Principal Clinical Psychologist for Cancer Services | Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Responsibilities

• Provide systematic and autonomous specialist clinical psychology services for cancer patients at Queen Victoria Hospital, including patient assessment, psychological formulation/self‑management recommendations, and appropriate interventions.
• Work autonomously within professional guidelines and the framework of the Trust’s policies and procedures, providing specialist psychological consultation, supervision and training to health professionals and students.
• Utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research within the service.
• Act as clinical supervisor to newly qualified, Assistant and Trainee Clinical Psychologists.
• Offer and provide advice and consultation to other colleagues and non‑professional carers within the specialist Cancer service.
• Co‑ordinate the specialist cancer service, managing patient workload and providing psychology input to the wider clinical team.
• Provide consultation and clinical supervision/support to Specialist Cancer Care staff regarding psychosocial care of patients.
• Deliver specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to the service, employing psychological tests, self‑report measures, rating scales, structured observations and semi‑structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved.
• Formulate and implement plans for formal psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s mental health problems, based on an appropriate conceptual framework and evidence‑based methods.
• Implement a range of psychological interventions for individuals, adjusting and refining formulations as required.
• Evaluate and make decisions about treatment options, taking into account theoretical models and complex historical and developmental factors.
• Exercise full responsibility and autonomy for the treatment and discharge of patients from the Psychology Service, ensuring appropriate assessment, formulation, and interventions and communicating with referral agents and others involved in the patient’s care on a regular basis.
• Contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to benefit all clients in receipt of cancer services across the hospital.
• Assess, monitor and manage clinical risk to minimise risk to clients, other people and oneself, and provide advice on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management.
• Communicate to clients, referrers and others involved in the client’s care on a need‑to‑know basis, orally and in writing, in a skilled and sensitive manner.
• Develop and maintain links with other professionals working within cancer services at Queen Victoria Hospital, including Consultants, Cancer Nurse Specialists and Allied Health Professionals.
• Attend clinical meetings, case reviews and case conferences as appropriate.
• Maintain and manage the waiting list for referrals to psychology and inform hospital managers of demand.
• Maintain up‑to‑date client records in line with hospital policy.
• Carry out other clinical duties as may be agreed with the Lead Clinical Psychologist.

Policy and Service Development

• Implement policies and procedures relevant to the delivery of psychological services and cancer services within Queen Victoria Hospital.
• Contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of psychological services operational policies through research, service evaluation and audit.
• Identify and advise the Lead Clinical Psychologist and Cancer Services on potential improvements to working practices and procedures within QVH areas of work and/or within teams.
• Contribute to developing strategies to implement NICE guidance on improving care for adults with cancer.

Clinical Supervision, Teaching and Training

• Receive regular clinical and management supervision in accordance with good practice guidelines.
• Plan, organise and provide teaching and training sessions on topics related to clinical health psychology for colleagues and other disciplines and third‑sector services linked to the hospital.
• Continue to gain additional highly specialist post‑qualification experience and skills relevant to clinical psychology and/or the service (as agreed with the Lead Clinical Psychologist).
• Develop skills in post‑graduate teaching, training and supervision, and provide supervision to other MDT staff’s psychological work as appropriate.
• Observe personal duty of care regarding equipment and resources used in the course of one's own work.
• Attend service and business meetings within the Department of Psychological Therapies and in Cancer Services as required and appropriate.
• Provide, as required, professional and clinical supervision of Assistant Psychologists, including workload management.
• Contribute to regular clinical psychology training through provision of clinical placement supervision for trainees, ensuring acquisition of required skills and competencies, and contribute to monitoring and evaluation.

Management and Recruitment

• Manage the workloads of Assistant and Trainee Clinical Psychologists within the framework of team policies and procedures.
• Be involved, as appropriate, in shortlisting and interviewing Assistant and graduate Psychologists.

Research and Development

• Conduct and supervise research, particularly in areas of clinical relevance.
• Utilise theory, evidence‑based literature and research to support evidence‑based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
• Undertake clinical project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service to help develop service provision.

Information Technology

• Collect, record, maintain and provide data and statistics, including clinical information, in accordance with QVH Foundation Trust and national requirements and policy, and comply with monitoring and review processes.
• Complete paper‑based data entry forms and, occasionally, create and input to spreadsheets and databases as required.

Personal and Professional Development

• Participate in the Trust’s annual appraisal system designed to identify objectives and personal development opportunities.
• Ensure that all mandatory training is up to date.
• Continuously maintain working knowledge of local practices, policies and procedures and highlight ongoing training and development needs to the manager.
• Receive regular clinical supervision from a suitably qualified clinician and, where appropriate, other senior professional colleagues.
• Contribute to the development and articulation of best practice in psychological therapy across the service by regular professional supervision, appraisal and active engagement with current developments in the field.
• Contribute to the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes in consultation with the manager(s).
• Utilise theory, evidence‑based literature and research to support evidence‑based practice in individual and group work.

This advert closes on Sunday 17 May 2026.

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