Principal High Intensity CBT Therapist (Access lead)


Company:	South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Salary:	£72,719 - £83,505 per annum incl. of HCAs (outer)
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	London, BR3 3BX
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	11 Aug 2026
Closing date:	10 Sept 2026

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Summary

A Vacancy at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

Croydon NHS Talking Therapies is an ambitious, high-performing service committed to delivering evidence-based psychological therapies and outstanding patient care. We are seeking an experienced and inspirationalPrincipal CBT Therapist & Access Leadto join our senior leadership team and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of the service.

This is an exciting opportunity for an accomplished BABCP-accredited CBT Therapist with strong leadership skills and a passion for improving access, reducing inequalities and delivering excellent clinical outcomes. The successful candidate will lead the service's access and assessment pathways, ensuring patients receive timely, equitable and effective care whilst supporting the achievement of NHS Talking Therapies national objectives.

As a Senior Clinical Leader, you will contribute strategically to service development, workforce planning, quality improvement and innovation while maintaining a specialist clinical role and supporting the development of our highly skilled workforce.

• Leading the service'saccess, assessment and referral pathways, ensuring patients are offered timely and equitable access to care.

• Driving performance against NHS Talking Therapies access, waiting time, recovery and engagement targets.

• Providing expert clinical leadership and consultation for complex and high-risk clinical presentations.

• Maintaining a small specialist caseload and delivering highly specialised CBT interventions where appropriate.

• Providing clinical supervision, mentorship and professional leadership to support workforce development and clinical excellence.

• Using service performance data to identify trends, improve patient flow, reduce waiting lists and enhance service outcomes.

• Leading quality improvement, service transformation and innovation projects to enhance patient experience and effectiveness.

• Working collaboratively with primary care, secondary care, community organisations and commissioners to improve access and reduce health inequalities.

• Leading on audits, service evaluation, incident reviews and quality assurance activities.

The post-holder will work within the Croydon NHS Talking Therapies Service. The service consists of approximately 100 WTE clinical and administration staff providing a service across Croydon. The main service bases are at the Bethlem Royal Hospital and Central Croydon. This is a borough of high social and psychological needs with considerable cultural diversity. The service sees clients with a wide range of common mental health problems and varying levels of severity. Many clients present with multiple problems including social, housing and employment issues. The postholder will work with people with different cultural backgrounds and ages, using interpreters when necessary and should be committed to equal opportunities.

We operate a stepped care service model offering on-line CBT, guided self-help, groups and workshops as well as individual therapy (CBT and a range of other approaches) and offer treatment to Lambeth residents suffering from long term conditions. We offer clinical services on week days from 8am until 7:30pm. We have close links with our sister IAPT services within SLaM, with the IAPT training courses at the Institute of Psychiatry and University College London (UCL) and CADAT.

The post holder will be required to work at least one late shift from 11:30 - 19:30.

Key Responsibilities: