Job summary
We can recruit at Band 8A or 8B for this post
Are you looking for a rewarding opportunity to apply your expertise in a truly innovative, community-based service?Would you like to shape psychologically informed care for adults living with persistent pain within a dynamic primary care setting?
We are excited to offer a two-year secondment for a passionate and skilled Band 8A or 8B Psychologist to join the Central Vale Pain Clinic. You'll be part of a small, highly motivated multidisciplinary team delivering early, holistic, and trauma-informed intervention for people with complex pain presentations.
What makes this role special? - The chance to lead and deliver psychologically informed care at the heart of the community
- Close working with an Advanced Pain Practitioner, Psychological Therapiesand PCIC colleagues
- A varied clinical role involving assessment, therapy, consultation, supervision, and service development
- The ability to develop group and 1:1 interventions for people with high levels of distress
- Strong professional support from the Clinical Health Psychology & Neuropsychology team
This is an ideal opportunity for a psychologist seeking service development experience, and a role where your work will have a direct, meaningful impact on patients' lives.
If you're enthusiastic about improving outcomes for people living with persistent pain -- and want to be part of an innovative and supportive team -- we'd love to hear from you.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will provide specialist psychological assessment, formulation, and therapy for adults attending the Central Vale Pain Clinic, delivering evidence-based interventions for people living with persistent pain. As a core member of the MDT, you will offer 1:1 and group psychological interventions, contribute to service evaluation, and provide consultation and supervision to colleagues. The role includes helping shape a psychologically informed, trauma-aware service, supporting early intervention within primary care, and working autonomously with full professional support from Clinical Health Psychology. This is a two-year fixed-term/secondment opportunity based across Barry and Sully GP Practices.
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.
Job description
Job responsibilities
You will be able to find a full Job description and Person Specification attached within the supporting documents or please click Apply now to view in Trac
Clinical Responsibilities
- Provide highly specialist psychological assessments, formulations, and interventions for adults with persistent pain.
- Deliver specialist psychological therapy in both 1:1 and group formats using evidencebased approaches (e.g., CBT, behavioural, systemic).
- Communicate complex and sensitive clinical information to patients, carers, and MDT colleagues with empathy and clarity.
- Contribute to MDT care planning and offer specialist consultation to inform psychologically informed practice.
- Manage clinical risk, including working with trauma, high distress, and complex mental health presentations.
Service Development & Improvement
- Lead the development of a psychologically informed service model within the Central Vale Pain Clinic.
- Identify gaps in provision, shape pathways, and improve the integration of psychology within the service.
- Participate in MDT meetings related to service delivery and development.
Research, Audit and Evaluation
- Initiate and deliver servicerelated research and audit, ensuring continuous quality improvement.
- Collect and evaluate clinically relevant outcome data to assess service effectiveness.
- Provide research opportunities to trainee psychologists and support their project work.
Professional Responsibilities
- Maintain HCPC registration and adhere to all UHB, BPS, and HCPC ethical, professional, and governance standards.
- Participate in ongoing CPD, supervision, and professional meetings.
- Work autonomously while managing workload effectively and contributing to wider Clinical Board governance structures.
Job description
Job responsibilities
You will be able to find a full Job description and Person Specification attached within the supporting documents or please click Apply now to view in Trac
Clinical Responsibilities
- Provide highly specialist psychological assessments, formulations, and interventions for adults with persistent pain.
- Deliver specialist psychological therapy in both 1:1 and group formats using evidencebased approaches (e.g., CBT, behavioural, systemic).
- Communicate complex and sensitive clinical information to patients, carers, and MDT colleagues with empathy and clarity.
- Contribute to MDT care planning and offer specialist consultation to inform psychologically informed practice.
- Manage clinical risk, including working with trauma, high distress, and complex mental health presentations.
Service Development & Improvement
- Lead the development of a psychologically informed service model within the Central Vale Pain Clinic.
- Identify gaps in provision, shape pathways, and improve the integration of psychology within the service.
- Participate in MDT meetings related to service delivery and development.
Research, Audit and Evaluation
- Initiate and deliver servicerelated research and audit, ensuring continuous quality improvement.
- Collect and evaluate clinically relevant outcome data to assess service effectiveness.
- Provide research opportunities to trainee psychologists and support their project work.
Professional Responsibilities
- Maintain HCPC registration and adhere to all UHB, BPS, and HCPC ethical, professional, and governance standards.
- Participate in ongoing CPD, supervision, and professional meetings.
- Work autonomously while managing workload effectively and contributing to wider Clinical Board governance structures.
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) OR (for trainees) doctorate to be completed by end of 2024
- HCPC registration as a practitioner psychologist OR (for trainees) eligible by October 2024
Desirable
- 8a Practitioner Psychologist: Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialist areas of psychological practice.
Experience
Essential
- Experience in applying clinical/counselling psychology in the NHS, including cognitive and structured assessment, formulation, intervention, research and service development.
- Experience of effective multi-disciplinary team working in NHS or equivalent.
- for band 8a: Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
Desirable
- Experience of working with people with mental health/psychological problems in a medical setting; problems 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/or professional and clinical supervision.
- for band 7: Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
Skills
Essential
- Ability to make clinical and service-related judgments involving complex facts requiring analysis, interpretation and comparison of several options.
- Ability to contribute to the development of, and to implement, agreed policies and strategic long-term service developments.
- Ability to use the 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 a high degree of professionalism at all times.
Desirable
- Experience of the development and implementation of policies and strategic long-term service developments.
Special knowledge
Essential
- Practitioner Psychologist: Doctoral level knowledge of clinical/counselling psychology theory and practice, assessment, psychological therapies and their application.
- Practitioner Psychologist: Participation with CPD as recommended by the BPS.
Desirable
- 8a Practitioner Psychologist: Post-doctoral training in relevant specialist areas of psychological practice (e.g. assessment of autism; working with psychosis; specific psychosocial approaches).
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) OR (for trainees) doctorate to be completed by end of 2024
- HCPC registration as a practitioner psychologist OR (for trainees) eligible by October 2024
Desirable
- 8a Practitioner Psychologist: Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialist areas of psychological practice.
Experience
Essential
- Experience in applying clinical/counselling psychology in the NHS, including cognitive and structured assessment, formulation, intervention, research and service development.
- Experience of effective multi-disciplinary team working in NHS or equivalent.
- for band 8a: Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
Desirable
- Experience of working with people with mental health/psychological problems in a medical setting; problems 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/or professional and clinical supervision.
- for band 7: Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
Skills
Essential
- Ability to make clinical and service-related judgments involving complex facts requiring analysis, interpretation and comparison of several options.
- Ability to contribute to the development of, and to implement, agreed policies and strategic long-term service developments.
- Ability to use the 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 a high degree of professionalism at all times.
Desirable
- Experience of the development and implementation of policies and strategic long-term service developments.
Special knowledge
Essential
- Practitioner Psychologist: Doctoral level knowledge of clinical/counselling psychology theory and practice, assessment, psychological therapies and their application.
- Practitioner Psychologist: Participation with CPD as recommended by the BPS.
Desirable
- 8a Practitioner Psychologist: Post-doctoral training in relevant specialist areas of psychological practice (e.g. assessment of autism; working with psychosis; specific psychosocial approaches).
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.
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.
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).
