Principal Clinical Psychologist

This is an exciting opportunity to shape a brand-new formal leadership position as a Principal Clinical Psychologist / Deputy Service Lead at the North West Regional Spinal Injuries Centre located in Southport. You will be joining a whole new team that is being recruited into alongside the Consultant Clinical Psychologist / Service Lead, consisting of Senior Clinical Psychologists and a Counsellor.
All psychologists are trained in EMDR with new pathways being developed. There are ample service development opportunities to implement the standards and recommendations (BASCIS, 2023), to span from pre-admission outreach into the region's Major Trauma Centres to inpatients, develop values-based discharge planning etc. There are varying levels of complexity and needs, both for individuals, their carers / significant others and groups, as well as opportunities for staff training and systemic culture change. The service is looking to recruit dynamic staff who are keen to identify projects for quality improvement, research, publications and present at conferences.
Please note, this recruitment process will involve an assessment centre which is due to be held on 28th January 2025., The Principal Clinical Psychologist will be responsible for further development and provision of the clinical psychology service within the NWRSIC at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. The post holder will provide specialist assessment, treatment and consultancy services for individuals with spinal injuries and their families. The range of care provided embraces both that related to complex specialist care, as well as that related to generic care needs. The post holder will also provide a service in the areas of teaching and training, consultancy and staff support, and research and evaluation. Multidisciplinary care is achieved through liaising closely with other disciplines both within and outside the hospital., · To provide a highly specialist clinical psychology service to inpatients within the NWRSIC, across the acute and rehabilitation wards with some outreach where clinically indicated.
· To deliver and supervise highly specialist psychological assessment and treatment to adult inpatients at the NWRSIC, on an individual and group basis.
· To provide advice and consultation regarding inpatients' psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues.
· To provide consultation to the NWRSIC outreach service regarding admission of inpatients with complex psychological / psychiatric needs
· To contribute to the strategic planning of clinical psychology services within the NWRSIC, with the aim of maintain high levels of psychosocial care for patients
· To represent Clinical Psychology in the NWRSIC's wider organisational and national forums.
· To lead the planning, development and delivery of the Department's teaching and training commitments.
Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. You are part of an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.
Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience.
The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people's race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.
As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.
If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact [email protected]
We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.
The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision-making process.
The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.
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).
Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please click here to check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unable to provide sponsorship.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 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.
Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment.
If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies.
Flexible Working
We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that:
· All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment.
· There is no limit on the number of requests they can make.
· Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason.
At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to also discuss flexible working options at interview stage.
Working for Team MWL
Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.
The Trust is a non-smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website
You must ensure that your application, including personal statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.
The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated.
Additional Information
Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE, which can be found here.
An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents.
Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.

The Secretary of State has approved the partnership between St Helens & Knowsley and Southport & Ormskirk Hospitals.
From 1^st July we have come together as a single organisation under the name Mersey & West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
The Trust delivers acute hospital care, intermediate care, community, and primary care services to a population of over 600,000 people with a combined workforce of around 9000 dedicated and skilled staff from 17 locations including Whiston, Southport & Formby, St Helens, Ormskirk and Newton hospitals.
The Trust provides regional services for burns, plastic surgery and spinal injuries to more than 4 million people across Mersey and West Lancashire, Cheshire, the Isle of Man and North Wales.
Our Vision is to deliver 5 Star Patient Care:
+ CARE that is evidence based, high quality and compassionate
+ SAFETY that is of the highest standards
+ COMMUNICATION that is open, inclusive and respectful
+ SYSTEMS that are efficient, patient centred and reliable
+ PATHWAYS that are best practice and embedded, but also respect the individual needs of patients
Our achievements include:
+ Trust rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
+ Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
+ Awarded National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for our Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme