Deadline: 10 July 2026
Band: Band 4
Salary: £34,186 to £37,389 a year pro rata per annum inclusive of inner London HCAS
Contract: Permanent
Job summary
The Forensic Outreach Service (FOS) has a vacancy for an Assistant Psychologist. You will alongside an MDT including Doctors, Nurses, Recovery Workers, OTs and Social Workers.
The post holder will work with people who have complex mental health problems and forensic histories, who have been discharged into the community from secure psychiatric services. FOS offers community mental health services to clients from the 5 Boroughs of Wandsworth, Merton and Sutton, Kingston and Richmond.
Specialist training will be provided for aspects of the post as necessary. Regular clinical and educational supervision will also be provided along with academic sessions as part of the weekly team programme. The team prides itself in providing a high-quality services to people with complex Mental Health problems across the 5 Boroughs that the Trust serves.
The team is based at Springfield Hospital, although work with clients also takes place in a variety of community settings including their own homes and supported accommodation.
Main duties of the job
We are seeking to recruit an enthusiastic, compassionate and motivated Assistant Psychologist. The post holder will work with people who have complex mental health problems and forensic histories, who have been discharged into the community from secure psychiatric services. FOS offers community mental health services to clients from the 5 Boroughs of Wandsworth, Merton and Sutton, Kingston and Richmond.
Working under the clinical supervision of the team forensic psychologist, the role will involve delivering psychological services to clients as part of the wider multidisciplinary team consisting of doctors, community psychiatric nurses, psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, and recovery support workers. In addition to client facing roles, the post holder will assist in clinically related administration, risk assessment, collection of statistics, development and implementation of audit and/or research projects, teaching and project work.
Job responsibilities
- To assist in the formulation and delivery of care plans involving the psychological intervention and/or management of a clients problem, under clinical supervision.
- To administer, score and contribute to the interpretation of psychometric assessments.
- To assist in the development, coordination and co-facilitation of therapeutic groups.
- To work with the Substance Misuse worker in assessing and delivering interventions with clients with identified substance misuse needs.
- To contribute to team risk assessment and risk management for individual clients, including HCR-20 assessments.
- To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary meetings (zoning, CPA and reflective practice meetings).
Teaching, training and supervision:
- To receive clinical supervision in line with professional practice guidelines from a registered psychologist.
- To develop skills and competencies that assist in the delivery of current duties.
- To contribute to the training and support of other staff within the clinical team where appropriate.
Service Development:
- To attend meetings in which service developments are planned and discussed.
- To assist in the design and implementation of servicedevelopment projects and recovery-focused projects within the service as required.
Research and service evaluation:
- To routinely contribute to the design and implementation of audit and research projects/programmes.
TRAINING & QUALIFICATIONS
Essential
- An upper second class honours degree or higher in psychology
- Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society
Desirable
- Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis
- Training in HCR-20 risk assessment.
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working with people with mental health or offending behaviour problems and/or learning disabilities.
Desirable
- Experience of working in forensic and/or substance misuse services.
- Experience of co-facilitating psychosocial groups.
- Experience of working within a Multi-Disciplinary Team.
KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS
Essential
- Highly developed communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate highly complex/sensitive information and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive.
- An understanding of the needs and difficulties of people with mental health and offending behaviour problems
- An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a mental health context.
- Experience using IT for databases or data-analysis.
Desirable
- The ability to consider difficult clinical situations and one’s own practice in a reflective manner.
- Knowledge and experience of using EXCEL for spreadsheets.
- Ability to contribute to formal research programmes.
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).
