Director of Psychology Secure Acute and Crisis Division

Job summary
To ensure the systematic provision of high quality and highly specialist Psychological Services to the Division, this includes all AMH acute care inpatient services, CRHT, rehab, forensic and secure services for patients and their families, with other clinical work organised according to service needs, across the Division.

The Director of Psychology will provide strategic, professional and clinical leadership for psychology across the Secure, Acute and Crisis Division, ensuring that psychological thinking, formulation and evidence-based psychological intervention are integral to the delivery of safe, effective, recovery-focused and least-restrictive mental health care.

The postholder will work as a key member of the Divisional leadership team and will contribute to the development and delivery of the Division's clinical strategy, workforce strategy, quality and safety agenda, transformation programme and operational objectives. To ensure that systems are in place, and working effectively, for all staff providing psychological interventions including, but not limited to, the clinical and professional supervision and support of Psychological Services staff.

Main duties of the job
The postholder will ensure psychological services are clinically effective and evidence based, in line with Trust MH transformation initiative - trauma informed, integrated within multidisciplinary care, focused on recovery, rehabilitation and least restrictive practice. Equitable across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, aligned with national psychological practice standards, responsive to patient, carer and staff experience; and demonstrably contributing to improved outcomes and flow of patients.

Working closely with CPPO, Divisions leadership and consultant psychologists, the postholder will take the lead in modernising Divisions psychological services in line with left shift agenda. Supporting neighbourhood and community-based approaches where appropriate, developing alternatives to hospital admission by strengthening transitions between crisis, acute, secure and community services, supporting digital and innovative psychological interventions and developing psychologically informed models of care.

The postholder will work closely with CPPO, to provide professional leadership to psychology staff across the Division, creating a coherent divisional psychology service while maintaining strong links with the Trust-wide psychological professions leadership structure.

About us
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides joined-up mental and physical healthcare for around two million people across our communities. With over 13,000 staff working in the community and local hospitals, we deliver care at every stage of life, helping people live their best and healthiest lives.

Our mental health services include community-based support and early intervention in psychosis (EIP) for both adults and young people, alongside a network of specialist inpatient wards covering forensic, learning disability, eating disorder and older person's care.

We deliver extensive physical health services too, from urgent community response teams helping frail and older patients remain safely at home, to hospitals at home teams providing acute-level care in familiar surroundings. Our neurological services offer rehabilitation and treatment for conditions including Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Motor Neurone Disease, Head Injury, Cerebral Palsy and Stroke. Across Hampshire, our community hospitals provide inpatient rehabilitation as a step down from acute care, and our dedicated teams also staff Treetops Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Portsmouth, offering expert, compassionate support.

Everything we do is underpinned by our CARE values of compassion, accountability, respect and excellence.

Band: Band 8d
Salary: £94,356 to £108,814 a year
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 348-SAC-12874
Closing date: 08 November 2026

Job responsibilities
To provide highly developed specialist psychological assessments of patients referred to the service, based upon the appropriate use, interpretation, and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the patients care.

To be responsible for the delivery of high specialist assessment, formulation and stabilisation work, (direct and indirect) and where appropriate implement a range of highly specialised psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.

To act as Lead Professional, where appropriate, ensuring the provision of a care package appropriate for the patients needs, co-ordinating the work of others involved with care, arranging patients care reviews as required and communicating effectively with the patient, his/her family and all others involved in care; and to monitor progress during the course of multi-disciplinary interventions.

To facilitate timely, safe discharge planning and execution where required.

Responsible for the development and implementation of Service policies and clinical model in line with Trust and National Policies including NICE guidelines.

Lead the psychological professional workforce development across the Division, developing strategy for effective recruitment, retention, development and wellbeing.

Manage complaints and disciplinary actions as required.

Advise the Managing Director and Chief Psychological Professions Officer with regard to the psychology budget.

Responsible for managing the psychological resources available to the division both, of psychological staff and psychological materials employed in the assessment and the treatment of patients and their families.

Responsible for audit, policy and service development and research activities within the Division.

Further information about the Trust and this role can be found on the Job Description and Person Specification document attached.

Person Specification
Essential qualifications: Doctoral level qualification in Clinical or Counselling Psychology, or equivalent recognised professional qualification; HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist; Evidence of post-qualification specialist psychological training.
Desirable qualifications: Qualification/training in supervision; Registered with the British Psychological Society.
Essential experience: Extensive experience working with complex mental health presentations; Experience of working at a Consultant level; Significant experience of leading psychology services; Experience of strategic service development; Experience of workforce planning; Experience of clinical governance and quality improvement; Experience of developing business cases and securing investment; Experience of leading organisational change.
Desirable experience: Experience of multi-professional management of teams or services within the designated specialty; Experience within acute, secure, crisis, rehabilitation or other complex mental health environments; Experience of reducing restrictive practice, inpatient length of stay or admission avoidance; Experience of system-wide transformation.
Essential additional criteria: Doctoral level knowledge of psychology including highly developed knowledge of lifespan developmental psychology, models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, and two or more distinct psychological therapies; Expert knowledge of psychological formulation; Knowledge of secure and/or acute mental health pathways, crisis and admission avoidance models; Knowledge of professional and regulatory requirements, NHS governance and quality frameworks; Commitment to Trust values, trauma informed principles, and principles of equity, inclusion, compassion and integrity; Role model for restorative, compassionate, transparent, and inclusive leadership.

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.

Employer: Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Tatchbury Mount, Calmore, Southampton, Hampshire, SO40 2RZ
Contact: Mahdi Ghomi, Hiring Manager, mahdi.ghomi@nhs.net, 03001233934

Applications are welcomed from all backgrounds. Flexible working requests can be discussed as part of the interview process.