Marton Road, Middlesbrough, TS4 3BW, United Kingdom

Person Specification
Qualifications & Training

• Essential: Upper 2nd class honours degree, or higher, in psychology.
• Essential: Eligibility for graduate membership of British Psychological Society.
• Desirable: Further postgraduate training or experience in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis.

Experience

• Essential: Experience of working within public health.
• Essential: Experience of data analysis and recording.
• Essential: Knowledge of evidence-based practice.
• Essential: Experience of conducting literature searches and reviews.
• Desirable: Experience of working in cancer.
• Desirable: Experience of providing individual or group interventions.
• Desirable: Experience of psychometric test administration and interpretation.
• Desirable: Experience of working alongside a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist.

Personal Attributes

• Essential: Ability to work independently, reliably and consistently with work agreed.
• Essential: An ability to work as part of a team and maintain good relationships with colleagues.
• Essential: Ability to meet travel requirements for the post.
• Essential: An ability to show initiative when required and a willingness to share ideas with others.
• Essential: Ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a physical health context.
• Essential: Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively.
• Essential: An ability to interact effectively with staff from all disciplines.
• Essential: Able to manage own stress in difficult conditions and to identify when additional personal support may be necessary.
• Desirable: Aptitude for developing creative and adaptive ways of engaging service users.
• Desirable: A high standard of report writing.
• Desirable: A desire to explore a career in professional psychology.

Knowledge and Skills

• Essential: An understanding of the needs of people with physical health difficulties and/or other disabilities.
• Essential: Knowledge of the British Psychological Society Code of Conduct.
• Essential: High-level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive.
• Essential: Demonstrates understanding of issues relating to confidentiality.
• Essential: Ability to communicate sensitive information to clients, carers and colleagues.
• Desirable: An understanding of the needs of people undergoing cancer care.

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: South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Address: The James Cook University Hospital, Marton Road, Middlesbrough, TS4 3BW, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.southtees.nhs.uk/

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Clinical Psychologist Laura Cochrane, lauracochrane@nhs.net, 01642282708

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