Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

Assistant Psychologist

The closing date is 03 September 2025

Job summary

We are currently looking to recruit a keen, enthusiastic and highly motivated Assistant Clinical Psychologist to join our Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Adult Eating Disorder service Community Team, based at Addenbrookes Hospital in the beautiful city of Cambridge with buildings in Huntingdon and Peterborough

The Cambridge Eating Disorder Service (AEDS) is part of the Adult and Specialist directorate within Cambridge and Peterborough Foundation Trust. It offers treatment for patients with moderate to severe eating disorders, registered with GP practices within Cambridgeshire.

Main duties of the job

To support and enhance the professional psychological care of Eating Disorder clients with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Community Eating Disorder Service, across all sectors of care assisting psychological assessment and psychological interventions under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist, working independently according to a plan agreed with a qualified psychologist and within the overall framework of the Team's policies and procedures.

The post-holder will assist in clinically-related administration, conducting audits, collection of data and statistics, development of audit and/or research projects, teaching and project work.

Please note for this role you will be required to travel independently around the county meeting strict time deadlines.

About us

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health and social care organisation dedicated to providing high-quality care with compassion to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting andempowering them to lead a fulfilling life.

Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services, not only via inpatient and primary care settings, but also within the community. These services include children's, adult and older people's mental health, forensic and specialist mental health, learning disabilities, primary care and liaison psychiatry, substance misuse, social care, research and development.

To achieve our goal, we look to recruit high-calibre candidates who share our vision and values. As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all sectors of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including disabled people and members of ourethnic minority andLGBTQ+ communities.

Please be advised we reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date should we receive sufficient applications.

Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all our job roles. If you apply for a role that we cannot offer sponsorship for, unfortunately, your application form will be rejected from the process.

For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at www.cpft.nhs.uk

Details

Date posted

20 August 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£29,970 to £36,483 a year per annum, pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

310-ASMH-7319448

Job locations

S3 Addenbrookes Hospital

Hills Road

Cambridge

CB2 0QQ


Job description

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities.

  • To assist protocol-based psychological assessments of clients applying psychological tests, including, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the clients care.
  • To assist in the formulation and delivery of care plans involving the psychological treatment and/or management of a clients problems, under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist.
  • To assist in the coordination and running of therapeutic groups.
  • To work within the risk assessments undertaken within the Team in line with Trust and inter-agency policies and procedures.
  • To work with other staff to assess patients and review their care in preparation for multi-disciplinary reviews.
  • To assist in the development of a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the Eating Disorder service, across all settings where care takes place.
  • To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary meetings, including team meetings, team supervisions etc.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities.

  • To assist protocol-based psychological assessments of clients applying psychological tests, including, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the clients care.
  • To assist in the formulation and delivery of care plans involving the psychological treatment and/or management of a clients problems, under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist.
  • To assist in the coordination and running of therapeutic groups.
  • To work within the risk assessments undertaken within the Team in line with Trust and inter-agency policies and procedures.
  • To work with other staff to assess patients and review their care in preparation for multi-disciplinary reviews.
  • To assist in the development of a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the Eating Disorder service, across all settings where care takes place.
  • To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary meetings, including team meetings, team supervisions etc.

Person Specification

Education / Qualifications

Essential

  • An upper-second class honours degree or higher in psychology.
  • Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and HPCP

Desirable

  • Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of working with people with chronic mental health and personality disorder difficulties
  • Experience of working as a Psychology Assistant within a multidisciplinary team

Desirable

  • Experience of working with people with an eating disorder.
  • Experience of running therapeutic groups
  • Experience of working with families
  • Experience of conducting psychological assessments

Skills & Abilities

Essential

  • High level communication skills (written and verbal)
  • Ability to communicate sensitive information to patients, carers and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance
  • An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to the context of people with enduring mental health problems
  • To be able to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive and distressing and to be balanced with robust risk management.

Desirable

  • High standard of report writing with an understanding of psychology applied to health care and eating disorders

Knowledge & Understanding

Essential

  • An understanding of the needs and difficulties or people with chronic mental health problems and eating disorders.
  • A clear understanding of the importance of robust risk management within a multidisciplinary approach.

Desirable

  • An understanding of mental health services within the NHS.

Other

Essential

  • An ability to interact with people with mental health problems, learning disabilities and personality disorders.
  • Ability to plan and prioritise your own workload.
  • A keen interest in working with people with eating disorders from aged 17 upwards in a therapeutic, non judgemental capacity.
  • Ability to work independently, reliably and consistently with work agreed and managed at regular intervals.
  • Travelling independently between bases
Person Specification

Education / Qualifications

Essential

  • An upper-second class honours degree or higher in psychology.
  • Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and HPCP

Desirable

  • Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of working with people with chronic mental health and personality disorder difficulties
  • Experience of working as a Psychology Assistant within a multidisciplinary team

Desirable

  • Experience of working with people with an eating disorder.
  • Experience of running therapeutic groups
  • Experience of working with families
  • Experience of conducting psychological assessments

Skills & Abilities

Essential

  • High level communication skills (written and verbal)
  • Ability to communicate sensitive information to patients, carers and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance
  • An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to the context of people with enduring mental health problems
  • To be able to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive and distressing and to be balanced with robust risk management.

Desirable

  • High standard of report writing with an understanding of psychology applied to health care and eating disorders

Knowledge & Understanding

Essential

  • An understanding of the needs and difficulties or people with chronic mental health problems and eating disorders.
  • A clear understanding of the importance of robust risk management within a multidisciplinary approach.

Desirable

  • An understanding of mental health services within the NHS.

Other

Essential

  • An ability to interact with people with mental health problems, learning disabilities and personality disorders.
  • Ability to plan and prioritise your own workload.
  • A keen interest in working with people with eating disorders from aged 17 upwards in a therapeutic, non judgemental capacity.
  • Ability to work independently, reliably and consistently with work agreed and managed at regular intervals.
  • Travelling independently between bases

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

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

Address

S3 Addenbrookes Hospital

Hills Road

Cambridge

CB2 0QQ


Employer's website

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


Employer details

Employer name

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

Address

S3 Addenbrookes Hospital

Hills Road

Cambridge

CB2 0QQ


Employer's website

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


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Operational Team Manager

Queen Nyandoro

Queen.Nyandoro@cpft.nhs.uk

01223596201

Details

Date posted

20 August 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£29,970 to £36,483 a year per annum, pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

310-ASMH-7319448

Job locations

S3 Addenbrookes Hospital

Hills Road

Cambridge

CB2 0QQ


Supporting documents

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