About this role
Job summary
Band 8b Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist Team Lead - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) Management
ACTIVATE Team, E&N Hertfordshire, Kingsway Health Centre, Stevenage/Hitchin
We are currently looking for an enthusiastic, creative and highly specialist Clinical Psychologist to join our team.
ACTIVATE is a multi-disciplinary community team consisting of Clinical Psychologists, Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists, GP's with extended role and an administrator. We provide highly specialist assessment and intervention for adults with CFS and / or persistent pain.
ACTIVATE adopts a primarily hands off approach to treatment which is aimed at motivating and educating service users to manage their condition more effectively and utilises both individual and group based interventions. Close multi-disciplinary working within the team, is a key part of the service delivery and the successful candidate will be expected to take an active role in the delivery of the Chronic Fatigue Management Programmes as well as offering individual and joint treatment sessions with other team members.
ACTIVATE team form part of the integrated community MSK Services working alongside the MSK Physiotherapy team and the MSK Clinical , Assessment and Treatment Service (MSKCATS). The post will also involve close liaison with relevant medical consultants, GP's and other health care professionals.
*Proposed interview date : 24th September 2026*
Main duties of the job
To support and enhance the work of the multi-disciplinary team providing a highly specialist service to people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and persistent pain.
To take a lead role in the clinical delivery and strategic development of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) service
To support and enhance the professional psychological care of patients within the service by providing highly specialist psychological assessment, formulation and therapy as well as consultation, advice and supervision to other members of the team.
To provide highly specialist clinical psychology input to adults, their families and carers referred to the ACTIVATE Team with CFS.
To provide highly specialist psychological assessment, formulation and therapy for complex cases within the service. This will be based upon clinical psychology and clinical health psychology theory and practice.
To work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the teams' policies and procedures.
About us
A big thank you for considering joining us at Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust You'll find it a great place to work with many benefits offered to you as a member of our staff We put our patients, their families and carers at the centre of our vision - Outstanding Services and Healthier Communities. Our staff are proud to be Caring, Pioneering and Inclusive in their work to help achieve the Trust vision
We welcome diversity in our workforce and are interested in applicants from all backgrounds and ages We don't want you to miss out so we'd like you to know that if we have a high level of interest in this role, the vacancy may close prior to the advertised closing date, so please make your application as soon as possible - Apply now You've made a great decision to apply to join to HCT - we're looking forward to taking the next steps of the journey with you.
You can apply to Access to Work to get money for communication support at a job interview - please use this link for more information: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-communication-support-at-a-job-interview-if-you-have-a-disability-or-health-condition-access-to-workYou need to apply before the interview takes place.
Job description Job responsibilities
To lead the development and delivery of highly specialist psychological assessments of patients with CFS referred to the service using interview, formal psychometric and other assessment methods as appropriate and in accordance with the profession. Produce reports conveying the results of these highly complex assessments and formulations and detailing recommendations about appropriate interventions for the patient.
To lead the development and delivery of treatment, advice and management of patients with CFS, using a range of appropriate psychological or biopsychosocial interventions according to their profession including 1:1 and group sessions.
To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment and treatment of patients with persistent pain, in accordance with the policies of the service.
To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual patients and provide advice and guidance on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management to colleagues within the service.
To provide specialist advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals, specifically GPs, MSK services and local pain services to assist the formulation, diagnosis and treatment of patients with persistent pain
To deliver professional communications in a skilled and sensitive manner concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of patients.
To be involved in the planning, co-ordination and delivery of psycho-educational group programmes primarily for patients with CFS or persistent pain.
To develop and maintain good working relationships with other staff in the ACTIVATE team with the purpose of facilitating patient care planning and dissemination of relevant information and to promote service delivery and planning with colleagues.
Through the provision of advice and consultation, contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of patients of the service across all settings and agencies serving the patient groups.
To liaise with relevant others including the GPwERs attached to the service, the wider MSK service and other CFS and persistent pain services.
HCT will prioritise recruitment of workers living in England under the new immigration rules for care workers effective from 9 April 2025. Employers must first prove that they have attempted to recruit a worker from within England who needs new sponsorship. This ensures that those who came to the UK to pursue a career in adult social care can do so.
The use of AI is monitored and if you have used it then you are required to declare this, as well as what type of AI tools you have used and for what purpose. We reserve the right to further test your individual knowledge and skills in relation to the requirements for the post through robust and thorough interview and assessment.
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
Post-graduate doctoral level training in Clinical Psychology (or its equivalent) as accredited by the British Psychological Society or British Psychological Society Statement of Equivalence. Registration with HCPC as a Practitioner Psychologist. Completion of further post-graduate/qualification specialist relevant training in clinical supervision, including training in supervision of trainee clinical psychologists.
Experience Essential
Experience of working as a qualified clinical psychologist for a minimum of 4 years. Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity. Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment across the full range of service settings including outpatient and community. Experience of working effectively with other professionals in multidisciplinary teams in physical health settings. Experience of devising and leading treatment programmes at both individual and group level.
communication Essential
Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings. Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour. Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and ability to contain the stress of others Self-awareness and self-motivation as demonstrated through reflective practice. Ability to work with a patient group who are at times resistant to the psychological contribution to their symptoms. Demonstrate the ability to empathise with patients with a medically unexplained condition Ability to develop and maintain good collaborative working relationships with other colleagues and health care professionals.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust
Address Kingsway Health Centre
Unit 18 , Stevenage Leisure Park
Stevenage
SG1 2UA
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.hct.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)