Senior Clinical/Forensic Psychologist- Enhanced Support Service

Job overview

The Enhanced Support Service (ESS) is a service model comprising of a small multi-disciplinary team who work intensively with prisoners and staff using an individualised, psychologically informed approach with a small caseload of the most challenging prisoners.

The service aims to reduce the negative impact of violent, suicidal & disruptive behaviour in prisons. This post will work in partnership across prisons, healthcare, probation and psychology services. The team uses detailed assessments and case formulation to develop appropriate collaborative management plans with the prisoner and their keyworker/prison officer(s). They then offer intensive support to facilitate the implementation of these plans through individualised interventions. In addition, the team will promote a wider understanding of the difficulties associated with the prisoner group to facilitate a more psychologically informed environment that can best support the prisoners and their needs.

Main duties of the job

This role is to set up and deliver an enhanced support service within the offender personality disorder pathway as a qualified clinical / forensic psychologist. The service will be within HMP Peterborough female estate.

The post holder will provide highly specialist psychological assessment and therapy at the same time as offering advice and consultation on prisoners’ psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues and to other non/professional carers. They will work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the team’s policies and procedures to:

• Utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research within the area served by Northamptonshire NHS Foundation Trust.
• Specifically to work alongside prison and health colleagues in the provision of personality disordered offender services within HMP Peterborough.
• Include assessments and case management, advice, consultation and training.
• Take responsibility for collaborating with an evaluation of the service.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The successful candidate will provide highly specialist psychological assessment and therapy at the same time as offering advice and consultation on prisoners’ psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues and to other non/professional carers. They will work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the team’s policies and procedures.

This post does not have any budgetary responsibilities.

The post-holder will be required to ensure that outcome data is gathered, to produce audits/ evaluations, which demonstrate the efficacy of the Service to Commissioners as requested/ required.