Senior Assistant Psychologist

Main area

Psychology

Grade

NHS AfC: Band 5

Contract

Permanent

Hours

Full time - 37.5 hours per week

Job ref

196-LIS9709

Employer

Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust

Employer type

NHS

Site

Guys Hospital and Queen Marys Hospital (cross sites)

Town

London

Salary

£37,259 - £45,356 p.a. inc. HCA

Salary period

Yearly

Closing

29/07/2025 23:59

Interview date

19/08/2025

Guys and St Thomas is among the UKs busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.

Guys is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Marys Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Childrens Hospital.

Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions. 

Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.

In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.

We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of Kings Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with Kings College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.

Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good. Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding.

The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.

We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.

The Senior Assistant Psychologist works within a team of Clinical Psychologists, Counselling Psychologists, Psychotherapists, a Consultant Psychiatrist and trainee psychologists and psychotherapists to contribute to the psychological care of patients and carers within DCC and the wider Oncology and Haematology Directorate. This is a challenging and exciting role, which offers the opportunity to develop in a range of clinical, operational and organisational skills and competencies, for which there is excellent support.

The successful applicant will work as one of two Assistant Psychologists. The main focus is: to manage and conduct clinical triage for referrals to POST, communicate with multidisciplinary colleagues across the trust in relation to referrals, co-facilitate and contribute to the development of CBT/ACT / psycho-education groups, support with service project work and audit and support with the delivery of psychological therapy services under the supervision of the Psychology team.

You will benefit from the support of individual and peer supervision, and will be encouraged to undertake relevant CPD activities both within the speciality and via contact with other psychologists and assistants within the Trust. There are strong links to the local Doctorate in Clinical Psychology Program as we are key providers of academic and clinical experience components both in terms of teaching and supervision.

The role includes contributing to the development of operational processes within the referral pathway and provides an opportunity to work with service leads. You will consider the interface between the delivery of clinical services and the processes required to improve patient pathways and care, and learn about operational and change management using psychologically informed approaches to understand these. Assistants will also contribute to outcome database and undertaking statistical analyses to support the team to audit and research their work. Attendance at weekly MDT meetings is a key aspect of the role, and the AP team share and discuss both clinical and audit information with the broader POST team. The role involves significant contact with patients (and their carers) accessing cancer treatment across Guys Cancer Centre (Guys and St Thomas Hospitals and Queen Marys Hospital Sidcup). This is a busy role and the postholder will not hold their own clinical caseload.

The successful applicant will demonstrate a capacity to maintain a compassionate approach to patients and staff in the face of significant distress. And you will be aware of the ways power and discrimination will inform a persons experience of and access to physical health care. You will be self-motivated and professional, enjoy working as part of a multidisciplinary team and interested in pursuing a career in applied psychology. An interest in cancer, palliative and end-of-life care is essential.

This assistant psychology post sits operationally within the Psycho-oncology Support Team (POST) in Dimbleby Cancer Care Centre (DCC) and within the wider Oncology, Haematology and Cellular Pathology Directorate.

Established in 1997, DCC is committed to an interdisciplinary approach to supporting the needs of patients and families affected by cancer and complements the medical care, primary information and support provided by other medical and clinical staff.

POST provides specialised psychological care to individuals affected by cancer and receiving on-going medical care across Guys Cancer services across Guys and St Thomas Hospitals, and Queen Marys Hospital Sidcup. The service is delivered to individuals as inpatients and outpatients, as well as their families and carers.

The Psycho-oncology Support Team provides specialised psychological care to individuals affected by cancer and receiving on-going medical care across Guys Cancer (including Guys and St Thomas Hospitals and Queen Marys Hospital, Sidcup). The service is delivered to individuals as inpatient and outpatients, as well as their carers.

Clinical

1.  To triage referrals to the service, assess risk under supervision of triage leads/practitioner psychologists, book appointments, communicate via email, letter and/or phone with referrers, MDTs and GPs.

2.  To assist in the organisation and facilitation of CBT/third wave psychoeducation  programmes.

3. To work within a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to enhance the quality of care to individuals, carers and families affected by cancer and other haematological disorders.

4.  To attend and contribute as appropriate to multi-disciplinary meetings, specifically to the weekly team meeting at Dimbleby.

5. To help develop clinical resources for use by individuals seen within the service.

6.  To contribute to project work and audit of existing service delivery

Teaching, Training and Supervision

1. To attend and contribute to regular peer supervision with other pre-qualified members of staff.

2. To contribute to the training and support of other staff providing psychological care

including preparation of teaching resources and other materials and co delivery of information sessions/teaching.

3. To receive regular clinical supervision in accordance with professional practice guidelines.

4. To gain an experience of professional psychology within the NHS through

attendance at training workshops/meetings, departmental psychology meetings and

by attending regional assistant psychology meetings.

5. To develop skills and competencies that assist in the delivery of current duties.

Management, Recruitment and Service Development

1. To assist in the implementation of service development projects within the service as required.

2. To attend meetings in which service developments are planned and discussed.

Research and Service Evaluation

1. To assist in the design and implementation of audit and research projects.

2. To undertake data collection, entry and analysis and assist in the presentation of reports and summaries, using IT and computerised statistical programmes.

3. To undertake evidence-based literature searches and research to assist qualified Psychological practitioners in evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.

Professional Development

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 Consultant Clinical

Psychologist in DCC.

2. To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping (in both medical notes and psychology case notes) and report writing in accordance with professional codes of practice of the BPS and Trust policies and procedures

Guys and St Thomas celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or studys at the Trust,  or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity , gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership.  

Applications are welcomed from applicants with a disability. We can make reasonable adjustments and offer support and advice in a variety of ways throughout the application process. Equality of opportunity is our policy.

As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.

Flexible working

We are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work life balance and to work in a way that is best for them and our patients. We will consider all requests to work flexibly, taking in to account the individuals personal circumstances as well the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the on-boarding process.

Your e-mail address is important to us - We communicate to all job applicants via the e-mail address which has been provided on the application form. Please ensure that you check your e-mail on a regular basis.

Please apply for this post by clicking "Apply Online Now."

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Our service strives to be as representative of the local population as possible and we would particularly welcome applicants who can complement the diversity of the existing team. We regret that we are unable to advise candidates if they have not been shortlisted. If you have not heard from us within two weeks of the closing date, please assume that you have been unsuccessful on this occasion. In the event of an excessive number of applicants the Trust reserves the right to close this vacancy earlier than indicated.

Information :

• Company : Guy's Hospital and Queen Mary's Hospital (cross sites)
• Position : Senior Assistant Psychologist
• Location : London, Greater London
• Country : US