About this role
Job summary
We are seeking an experienced and compassionate Clinical Psychologist who is passionate about improving the psychological wellbeing of people affected by life-limiting illness.
This is an exciting opportunity to shape and lead the future of psychological services at St. Michael's Hospice. As our first dedicated Clinical Psychologist, you will combine highly specialist clinical practice with service development, working collaboratively with colleagues across the multidisciplinary team to create an innovative, evidence-based model of psychological care.
You will be an HCPC-registered Clinical Psychologist with excellent assessment, formulation and therapeutic skills, alongside the vision and leadership to develop services that meet the changing needs of patients, families, carers and staff. You will be confident working autonomously, influencing across professional boundaries and supporting others through education, supervision and reflective practice.
This is an exciting opportunity to influence strategic service development whilst maintaining meaningful clinical practice, helping to ensure every patient and family has access to high-quality psychological support when they need it most.
If you are motivated by the opportunity to make a lasting difference and help shape the future of hospice psychological care, we would love to hear from you.
Closing date - 28/09/2026
Main duties of the job
As Clinical Psychologist, you will provide highly specialist psychological assessment, formulation and evidence-based interventions for patients, families and carers experiencing the emotional, psychological and existential impact of life-limiting illness.Working as a key member of our multidisciplinary team, you will provide expert consultation to colleagues, facilitate reflective practice and contribute to the delivery of compassionate, holistic palliative and end-of-life care.
Alongside your clinical responsibilities, you will lead the review and development of psychological services across the hospice. This includes designing care pathways, developing innovative models of emotional support, and creating a volunteer-supported psychological wellbeing service with appropriate governance, training and supervision.You will work collaboratively with colleagues at Rowans Hospice to share expertise, align service models and support the delivery of high-quality psychological care across both organisations. The role also includes contributing to education, quality improvement, audit, evaluation and the ongoing development of psychological capability throughout the workforce.
Candidates must have the right to work in the UK. We are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.
About us
St. Michaels Hospice is a registered charity providing specialist palliative and end of life care services since 1992, for the people of North Hampshire. We are dedicated to providing care to people throughout North Hampshire who are affected by life limiting illness to attain the highest possible quality of life by providing a choice of specialist care and support.
As a charity, we depend on the kindness and support of our local community to continue offering our services free of charge. This care is made possible by supporters donating, taking part in fundraising events and activities, playing our lottery, shopping in our retail outlets, leaving gifts in their Wills or giving freely of their time to volunteer.
We offer a competitive salary with attractive benefits, including, free parking, life assurance, 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays, and an extensive health and wellbeing plan and company pension.
For further information and to arrange informal visits, please contact Jo Fricker, on 01256 844744 or email: [email protected]
In the event of a large number of applicants, St. Michaels Hospice reserves the right to close a job vacancy advertisement earlier than indicated.
Job description Job responsibilities
The Clinical Psychologist will lead the delivery and development of specialist psychological care within St Michaels Hospice. The postholder will provide highly specialist assessment, formulation and intervention for patients, families and carers, while also undertaking a strategic role in reviewing and expanding the hospices psychological and emotional wellbeing services. A key component of the role will be the design and implementation of a volunteersupported emotional wellbeing model, ensuring safe governance, training and supervision. The postholder will work collaboratively with Rowans Hospice to align service models, share learning and support consistent standards across both organisations.
Clinical Practice
The postholder will provide specialist psychological assessment and intervention for individuals and families experiencing complex emotional, psychological and existential distress associated with lifelimiting illness. They will work as part of the multidisciplinary team, offering consultation, reflective input and support to colleagues.
Specialist assessment, formulation and evidencebased intervention Support for anticipatory grief, trauma, existential distress and bereavement Consultation to MDT colleagues and participation in clinical discussions Highquality clinical documentation and adherence to governance standards
Service Development and Leadership
Alongside clinical duties, the psychologist will lead a structured review of current psychological services and develop a forwardlooking model of care.
Review and redesign of psychological and emotional wellbeing services Development of evidence-informed psychological care pathways, including triage processes, thresholds for intervention and stepped levels of support, aligned with relevant guidance and best practice in palliative and end-of-life care.
Development of a volunteer emotionalsupport model, including referral, triage, allocation, escalation, governance, training, supervision and outcome-monitoring frameworks.
Crosssite collaboration with Rowans Hospice to align pathways and standards Contribution to organisational strategy, quality improvement, audit and evaluation
Education, Training and Supervision
The postholder will support the development of psychological capability across the hospice workforce.
Clinical supervision for psychological practitioners, counsellors and volunteers Delivery of training on psychological aspects of palliative and endoflife care Facilitation of reflective practice and staff wellbeing initiatives General Responsibilities
Work to maintain the values, vision and aims of St. Michaels Hospice.
Additional Duties In discussion with the line manager to undertake work, as and when required, in support of St. Michaels Hospice as an organisation.
Public Relations To represent St. Michaels Hospice in the community and public domain, including social media, appropriately.
Undertake all statutory and mandatory training, as required.
To be conversant with and adhere to all St. Michaels Hospice Policies and Procedures.
Be responsible for upholding and promoting St. Michaels Hospice safeguarding policies, ensuring the safety and well-being of all individuals, and promptly reporting any concerns or incidents in accordance with established procedures.
This is an outline job description and may be subject to change, according to the needs of the service, in consultation with the post holder.
Take responsibility for own personal safety and of others whilst at work. You will take appropriate action or report any concerns to address any health and safety issues that you or members of your team may be aware of.
This job description is an outline of the role and responsibilities. From time to time, due to the needs of the service, we may ask you to flexibly undertake other duties that are consistent with your role and banding, including project work, internal job rotation and absence cover.
Person Specification
Skills, Knowledge, Abilities Essential
Advanced skills in psychological formulation and intervention Strong understanding of psychological needs in palliative and end of life care Ability to develop clear care pathways, triage processes and thresholds for psychological intervention. Ability to design and deliver training and reflective practice Ability to use proportionate outcome, activity and quality measures to evaluate psychological provision and support service development. Excellent communication and influencing skills Ability to work autonomously and manage complex caseloads Knowledge of safeguarding, risk assessment and governance
Desirable
Experience working across organisational boundaries
Qualifications Essential
HCPC registered Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical) Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (or equivalent) Evidence of ongoing professional development
Desirable
Additional training in specialist therapeutic models (e.g., ACT, CFT, systemic practice) Training in supervision
Experience Essential
Significant post qualification experience working with adults with complex psychological needs Experience delivering specialist assessment, formulation and intervention Experience of service development, redesign or quality improvement Experience supervising psychological practitioners, trainees or volunteers Experience working within multidisciplinary healthcare teams
Desirable
Experience in palliative care, oncology or long term conditions Experience developing volunteer based emotional support services Experience contributing to research, audit or evaluation
Attitude, aptitudes, personal characteristics Essential
Compassionate, person centred and reflective approach Emotional resilience and ability to work with distress and uncertainty Commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion Collaborative, flexible and adaptable Professional integrity and commitment to hospice values
Desirable
Interest in staff wellbeing and reflective practice models
Other requirements Essential
Ability to travel independently across the hospice catchment area, with reasonable adjustments where appropriate.
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.
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 St Michael's Hospice (North Hampshire)
Address Basil de Ferranti House
Aldermaston Road
Basingstoke
Hampshire
RG24 9NB
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.stmichaelshospice.org.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)