Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

Band 4 Assistant Psychologist - Chippenham

The closing date is 18 June 2025

Job summary

Do you have experience of working with perinatal mental health or an interest or willingness to learn more about working within this field? Are you looking for flexibility that involves remote working, as well as face to face support? We are looking for a like-minded, compassionate and enthusiastic person who is keen to make a difference to women, their partners and their families to join our team.

The BSW Specialist Community Perinatal Mental Health Team is a multi disciplinary team, which provides support for women who experience moderate-severe or complex perinatal mental health problems or present with a high risk of relapse during pregnancy and the postnatal period. We work to support mother's with their mental health needs and maintain and improve their relationship with baby. We provide multi agency training in perinatal mental health to other professionals and agencies working with women in the perinatal period in addition to offering consultation and advice.

This post is to cover BaNES, Swindon and Wiltshire area. The team hybrid work, with the main hub in Chippenham and spokes in Swindon, Bath and South Wiltshire for staff to work from, alongside working from home.

Access to your own transport for work use is essential as public transport is unreliable in parts of the BSW area.

Main duties of the job

Direct clinical work includes assessment and therapies with individuals, families and wider social networks, drawing on a range of therapeutic approaches guided by service user needs.

Under close supervision you will be supported to develop psychological formulations, and provide assessments and therapeutic interventions to people seen in our service. You will be part of a broader multidisciplinary team. You may also be facilitating therapeutic groups and 1:1 interventions. You will receive regular supervision and training in relevant psychological approaches.

Under the direction and guidance of the Lead Psychologist, you will communicate psychological approaches, develop interventions, tools and resources for the staff team, service users, their families and carers.

As part of the role you will collect and collate information to support the clinical psychologists in service audit and evaluation projects.

About us

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.

Our ethos is for every member of the team to grow as a clinician, and to be supported to maintain their wellbeing in both life and in work. Clinical supervision is provided by experienced senior clinical psychologists. We meet regularly for supervision, complex case discussions, as well as with the wider professional group across AWP.

Details

Date posted

16 June 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 4

Salary

£26,530 to £29,114 a year per annum, pro rata (pending pay award)

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

342-SS087-0625

Job locations

Hathaway Medical Centre

Middlefield Road

Chippenham

SN14 6GT


Job description

Job responsibilities

CLINICAL

To support the Clinical/Counselling psychologists within the base service.

Where required, to prepare and deliver high quality psychological interventions under supervision, either individually or in groups.

Where required, to offer high quality psychological assessments following instructions appropriate to the assessment tools/processes.

To gather and organise information about clinical notes, relevant psychological interventions and clinical tools for use by other staff.

To work alongside other team members and ensure close liaison and communication within teams.

To work at level of autonomy appropriate to a Band 4 Assistant Psychologist. Goals to be agreed and reviewed in clinical/management supervision.

TEACHING AND TRAINING

To undertake such training as might be required to maintain an appropriate level of expertise.

To assist with the delivery of teaching and training for other members of the multidisciplinary team and staff in other agencies, in collaboration with qualified staff.

RESEARCH AND AUDIT

Where required, to assist with the audit and evaluation of the service in collaboration with qualified clinical and counselling psychologists and other members of the multidisciplinary team.

To compile and return statistics and activity levels as required.

Where required, to undertake literature searches and reviews.

CLINICAL GOVERNANCE

To participate in service governance processes to ensure a safe and effective service.

To support and participate in multidisciplinary clinical audit.

To liaise with other disciplines and agencies to ensure best practice is shared.

To promote the use of effective interventions in the service.

GENERAL

To assist in the production of resources and materials used by the service

To assist with the general running of the Team/Service e.g. minuting department meetings.

Job description

Job responsibilities

CLINICAL

To support the Clinical/Counselling psychologists within the base service.

Where required, to prepare and deliver high quality psychological interventions under supervision, either individually or in groups.

Where required, to offer high quality psychological assessments following instructions appropriate to the assessment tools/processes.

To gather and organise information about clinical notes, relevant psychological interventions and clinical tools for use by other staff.

To work alongside other team members and ensure close liaison and communication within teams.

To work at level of autonomy appropriate to a Band 4 Assistant Psychologist. Goals to be agreed and reviewed in clinical/management supervision.

TEACHING AND TRAINING

To undertake such training as might be required to maintain an appropriate level of expertise.

To assist with the delivery of teaching and training for other members of the multidisciplinary team and staff in other agencies, in collaboration with qualified staff.

RESEARCH AND AUDIT

Where required, to assist with the audit and evaluation of the service in collaboration with qualified clinical and counselling psychologists and other members of the multidisciplinary team.

To compile and return statistics and activity levels as required.

Where required, to undertake literature searches and reviews.

CLINICAL GOVERNANCE

To participate in service governance processes to ensure a safe and effective service.

To support and participate in multidisciplinary clinical audit.

To liaise with other disciplines and agencies to ensure best practice is shared.

To promote the use of effective interventions in the service.

GENERAL

To assist in the production of resources and materials used by the service

To assist with the general running of the Team/Service e.g. minuting department meetings.

Person Specification

Education and Qualification

Essential

  • Good (First or 2:1) honours degree in Psychology
  • Eligibility for graduate membership of the BPS
  • Valid driving licence for the UK and access to a car for work purposes

Desirable

  • Introductory training in a psychological therapy

Experience and Knowledge

Essential

  • Experience of person-facing work, either paid or voluntary.
  • Understanding of common mental health problems
  • Knowledge of safeguarding

Desirable

  • Audit or research experience.
  • Experience of working in a health or care role.
  • Experience of working with a range of client groups
  • Experience of working with diversity
  • Experience of working with or understanding of perinatal mental health
Person Specification

Education and Qualification

Essential

  • Good (First or 2:1) honours degree in Psychology
  • Eligibility for graduate membership of the BPS
  • Valid driving licence for the UK and access to a car for work purposes

Desirable

  • Introductory training in a psychological therapy

Experience and Knowledge

Essential

  • Experience of person-facing work, either paid or voluntary.
  • Understanding of common mental health problems
  • Knowledge of safeguarding

Desirable

  • Audit or research experience.
  • Experience of working in a health or care role.
  • Experience of working with a range of client groups
  • Experience of working with diversity
  • Experience of working with or understanding of perinatal mental health

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).

Additional information

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

Address

Hathaway Medical Centre

Middlefield Road

Chippenham

SN14 6GT


Employer's website

http://www.awp.nhs.uk/about-us/working-for-us/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

Address

Hathaway Medical Centre

Middlefield Road

Chippenham

SN14 6GT


Employer's website

http://www.awp.nhs.uk/about-us/working-for-us/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Service Manager

Rebecca Williamson

rebecca.williamson@nhs.net

01249767851

Details

Date posted

16 June 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 4

Salary

£26,530 to £29,114 a year per annum, pro rata (pending pay award)

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

342-SS087-0625

Job locations

Hathaway Medical Centre

Middlefield Road

Chippenham

SN14 6GT


Supporting documents

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