• Job Description

  Req#: H9001-25-0511?language=en&page=404&sort=publicationDateDesc

  Job summary

  This is a rare and very exciting opportunity to take over the Psychology Head of Specialty role for a number of services relevant to older people. This includes management of the Mental Health Services for Older People, Dementia services (Young Onset Dementia) and Memory Team, other neuro-degenerative conditions relevant to older people and also the Neuropsychiatric Services.

  In addition to line management and Head of Specialty responsibilities , you will retain a small clinical case-load of the most complex cases and there is opportunity for you to develop and work clinically within your specialist area of interest relevant to the Older Adult services

  The work being undertaken within these services is creative and rewarding. The staff you line manage are highly skilled, creative, hard-working and supportive. The multi-disciplinary team and your wider colleagues/network are similarly talented, supportive and appreciative of psychological interventions and engagement.

  The post holder also takes responsibility for patient safety , in conjunction with and as agreed with the Psychology and Psychological Therapies Clinical Director.

  You will receive excellent support from the Clinical Director and Directorate Managers of Psychology and Psychological Therapies and MHSOP/Neuropsychiatry alongside the other relevant Directorates.

  Excellent opportunities for supervision, peer consultation and CPD are available and well supported

  Main duties of the job

  The main duties and responsibilities of the job are outlined in the attached job description and person specifications. The role combines clinical responsibilities and line management responsibilities whilst being Head of Specialties relevant to older adults. This includes Mental Health Services for Older People, Dementia and Memory Team Services, Parkinson's Disease etc and also including the regional Neuropsychiatric Service.

  English and/or Welsh speakers are equally welcome to apply.

  About us

  Cardiff and Vale University Health Board is one of the largest Integrated Health Boards in the UK, employing over 17,000 staff, providing over 100 specialist services. Working across 6 hospital sites, we have a diverse range of career opportunities to offer. Serving over 500,000 people living in Cardiff and the Vale, we are focussed on the health and care needs of our local population whilst working with our partners to develop regional services. Together we are committed to improving health outcomes for everyone, delivering excellent care and support.

  Our mission is "Living Well, Caring Well, Working Together", and our vision is that every person's chance of leading a healthy life should be equal. Our 10-year transformation and improvement strategy, Shaping Our Future Wellbeing, is our chance to work collaboratively with the public and our workforce to make our health board more sustainable for the future.

  Details

  Date posted

  27 June 2025

  Pay scheme

  Agenda for change

  Band

  Band 8d

  Salary

  £89,491 to £103,203 a year pro rata

  Contract

  Permanent

  Working pattern

  Part-time

  Reference number

  001-PST028-0625

  Job locations

  University Hospital Llandough

  Penlan Road

  Cardiff

  CF64 2XX

  
  

  Job description

  Job responsibilities

  Please see the attached Job Description that encompasses the main roles and responsibilities of the job

  Job description

  Job responsibilities

  Please see the attached Job Description that encompasses the main roles and responsibilities of the job

  Person Specification

  Qualifications

  Essential

  • Good Honours degree in Psychology with eligibility for Graduate Basis for Chartership (GBC) with the BPS.
  • Post-graduate Doctorate in Clinical/Counselling Psychology accredited by the HCPC (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996 as accredited by the BPS).
  • HCPC registration as a practitioner psychologist.

  Desirable

  • Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialist areas of psychological practice, particularly psychological services for older people and neuropsychiatry.
  • Qualification in supervision
  • Evidence of peer reviewed publications, presentations at conferences, or similar contributions.

  Experience

  Essential

  • Extensive and demonstrable experience of working as a HCPC registered practitioner psychologist in services for older people
  • Extensive experience of working with a wide range of patient groups presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, in-patient and residential care settings and maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems.
  • Experience of teaching, training and professional and clinical supervision.
  • Demonstrable evidence of significant specialist clinical supervision within a scientist-practitioner framework, including individual supervision, group supervision and case presentations.
  • Experience of NHS management tasks and negotiating with NHS managers, professionals, colleagues and other agencies
  • Experience in audit and evaluation of clinical services.

  Desirable

  • Experience of professional management of qualified and pre-qualified clinical psychologists.
  • Experience of leading a therapy team
  • Experience of conducting research of a high a standard

  Skills

  Essential

  • Skills in the use of highly complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management, frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.

  Desirable

  • Able to take responsibility for managing and providing a specialist service, or systematically providing part of a larger service
  • Ability to manage staff (including line management) and negotiate specialty issues
  • Ability to use highest level of interpersonal and communication skills to convey and receive highly complex / sensitive information effectively, requiring empathy and reassurance, in a highly emotive atmosphere and the ability to overcome psychological resistance to potentially threatening information, whilst maintaining high degree of professionalism at all times.
  • Ability to interpret general clinical, professional and organisational policies and to use own initiative to establish how they should be applied within the area of specialty.
  • Ability to design and implement policy for services and to propose service changes that impact beyond that area of activity.
  • Ability to plan a clinical service and to formulate a long term strategic plan which may involve uncertainty.

  Special knowledge

  Essential

  • Doctoral level knowledge of clinical / counselling psychology theory and practice, assessment, psychological therapies and their application. Including highly developed knowledge of psychology relevant to people with severe and enduring and complex mental health, dementia and those "at risk" and two or more distinct psychological therapies.
  • Evidence of significant post-qualification continuing professional development as recommended by the HCPC and BPS.
  • Formal training in supervision of other psychologists.
  • Knowledge of legislation and its implications for both clinical practice and professional management in relation to the service.
  • Up-to-date knowledge of NHS management, service development and policy implementation in Wales-wide services.
  • Knowledge of any national service guidelines for the area of specialty and its implications for clinical practice and professional management in relation to mental health services for older people, dementia and/or neuropsychiatry

  Desirable

  • Knowledge of local NHS structures.
  • Awareness of ethnic diversity issues.

