Job summary
We are excited to offer a psychologist post to work on our adult acute psychiatric wards. The post will join a team of 7 qualified psychologists and 5 assistant psychologists providing input to 10 wards.

The job involves providing psychological input to the ward multi-disciplinry team to help to understand services users and to plan their treatment. There will be direct work with individual, families and groups, as well as indirect work supporting our colleagues and service development work aimed at making our wards more therapeutic.

The post is established at band 8a, however they can be taken as band 7 preceptorship posts with a pathway to transition to 8a after a minimum of 18 months.

This post will be spread across two wards at Springfield Hospital and an assistant psychologist is attached to the post.

Main duties of the job
To provide a qualified highly specialist clinical psychology or counselling psychology input to service users on a mixed gender psychiatric ward, providing highly specialist psychological assessment and therapy, working autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the acute and urgent care pathway and ward policies and procedures.

To support and enhance the work of the multi-disciplinary team by providing advice, consultation, training and supervision on service users' psychological care to other members of the team, including facilitating or supervising the facilitation of reflective practice groups. To lead on the implementation of trauma informed approaches to care across two admission wards.

To utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research within the area served by the service and participate in service-related quality improvement and innovation projects.

To take professional responsibility for attached doctoral trainee practitioner psychologists (8a role only), assistants and/or graduate psychologists

About us
_Unless expressly stated in the job advert this role is not subject to sponsorship, please be advised that all offers of employment are subject to evidence of right to work in the UK._

We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust.

We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good' - we aspire to be 'outstanding'.

This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services as we invest a further £120m to upgrade and modernise our estate by 2027.

We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.

We offer flexible working, career development and a variety ofbenefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.

Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.

Details
Date posted: 27 August 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 8a
Salary: £66,274 to £73,496 a year
per annum inclusive of Inner London HCAs
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 294-AAUC-8259545-AZ
Job locations: Springfield University Hospital, Springfield Drive, London, SW17 0YF, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

• Regular contribution to daily MDT meetings to plan patient care
• Joining MDT for individual patient reviews to ensure that psychological aspects of their difficulties and care planning are considered
• Direct sessions on the ward including individual patient assessment, formulation and treatment, as well as group and family sessions.
• Indirect input to MDT to support staff in day-to-day management of patients.
• Focus on service users who require one-to-one observations or seclusion to identify a pathway to reduce need for restriction.
• Provision of regular reflective practice.

Other Duties include:

• Regular contribution to various aspects of service improvement for ward one.
• Provision of supervision to other qualified psychology staff working on acute wards.
• Contribution to wider service planning and improvement for the adult inpatient services

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in job applications
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Please be aware that information provided in your application and supporting statement may be explored further during the selection process. It is important that all applications accurately represent your own knowledge, skills and experience.

Person Specification
Training & Qualifications
Essential

• Doctorate level training in Clinical or Counselling Psychology, or its' equivalent, including two or more distinct psychological therapies as accredited by the HCPC
• Registered as a practitioner psychologist with the HCPC under the appropriate domain specific title (Clinical Psychologist)

Desirable

• Post qualification training in applied research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology

Experience
Essential

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in patient settings
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse
• Experience of working with people who experience severe, complex and long-term mental health problems
• Demonstrate further specialist training/experience through having received a minimum of 50 hours clinical supervision of working as a specialist clinical / counselling psychologist over a minimum of 18 months, or an alternative agreed by the Director of Psychology

Desirable

• Post qualification experience of working in acute psychiatric ward
• Post qualification training in CBTp
• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision
• Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts
• Experience of working within a multicultural framework
• Post qualification experience of working with a Home Treatment Team.

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 West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust
Address: Springfield University Hospital, Springfield Drive, London, SW17 0YF, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.swlstg.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Consultant Clinical Psychologist
James Friswell
James.Friswell@swlstg.nhs.uk
07548800356

Details
Date posted: 27 August 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 8a
Salary: £66,274 to £73,496 a year
per annum inclusive of Inner London HCAs
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 294-AAUC-8259545-AZ
Job locations: Springfield University Hospital, Springfield Drive, London, SW17 0YF, United Kingdom

Supporting documents
Privacy notice
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