Consultant Psychologist: Whole Systems – Adult Mental Health


Company:	NHS Jobs
Salary:	£85,641 to £97,746 a year
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	Harrow, HA1 3UJ
Job type:	Contract
Posting date:	6 Oct 2026
Closing date:	20 Oct 2026

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Summary

KR 1: Clinical and client care To lead, plan and ensure the delivery of a highly specialist psychology and psychotherapy service across the adult mental health pathway, while maintaining effective psychological interfaces with community services. To provide expert psychological assessment, formulation, consultation and intervention for service users with severe, complex and high-risk presentations, including psychosis, trauma-related difficulties, emotional dysregulation, self-harm, interpersonal difficulties and co-occurring substance use or neurodevelopmental needs. To offer expert advice where clinical information is incomplete, contradictory or contested, integrating psychological, social, cultural, developmental and risk information to support complex decision-making. To provide culturally responsive and accessible interventions with service users, carers and families when indicated. To ensure that assessment and intervention are proportionate to the acute context and support stabilisation, relational safety, recovery, discharge planning and continuity of care. To assess and monitor risk, contribute to formulation-based risk management plans and support multidisciplinary decision-making in situations involving significant uncertainty or potential harm. To undertake direct clinical work where this adds specialist value, while balancing clinical activity with strategic leadership and operational responsibilities. To ensure that pathways facilitate timely transfer, discharge and follow-up between inpatient, crisis and community teams. KR 2: Leadership for team and service clinical functioning To be the senior psychology lead for the agreed whole systems adult mental health portfolio (predominantly acute adult mental health services with additional community adult mental health responsibilities) and provide visible, accessible and authoritative professional leadership. To ensure that all adult mental health teams work within a coherent psychologically informed and trauma-informed framework, promoting psychological safety, relational practice and least restrictive care. To chair or contribute to relevant service, governance and psychology meetings and ensure agreed actions are implemented and reviewed. To provide defined operational management support and oversight to community psychology provision, including advice on capacity, demand, prioritisation, caseload systems, access, quality and complex staffing matters. To support effective clinical and operational interfaces between acute and community psychology services, reducing fragmentation and promoting continuity across transitions. To advise senior managers and multidisciplinary colleagues on the psychological dimensions of service delivery, workforce wellbeing, team functioning and complex clinical care. To lead approaches that improve access, experience and outcomes for diverse local communities and proactively challenge discrimination and inequity. To support teams following serious incidents, highly distressing events or sustained operational pressure, within the boundaries of the role and Trust processes. KR 3: Policy, strategy and service development To interpret national, Trust and divisional policy and guidance and lead its implementation within the post-holders area of responsibility. To lead the strategic development of acute psychology provision and contribute to the development of adult mental health pathways across inpatient, crisis and community services. To identify service gaps, develop business cases and options appraisals, and lead agreed improvement programmes that may affect more than one service area. To ensure meaningful involvement of service users and carers in service design, delivery, evaluation and improvement. To participate in, and lead where appropriate, Trust, divisional and borough committees, working groups and transformation programmes. To establish standards, pathways and operating procedures that clarify the contribution of psychological professions across acute and community care. To monitor the impact of developments through agreed quality, experience, outcome and equality measures. Please see attached JD for full details.

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