  Personal qualities

  Essential

  • Commitment to working collaboratively with users of services and their care partners to develop and improve services.
  • Leadership and management qualities and ability to demonstrate these skills
  • Ability to negotiate within the NHS and with external bodies.
  • Ability to motivate and influence people to deliver a high-quality service.
  • Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and the ability to hold the stress for others.
  • Ability to make decisions and problem solve.
  • Ability to cope with continual exposure to distressing and highly emotional clinical material.
  • Ability to display exceptional skills in the respectful, therapeutic handling of clients.

  Desirable

  • A commitment to the evaluation of services, enthusiasm for multi-professional and uni-professional audit, and a desire to continue to develop expertise in the area of specialty.

  Person Specification

  Qualifications

  Essential

  • Good Honours degree in Psychology with eligibility for Graduate Basis for Chartership (GBC) with the BPS.
  • Post-graduate Doctorate in Clinical/Counselling Psychology accredited by the HCPC (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996 as accredited by the BPS).
  • HCPC registration as a practitioner psychologist.

  Desirable

  • Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialist areas of psychological practice, particularly psychological services for older people and neuropsychiatry.
  • Qualification in supervision
  • Evidence of peer reviewed publications, presentations at conferences, or similar contributions.

  Experience

  Essential

  • Extensive and demonstrable experience of working as a HCPC registered practitioner psychologist in services for older people
  • Extensive experience of working with a wide range of patient groups presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, in-patient and residential care settings and maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems.
  • Experience of teaching, training and professional and clinical supervision.
  • Demonstrable evidence of significant specialist clinical supervision within a scientist-practitioner framework, including individual supervision, group supervision and case presentations.
  • Experience of NHS management tasks and negotiating with NHS managers, professionals, colleagues and other agencies
  • Experience in audit and evaluation of clinical services.

  Desirable

  • Experience of professional management of qualified and pre-qualified clinical psychologists.
  • Experience of leading a therapy team
  • Experience of conducting research of a high a standard

  Skills

  Essential

  • Skills in the use of highly complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management, frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.

  Desirable

  • Able to take responsibility for managing and providing a specialist service, or systematically providing part of a larger service
  • Ability to manage staff (including line management) and negotiate specialty issues
  • Ability to use highest level of interpersonal and communication skills to convey and receive highly complex / sensitive information effectively, requiring empathy and reassurance, in a highly emotive atmosphere and the ability to overcome psychological resistance to potentially threatening information, whilst maintaining high degree of professionalism at all times.
  • Ability to interpret general clinical, professional and organisational policies and to use own initiative to establish how they should be applied within the area of specialty.
  • Ability to design and implement policy for services and to propose service changes that impact beyond that area of activity.
  • Ability to plan a clinical service and to formulate a long term strategic plan which may involve uncertainty.

  Special knowledge

  Essential

  • Doctoral level knowledge of clinical / counselling psychology theory and practice, assessment, psychological therapies and their application. Including highly developed knowledge of psychology relevant to people with severe and enduring and complex mental health, dementia and those "at risk" and two or more distinct psychological therapies.
  • Evidence of significant post-qualification continuing professional development as recommended by the HCPC and BPS.
  • Formal training in supervision of other psychologists.
  • Knowledge of legislation and its implications for both clinical practice and professional management in relation to the service.
  • Up-to-date knowledge of NHS management, service development and policy implementation in Wales-wide services.
  • Knowledge of any national service guidelines for the area of specialty and its implications for clinical practice and professional management in relation to mental health services for older people, dementia and/or neuropsychiatry

  Desirable

  • Knowledge of local NHS structures.
  • Awareness of ethnic diversity issues.

  Personal qualities

  Essential

  • Commitment to working collaboratively with users of services and their care partners to develop and improve services.
  • Leadership and management qualities and ability to demonstrate these skills
  • Ability to negotiate within the NHS and with external bodies.
  • Ability to motivate and influence people to deliver a high-quality service.
  • Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and the ability to hold the stress for others.
  • Ability to make decisions and problem solve.
  • Ability to cope with continual exposure to distressing and highly emotional clinical material.
  • Ability to display exceptional skills in the respectful, therapeutic handling of clients.

  Desirable

  • A commitment to the evaluation of services, enthusiasm for multi-professional and uni-professional audit, and a desire to continue to develop expertise in the area of specialty.

  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).

  UK Registration

  Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

  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).

  UK Registration

  Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

  Employer details

  Employer name

  Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

  Address

  University Hospital Llandough

  Penlan Road

  Cardiff

  CF64 2XX

  
  

  Employer's website

  https://cavuhb.nhs.wales/ (Opens in a new tab)

  Employer details

  Employer name

  Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

  Address

  University Hospital Llandough

  Penlan Road

  Cardiff

  CF64 2XX

  
  

  Employer's website

  https://cavuhb.nhs.wales/ (Opens in a new tab)

• About the company

  National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly-funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). The founding principles were that services should be comprehensive, universal and free at the point of delivery—a health service based on clinical need, not ability to pay. Each service provides a comprehensive range of health services, free at the point of use for people ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom apart from dental treatment and optical care.

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