South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust

Specialist Clinical Psychologist

The closing date is 05 March 2026

Job summary

Seeking a Clinical / Counselling Psychologist (band 7, 1 WTE) for a multi-disciplinary community CAMHS LD team

South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We provide a full range of local mental health services to the Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth London boroughs, as well as specialist forensic mental health services, including high secure services, at Springfield Hospital.

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values; being consistent, compassionate, collaborative, respectful and open is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you'll be part of something special - an innovative and rapidly growing organisation that is helping to redefine the Mental Health, education and social care landscape in the UK.

Main duties of the job

About the role:

This is an exciting opportunity to join a busy, developing service to provide both assessment and individual, family and group interventions for children and young people with a learning disability, some of whom may have significant co-morbid mental health needs. The postholder would take on a Professional Leadership role and there would also be opportunities to contribute to ongoing service development, quality improvement and potential expansion.

The post sits within a multidisciplinary team providing a community out-patient service and has close links with several schools across the boroughs, local respite provisions and the local authority. The post holder will be joining a skilled, motivated, and innovative multidisciplinary team committed to continual learning and development.

Suitable applicants will have experience in a CAMHS/Learning disability setting and have good knowledge and skills related to NICE concordant treatments such as Positive Behavioural Support (PBS) for working with learning disabilities. There would be an expectation that the post holder would support leadership activities, such as supporting psychological formulation and thinking within the team; providing learning opportunities; and supporting use of outcome measures. As a Professional Lead the postholder would also provide Clinical and Professional supervision to Psychologists within the team and support in annual appraisals.

About us

We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust.

We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good' - we aspire to be 'outstanding'.

This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services as we invest a further £120m to upgrade and modernise our estate by 2027.

We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.

We offer flexible working, career development and a variety ofbenefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.

Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.

About our location:

This post will be based at Springfield Hospital

Unless expressly stated in the job advert this role is not subject to sponsorship, please be advised that all offers of employment are subject to evidence of right to work in the UK.

Details

Date posted

19 February 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£47,810 to £54,710 a year per annum inclusive of inner London HCAs

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

294-CAMH-7809848-AZ

Job locations

Springfield University Hospital

15 Springfield Drive

London

SW17 0YF


Job description

Job responsibilities

The post holder will:

Join a multi-disciplinary team at the CAMHS LD service working across 5 boroughs

Carry out high quality assessments;

Provide evidence-based treatment;

Have an agreed job plan with specified activity and throughput levels;

Co-ordinate care for those children, young people and families on their caseload;

Manage risk within team, Directorate and Trust structures;

Work to relevant professional and ethical guidelines, and within the framework of Directorate and Trust policies and procedures.

Use screening and outcome measures in clinically meaningful ways to demonstrate treatment effectiveness and seek feedback about user experience.

Key Result Areas

Clinical

1. To provide specialist assessments of young children and their parents/carers referred to the service based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and where appropriate, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews in line with CYP IAPT methodology.

2. To formulate and implement plans for evidence-based interventions, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, to improve the parent/child relationship.

3.To be responsible for implementing a range of psychotherapeutic interventions employed individually and in synthesis, maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses, adjusting and refining formulations or understandings, drawing upon different explanatory models and employing methods of intervention that are based upon evidence of efficacy.

4. To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual and the family.

5. To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans

6. To provide specialist mental health advice guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to the care of the young child and their parents/carers including the young persons network.

7. To contribute to and/or use evidence-based, integrated working tools and processes, to ensure young children and their parents/carers receive holistic and co-ordinated services in response to their mental health needs.

8. To undertake risk assessment and risk management for young children and their parents/carers.

9. To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of young children and their parents/carers who are under their care.

10. To monitor progress during the course of interventions, ensuring that all interventions are fully assessed, planned, implemented and evaluated in conjunction with CYP IAPT minimum dataset standards.

11. To maintain accurate and accessible health care records according to Trust policy and Information Governance requirements.

12. To demonstrate high level communication skills, both written and verbal, within all agencies.

Teaching, Training, and Supervision

1.To receive regular clinical professional supervision from a senior psychologist / psychotherapist and, where appropriate, other senior colleagues.

2. To gain additional experience and skills relevant to the profession and/or the service (as agreed with the responsible professional and team manager) in accordance with the CAMHS Directorates common expectations for P&P staff.

3. To develop skills in the area of professional post-graduate teaching, training and supervision and to provide supervision to other MDT staffs psychological work as appropriate.

4. If required, to provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings.

Management, Recruitment, Policy and Service Development

1. To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the services operational policies and services (as directed), through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.

2. To contribute to a culture that is therapeutic, productive, accessible, inclusive and flexible to meet the needs of the local population.

Research and Service Evaluation

1. To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.

2. To undertake appropriate research and provide research advice to other staff undertaking research.

Other

1. To 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 post holders professional and service manager(s).

2. To contribute to and commit to undertaking an annual professional development review (PADR).

3. To undertake personal and professional development as identified in the Personal development Plan (PDP) as required by the service and set out in the job plan.

4. To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with professional codes of practice and Trust policies and procedures.

5. To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the specific client group and mental health. For this post these specifically include:

Current Mental Health Legislation

The Childrens Act (1989)

Trust and panLondon child protection procedures.

  • Local and national developments in SWLStG CAMHS

Risk Assessment and Management

Clinical Governance

Local and national developments in line with Every Child Matters

Joint working practices between voluntary and statutory sector

Training and Development

1. To undertake mandatory and statutory training, supervision and annual appraisal as required by Trust policy.

2. To contribute and commit to undertaking an annual Development Review/appraisal.

3. To undertake personal development as identified in the Personal Development Plan (PDP).

Job description

Job responsibilities

The post holder will:

Join a multi-disciplinary team at the CAMHS LD service working across 5 boroughs

Carry out high quality assessments;

Provide evidence-based treatment;

Have an agreed job plan with specified activity and throughput levels;

Co-ordinate care for those children, young people and families on their caseload;

Manage risk within team, Directorate and Trust structures;

Work to relevant professional and ethical guidelines, and within the framework of Directorate and Trust policies and procedures.

