South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Senior Psycho-social Support Worker

The closing date is 04 May 2026

Job summary

An exciting opportunity for an experienced psycho-social support worker to develop skills in a specialist personality disorder service has arisen on Waddon Ward, River House.

Waddon Ward is a 15 bedded medium secure male only ward.

It is a specialist unit that admits those who have a significant violent and offending history as well as diagnosed with Personality Disorder.

Waddon Ward is part of the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway (OPD), jointly commissioned by NHS England and The National Probation Service.

The Violence Reduction Program is the main core treatment program on Waddon Ward which a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy psychological approach.

The post involves supporting the nursing team, taking on the associate nurse role for a small case load and leading the team of psycho-social support workers. You will have the opportunity to participate in the assessment of new patients and plan their treatment pathways.

You will receive training and supervision required for the role.The successful candidate must be committed to providing high quality patient care and have a demonstrated interested in working with offenders with personality disorder.

Main duties of the job

Providing high quality psycho-social interventions to patients with personality disorder.
Supervising junior staff.
Participating in an ongoing programme of development and education for the multi professional team.
Maintaining high quality standards on the ward.

Career Progression pathways and development opportunities:

We are committed to get the very best out of our staff and support staff in their career aspirations. We have career pathways available, where you will be able to develop your skills and build on your experience to progress into other roles across different specialties. In addition, we offer ongoing training and development in risk assessment and therapies related to personality disorder, for example Mentalisation Based Therapy, Violence Reduction Programme.

About us

Flexible working:

As one of the few Trusts in London we are proud to offer flexible working as part of our new ways of working, and we are happy to talk flexible working at the interview stage. This role covers shifts across seven days per week, including day and night shifts.

Benefits:

We are committed to ensuring our staff get the most out of their benefits package and understand the importance of a healthy work life balance. There is an extensive range of excellent benefits for you and your family. We want you to feel like you are part of a close knit team at SLaM. It's important to us that you valued and appreciated and that are why we have a comprehensive benefits package on offer

Some of our benefits are highlighted here:

Generous pay, pensions and leave, we offer a comprehensive pay, pensions and leave package which is dependent on the role and length of service.
Work life balance, flexible working and support a range of flexible options, such as: part-time working and job sharing.
Career development, There are plenty of opportunities to progress your career and we support your development through a number of programmes such as mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership and other talent programmes
Car lease, our staff benefits from competitive deals to lease cars
Accommodation, our staff benefits from keyworker housing available which is available on selected sites.

Date posted

20 April 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 4

Salary

£32,199 to £34,876 a year per annum inclusive of HCAS

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

334-NUR-7634208-FR

Job locations

River House, Bethlem Royal Hospital

Monks Orchard Road

Beckenham

BR3 3BX

Job description

Job responsibilities

This position entails working with a demanding client group of personality disordered offenders. Therefore you will be given the opportunity and expected to attend regular participation in staff support, reflective practise and individual supervision

You must be able to physically respond efficiently and confidently to a crisis, i.e. be able to assist in the delivery of First aid, or employ PSTS techniques which you will have completed training in during your induction to the trust.

You will work under the direct and indirect supervision and guidance of the nursing team to implement care with a group of offenders with a diagnosis of Personality Disorder, maintaining their dignity, privacy and choice, treating them with respect at all times

Job description

Job responsibilities

Person Specification

Education/Qualification

Essential

NVQ Level 3 in Health & Social Care or other equivalent qualification

Desirable

Degree in Psychology
Masters in Psychology

Experience/Knowledge

Essential

Experience of working with people with mental health problems
Experience of working as a HealthCare Assistant in Forensic Mental Health
Experience of working with professionals from other agencies and services
Ability to maintain professional boundaries in all interactions with service users
Ability to undertake all mandatory training relevant to the post including Seni Lewis Training Program, basic life

Desirable

Experience of co-facilitating groups or 1:1 therapeutic sessions
Experience of working in a learning environment
Experience supporting individuals who present with emotional distress, complex needs or challenging behavour
Willingness to participate in quality improvement, audit or service development initiatives.

Skills/Abilities

Essential

Good written and verbal communication skills
Basic IT skills
Ability to work with a challenging client group, showing initiative and flexibility to team work and to care situations

Desirable

Knowledge of skills that can be shared in team meetings

Other Criteria

Desirable

Personal experience of mental health problems

Person Specification

Education/Qualification

Essential

NVQ Level 3 in Health & Social Care or other equivalent qualification

Desirable

Degree in Psychology
Masters in Psychology

Experience/Knowledge

Essential

Experience of working with people with mental health problems
Experience of working as a HealthCare Assistant in Forensic Mental Health
Experience of working with professionals from other agencies and services
Ability to maintain professional boundaries in all interactions with service users
Ability to undertake all mandatory training relevant to the post including Seni Lewis Training Program, basic life

Desirable

Experience of co-facilitating groups or 1:1 therapeutic sessions
Experience of working in a learning environment
Experience supporting individuals who present with emotional distress, complex needs or challenging behavour
Willingness to participate in quality improvement, audit or service development initiatives.

Skills/Abilities

Essential

Good written and verbal communication skills
Basic IT skills
Ability to work with a challenging client group, showing initiative and flexibility to team work and to care situations

Desirable

Knowledge of skills that can be shared in team meetings

Other Criteria

Desirable

Personal experience of mental health problems

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.

Employer details

Employer name

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Address

River House, Bethlem Royal Hospital

Monks Orchard Road

Beckenham

BR3 3BX

Employer's website

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

Employer details

Employer name

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Address

River House, Bethlem Royal Hospital

Monks Orchard Road

Beckenham

BR3 3BX

Employer's website

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