Employer Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust Employer type NHS Site Norwich Community Hospital Town Norwich Salary £27,485 - £30,162 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 03/09/2025 23:59 Interview date 18/09/2025

Assistant Psychologist

NHS AfC: Band 4

NCH&C is proud to be the first standalone NHS community trust in the UK to achieve an ‘Outstanding’ rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Our focus is on continually improving the quality of care we offer to local people and on improving access to that care, helping people to move seamlessly from one service to another. Praising NCH&C’s “compassionate, inclusive and effective leadership at all levels”, the CQC observed that our staff are well supported to make positive changes and innovations.

Norfolk Community Health & Care NHS Trust is committed to continuing to create a modern and inclusive work environment. As part of this commitment we actively promote flexible working opportunities where possible, to meet the needs and wishes of our workforce to maintain and improve their wellbeing. The trust offers a range of flexibility, including flexible working patterns, and we would encourage you to discuss this with the recruiting manager before or during the application process if this would interest you.

We welcome applications from people who share our values and can help us deliver outstanding care in our local community.

Before applying for this vacancy, please make sure you’re familiar with ongoing GOV.uk sponsorship eligibility criteria which will impact the organisations ability to provide sponsorship, whether this is currently or in the future.

Specifically for band 3 roles within healthcare please be aware of the salary threshold required for a certificate of sponsorship to be granted, and that unfortunately overseas applicants who are new to care will not reach the minimum salary threshold to obtain a certificate of sponsorship and therefore your application will be withdrawn.

Job overview

We are seeking a compassionate and enthusiastic Band 4 Assistant Psychologist to join our‘Outstanding’community Children’s and Young People’s Specialist services.

The Starfish Team offers assessment and intervention for young people of school age (4-18 years) with a diagnosed learning disability who are experiencing significant behavioural and/or mental health difficulties.

The post is full time (37.5 hours per week), and will be based in the East of the county at our Great Yarmouth base in Gorleston-On-Sea with opportunities for working across Norfolk; including Kings Lynn, Great Yarmouth and Norwich. Flexible working is supported and includes agile/home working where relevant.

This advert may close early if a large number of applications are received, we encourage you to submit your applications early.

Main duties of the job

Your role will be varied and will include a range of assessment, formulation, and intervention. This will include direct and indirect work with the children and young people that we support, as well as their families and the professional networks involved in their care.

You will assist in the formulation and delivery of care plans involving the psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s problems, under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist.

You will undertake protocol based psychological assessments of clients applying psychological, including neuropsychological, tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client’s care, under the supervision of a qualified chartered psychologist.

You will contribute to research and service development including opportunities to assist in development and implementation of; audits, collection of statistics, development of service evaluation and/or research projects, teaching and project work.

Our supportive teams value innovation, foster development and are committed to improving the lives of the children and young people we work with. There will be the opportunity to liaise with other psychology professionals working within the Trust.

Working for our organisation

Apply now to join an organisation that has been awarded an ‘Outstanding’ rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the highest possible rating and the first stand-alone NHS community trust in the country to be awarded the title.

We aim to attract and retain a diverse, talented and committed workforce, who are caring and compassionate, and therefore able to meet the demands of the modern NHS now and in the future. In return we can offer a dynamic working environment in which to build a career.

We would love to hear from candidates who have a passion for working with children and young people with Learning Disabilities. We encourage informal discussion prior to application. Please contact Cherie Clayton (01603 272463) for more information.

Find out more about working for our organisation here:

Please note, the selection processes at Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust are in place to ensure we recruit candidates with the right values and skills, please be advised that the use of AI in applications are monitored. We remain watchful of candidates who misuse these tools to generate an application that doesn’t accurately reflect their skills.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification to support your application for this post. Please refer to the criteria in the person specification which will highlight the qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience you will need to demonstrate in your application, by way of example, to give yourself the best opportunity to be shortlisted.

Person specification

Qualifications

• An upper second class honours degree or higher in Psychology that confers GBR.
• Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society .
• Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis.

Experience

• Work with people with whom NHS Clinical Psychologists frequently work.
• Experience of paid work in direct care provision.
• Experience of working with children and families.

Skills, Abilities and Knowledge

• High-level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive.
• Ability to communicate sensitive information to patients, carers and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance.
• An understanding of the needs and difficulties of people with mental health problems or other disabilities.
• An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a mental health context.
• An understanding of psychology applied to health care.
• Experience using computers for databases or data-analysis, especially SPSS for Windows.
• High standards of report writing.

Personal Attributes / Behaviours

• An ability to interact effectively with staff from all disciplines.
• An ability to work with people with mental health problems or other disabilities.
• Ability to work independently, reliably and consistently with work agreed and management at regular intervals.

Other

• Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively.
• Must hold full and valid driving licence and have access to a vehicle.
• Able to communicate effectively using the English language in both verbal and written forms.
• Ability to use Norfolk Steps techniques.
• A desire to explore a career in Clinical Psychology.

Equal Opportunities - We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome all applications irrespective of age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, race or religion. Additionally, people with disabilities that fall under the Disability Confident Scheme will be offered an interview providing they meet the minimum criteria for the post (outlined in the Person Specification). All sites are Smoke Free.

If you need this application in an offline format, please let us know.

Immigration Status- Norfolk Community Health & Care NHS Trust is a diverse employer and welcomes all job applications. However, potential applicants should note that although the Trust is registered with the Home Office as a sponsor organisation for migrant workers, sponsorship can only be offered against Skilled Worker visas. If you are an applicant from outside the UK and do not already hold a self-gained right to work, we recommend you check the Home Office eligibility requirements before making an application.

Please note: Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for some job roles, and this will be identified through filtering questions at the start of any job application on the Trac recruitment system.

Redeployment - Please note that in the first instance priority for this vacancy will be given to NCH&C staff who are on the Trusts Redeployment Register.

DBS - If this post is subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and you are not a current employee of Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust or being recruited as an Apprentice then the cost of the DBS check will be automatically removed from your first month’s salary. However if you are registered with the update service this may not be required.

Closing and Interview Dates -This vacancy may close early if sufficient applicants are received.

Data Protection -A privacy notice detailing how we will handle your data is attached to this advert as a document. Your application will be transferred to our recruitment management system (Trac) once the advert has closed and you will receive notification then detailing how Trac will handle your data.

On April 1st 2025, the Boards of Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust and Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust will come together to deliver services as a group, with a singular board operating across both organisations. Both trusts are high performing specialist community health and care providers working in the East of England. Both have a strong track record, with the highest ratings from the Care Quality Commission, best in class NHS staff survey outcomes, and a decade of experience in innovation and clinical development.

The group model provides health and care services to a population of 3.2 million in their homes and neighbourhoods. We provide care that supports people from the very beginning to the very end of their lives.

We will remain two separate employers until further notice, and this role being advertised will be employed by Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.