Use screening and outcome measures in clinically meaningful ways to demonstrate treatment effectiveness and seek feedback about user experience.

Key Result Areas

Clinical

1. To provide specialist assessments of young children and their parents/carers referred to the service based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and where appropriate, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews in line with CYP IAPT methodology.

2. To formulate and implement plans for evidence-based interventions, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, to improve the parent/child relationship.

3.To be responsible for implementing a range of psychotherapeutic interventions employed individually and in synthesis, maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses, adjusting and refining formulations or understandings, drawing upon different explanatory models and employing methods of intervention that are based upon evidence of efficacy.

4. To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual and the family.

5. To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans

6. To provide specialist mental health advice guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to the care of the young child and their parents/carers including the young persons network.

7. To contribute to and/or use evidence-based, integrated working tools and processes, to ensure young children and their parents/carers receive holistic and co-ordinated services in response to their mental health needs.

8. To undertake risk assessment and risk management for young children and their parents/carers.

9. To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of young children and their parents/carers who are under their care.

10. To monitor progress during the course of interventions, ensuring that all interventions are fully assessed, planned, implemented and evaluated in conjunction with CYP IAPT minimum dataset standards.

11. To maintain accurate and accessible health care records according to Trust policy and Information Governance requirements.

12. To demonstrate high level communication skills, both written and verbal, within all agencies.

Teaching, Training, and Supervision

1.To receive regular clinical professional supervision from a senior psychologist / psychotherapist and, where appropriate, other senior colleagues.

2. To gain additional experience and skills relevant to the profession and/or the service (as agreed with the responsible professional and team manager) in accordance with the CAMHS Directorates common expectations for P&P staff.

3. To develop skills in the area of professional post-graduate teaching, training and supervision and to provide supervision to other MDT staffs psychological work as appropriate.

4. If required, to provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings.

Management, Recruitment, Policy and Service Development

1. To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the services operational policies and services (as directed), through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.

2. To contribute to a culture that is therapeutic, productive, accessible, inclusive and flexible to meet the needs of the local population.

Research and Service Evaluation

1. To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.

2. To undertake appropriate research and provide research advice to other staff undertaking research.

Other

1. To 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 post holders professional and service manager(s).

2. To contribute to and commit to undertaking an annual professional development review (PADR).

3. To undertake personal and professional development as identified in the Personal development Plan (PDP) as required by the service and set out in the job plan.

4. To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with professional codes of practice and Trust policies and procedures.

5. To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the specific client group and mental health. For this post these specifically include:

Current Mental Health Legislation

The Childrens Act (1989)

Trust and panLondon child protection procedures.

  • Local and national developments in SWLStG CAMHS

Risk Assessment and Management

Clinical Governance

Local and national developments in line with Every Child Matters

Joint working practices between voluntary and statutory sector

Training and Development

1. To undertake mandatory and statutory training, supervision and annual appraisal as required by Trust policy.

2. To contribute and commit to undertaking an annual Development Review/appraisal.

3. To undertake personal development as identified in the Personal Development Plan (PDP).

Person Specification

Training & Qualifications

Essential

  • Qualified Clinical Psychologist or Counselling Psychologist registered with the HCPC as an applied psychologist,
  • Where an applicant is in the final stages of training and has not yet obtained registration, an applicant will only be made an offer conditional upon successful registration within a time-scale that is specified.

Desirable

  • Placements or work experience within the learning disability/autism field

Experience

Essential

  • Demonstrable experience of working with children and young people in a variety of community settings whom have a diagnosis of moderate to profound learning disabilities and associated co-existing diagnoses
  • Experience of multi-disciplinary team working
  • Experience of inter-agency working
  • Experience of safeguarding and Child Protection

Desirable

  • Experience of leading case reviews
  • Experience of working in the NHS
  • Experience of teaching and liaising with other professional groups
Person Specification

Training & Qualifications

Essential

  • Qualified Clinical Psychologist or Counselling Psychologist registered with the HCPC as an applied psychologist,
  • Where an applicant is in the final stages of training and has not yet obtained registration, an applicant will only be made an offer conditional upon successful registration within a time-scale that is specified.

Desirable

  • Placements or work experience within the learning disability/autism field

Experience

Essential

  • Demonstrable experience of working with children and young people in a variety of community settings whom have a diagnosis of moderate to profound learning disabilities and associated co-existing diagnoses
  • Experience of multi-disciplinary team working
  • Experience of inter-agency working
  • Experience of safeguarding and Child Protection

Desirable

  • Experience of leading case reviews
  • Experience of working in the NHS
  • Experience of teaching and liaising with other professional groups

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

South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust

Address

Springfield University Hospital

15 Springfield Drive

London

SW17 0YF


Employer's website

https://www.swlstg.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust

Address

Springfield University Hospital

15 Springfield Drive

London

SW17 0YF


Employer's website

https://www.swlstg.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Clinical Service Manager

Denise Gentry

denise.gentry@swlstg.nhs.uk

02035134650

Details

Date posted

19 February 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£47,810 to £54,710 a year per annum inclusive of inner London HCAs

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

294-CAMH-7809848-AZ

Job locations

Springfield University Hospital

15 Springfield Drive

London

SW17 0YF


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust's privacy notice (opens in a new tab)