Consultant Clinical, Forensic or Counselling Psychologist
Band 8c
Main area Forensics Grade Band 8c Contract Permanent Hours Full time – 37.5 hours per week (NA) Job ref 277-8234699-FOR
Site Bracton Centre Town Dartford Salary £85,641 – £97,746 pa inc Salary period Yearly Closing 13/09/2026 23:59
Job overview
This is an exciting opportunity to lead psychological therapies across Oxleas’ forensic inpatient and community services, including medium and low secure wards, community forensic multidisciplinary teams, and a dedicated community forensic psychological therapies service.
We are looking for a senior psychologist to join the directorate’s management team and who is experienced in multi-disciplinary forensic healthcare services and passionate about delivering psychologically informed care at scale.
This post will suit highly visible leaders who seek a blend of leadership and direct clinical work. As Consultant Psychologist, you will maintain a strong clinical presence through providing psychological input to an inpatient ward and a small outpatient caseload. Alongside, working with the psychological therapies Head of Specialty and directorate’s management team, you will influence the service’s culture, practice, and service developments. You will embed psychological thinking at every level of care, strengthening relational security and delivering meaningful outcomes for patients.
Main duties of the job
Key responsibilities include:
- Leading and managing Psychological Therapies Services across inpatient and community forensic pathways, to deliver high-quality psychological assessments and interventions to address mental health needs and risks to others.
- Providing clinical and operational oversight of a specialist community psychological therapies service for people with complex emotional and interpersonal difficulties who harm others.
- Maintaining a clinical caseload.
- To be or to work towards qualification as an AC / RC approved under the Mental Health Act (2007)
- Ensuring the delivery of reflective practice to support compassionate, psychologically informed teams.
- Supporting and supervising principal psychologists and other psychological therapies staff, ensuring their professional development.
- Promoting trauma-informed approaches across multidisciplinary teams and services.
- Ensuring high standards of clinical governance and quality improvement.
- Contributing as a senior member of the directorate leadership team.
- Leading service evaluation, outcome monitoring, research activity and service development initiatives.
Working for our organisation
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.
We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.
Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
- We Listen
- We Care
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
This role involves providing strategic, clinical and operational leadership for psychological therapies across inpatient and community forensic services, ensuring the delivery of high-quality assessments and interventions that address both mental health needs and risks to others. The postholder oversees a specialist community psychological therapies service for individuals with complex emotional and interpersonal difficulties associated with harmful behaviour, while maintaining their own clinical caseload. They are expected to be, or work towards becoming, an Approved Clinician/Responsible Clinician under the Mental Health Act (2007). A key aspect of the role is fostering reflective practice and psychologically informed, compassionate teams through supervision, support and professional development of principal psychologists and other psychological therapies staff. The postholder promotes trauma-informed approaches across multidisciplinary services, maintains robust standards of clinical governance and quality improvement, contributes to directorate leadership, and leads service evaluation, outcome monitoring, research and service development activity to enhance the effectiveness and quality of care.
Person specification
Professional registration
- HCPC registration
Qualifications
- Professional Doctorate or equivalent
- Post-qualification training in a specific psychological therapy
- Supervision Training
- Leadership Training
Experience
- 6 years post-qualification whole time or equivalent part time experience in clinical / forensic settings
- At least 3 years management and / or leadership experience
We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace that welcomes and supports individuals of all abilities. Remember, if you meet the minimum criteria for this role and you have a disability, you can be guaranteed an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme – Please ensure you select this on your application form. We would encourage you to be open about your needs so we can work with you to design a comfortable and accessible interview experience. Any information you provide regarding a disability or a need for adjustments will be treated in confidence and will only be shared with colleagues who are supporting this request.
If you require any adjustments to participate fully in the interview process, please let us know by adding the relevant details when scheduling your preferred interview date and time. Please feel free to contact the appointing manager to discuss your needs.
We encourage applicants to contact the hiring manager before their interview, if they have any questions about the role or the process. This is a great way to get clarity and prepare effectively for the interview.
If you have declared you are part of the armed forces community, you may be asked to provide evidence during the recruitment process. If you misrepresent this information, your offer may be withdrawn. For Armed Forces specific support, see our webpage: https://oxleas.nhs.uk/armed-forces-community/
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
If you choose to use AI or other tools to assist in writing your application, it’s essential to personalise this information, particularly your supporting information section. While AI can help streamline the writing process, these tools cannot fully grasp the context or requirements of the job you’re applying for. There is also a risk that it can generate false or misleading information. AI-generated job applications can often be generic, impersonal and may not accurately reflect your qualifications, knowledge, skills, and experiences. It is crucial that you personalise your supporting statement by articulating these in your unique voice. Relying solely on AI to write your application or supporting information section is not advocated by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and could negatively impact your chances of success in the application process.
We monitor applications for any behaviour that could create an unfair advantage, and we check all references carefully. You are likely to be tested on your experience at interview, so be honest and make sure all the information in your application is correct.Please note that the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is prohibited during the interview process.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Name Peter Stevens Job title Directorate Psychological Therapies Lead Email address peter.stevens1@nhs.net Telephone number 01322 297175
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