Clinical Psychologist or Counselling Psychologist

OUR VALUES IN ACTION

  Care and Compassion Quality and Teamwork Dignity and Respect Openness, honesty and responsibility

Please note: the salary quoted is for full-time hours (37 hrs per week). For appointments to part-time hours, the salary will be pro-rata.

NHS Borders is delighted to announce that we have a permanent vacancy or vacancies available at Band 8a working with adults. The hours are suitable for candidates to work in a hybrid manner, but there is a requirement to spend at least 50% of clinical hours working in the Borders seeing patients in person in addition to opportunities to work remotely from home. We are able to consider candidates who would like full time or part time permanent hours at Band 8a. We are happy to discuss this arrangement in more detail with interested candidates prior to making an application.

The Secondary Care Psychology Service is currently going through a period of transition. From the 1^st October 2024 we will be receiving referrals directly from GPs in a stand-alone psychology service in addition to the work that we do supporting the three CMHTs in the Borders. Our secondary care psychologists all do a combination of secondary care psychology work and CMHT work. Working in our secondary care psychology service provides the opportunity to work with severe and enduring mental health problems. Our psychologists offer assessments, psychological treatments, consultation, supervision and training of our MDT colleagues in the CMHTs. Our psychologists contribute to a range of established on-line group therapy options which include Survive and Thrive and DBT courses, alongside offering individual therapy.

NHS Borders Psychological Services aims to provide high quality local psychology services and recognises that in order to achieve this we require well supported and trained staff. We value maintaining connectivity amongst our staff, even when we may not see each other often in person. Over the past few years we have transformed our local adult psychology services, including the development of a psychology led primary care therapy service which has close links with secondary care psychology.

We are in easy reach of Edinburgh with the majority of our staff based in the capital, often car-sharing. The recent addition of the Tweedbank rail service from Edinburgh has made travel to Tweedbank (45 minutes from Edinburgh and a 20 minute walk to the Borders General Hospital) an attractive commute.

NHS Borders serves the rural population of 115 000 living in the Scottish Borders. It is a lovely area to live in, with excellent schools, abundant local amenities and easy access to Edinburgh and transport links.  There are superb leisure facilities and good quality affordable housing which provide ideal opportunities for a high quality of life in this scenic part of the country. 

This is an exciting time to be joining our Secondary Care Psychology Service and we are looking for enthusiastic professionals who can make a contribution to the service. In return we offer a supportive team, with good opportunities for growth and career development.

For further information, please contact Dr Tim Sporle, Consultant Clinical Psychologist on / , email timothy.sporle@nhs.scot

**PLEASE NOTE: We cannot accept late applications so please ensure your application is submitted early***

NHS Scotland is reducing their full-time working week from 37.5 to 37 hours per week from 1 April 2024 but with no change in pay. This reduction will also be applied pro rata for part time staff. This advert and any subsequent offer/contract of employment therefore reflects the new working hours. However, as not all service areas will be able to adopt the 37 hour working week immediately from 1 April 2024, you may be required to work up to an additional 30 minutes per week for a temporary period, for which you would be paid, until the service you are working in changes rosters or working patterns to accommodate the new reduced working week. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Hiring Manager. 

NHS Scotland is committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce and eliminating unlawful discrimination. The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. To this end, NHS Scotland welcomes applications from all sections of society.