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Two Band 4 Assistant Psychologist posts: each for 22.5 hrs per week for 8 months (temporary contract), one based at The Daisy in Devizes, Wiltshire (Swindon LD Team) and one based in Gloucester and/or Cheltenham with the OPD team

AWP NHS Trust is taking part in a Health Education England (HEE) funded project offering paid opportunities to aspiring clinical psychologists. Every year, 20,000 people graduate with a degree in psychology and a significant proportion want to develop a career in the National Health Service (NHS). Entry-level posts in psychology in the NHS are hard to find and this can lead to disproportionate disadvantage for people who already experience disadvantage due to their responsibilities or life circumstances. HEE are funding this project to help address this issue and to promote diversity within the clinical psychology workforce.

We are recruiting to two part-time fixed-term posts as part of this scheme - one with the Swindon Learning Disability Team and one with the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway Service. Location to either service will be negotiated with successful candidates within the parameters of the project’s requirements. We welcome applications from people who may need to work flexibly for personal reasons. This opportunity is only open to psychology graduates who are NEW to the role of Assistant Psychologist.

The assistant psychologist post offers a range of experiences and the job role can include structured clinical or psychometric assessment, developing and delivering basic psychological interventions, case file reviews, literature searching, data collection/analysis, developing resources, engaging in a variety of multi-disciplinary activities and tasks that support a psychology team in delivering all aspects of psychological services. Successful applicants will have regular clinical and management supervision with a qualified clinical or counselling psychologist and may engage in specific training events to promote their development in line with the needs of the service that they will be working in.

The posts will be based in two services within the Trust - please refer to the Local Key Information Sheet for information about the services offering these placements. Placements will be negotiated at the time of offer for successful candidates.

When completing the application form, please clearly outline at the beginning of your supporting statement how your personal circumstances, experience and skills make you a good candidate for this Assistant Psychologist roleas promoted by the remit of this HEE funded project. Please refer to the person specification and local key information sheet for more information about the skills and experiences required of applicants.We particularly welcome applications from graduates from a BAME background.

We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust)a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care. We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire and in parts of Dorset.

Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person-centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.

At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.

Successful candidates will be placed into the two services in the trust, negotiated according to skills and preference; all work will be supervised by a qualified Clinical or Counselling Psychologist. The work may vary dependent on the base service but would involve working with individuals with mental health needs to undertake a range of clinical tasks which could include psychological assessments and/or psychological interventions appropriate to a Band 4 staff member, drawing on psychological knowledge and skills. Assessments undertaken as part of the role may include the use of psychometric tools such as questionnaires and cognitive assessments. Interventions would be evidence-based and could be delivered either individually or in groups. The Assistant Psychologist may help to organise resources for assessments and interventions, as well as writing up clinical notes. The posts are based in community services.

The posts will also involve a range of the following professional activities: Multidisciplinary liaison and communication, attendance at meetings, resource creation, literature searching and summary, clinical notes review, contributing to research, audit and service development.

The Assistant Psychologists will receive training and support to undertake their roles and develop their skills and knowledge, with the ambition to pursue a future career as a Practitioner Psychologist.