Assistant Psychologist

Job summary
12 Month Fixed Term Contract

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a passionate and highly skilled Assistant Psychologist to join the Orthopaedic Psychological Support Team, a Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation (CPFT) Service on a secondment/fixed term contract. The postholder will join a dedicated team supporting children, young people, adults, families and staff affected by the orthopaedic incident and ongoing clinical review of the surgeon's work.

Initially based at the Beacon Centre in Fulbourn, the postholder will work with managers and clinical leads, to deliver a high-quality psychological therapies service within the Orthopaedic Psychology Service.

Main duties of the job
The postholder will support and enhance the professional psychological care of clients referred to the Orthopaedic Psychological Support Service.They will enhance awareness of the service, to foster initial engagement and to provide psychological interventions under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist, working independently according to a plan agreed with a qualified psychologist and within the overall framework of the team's policies and procedures.

The postholder will also assist in clinically related administration, conduct of audits, collection of statistics, and development of audit and/or research projects, within the Orthopaedic service.

The post holder will play be delivering psychologically informed support to people experiencing psychological distress relating to their healthcare experiences.

The service is committed to ensuring the voices and experiences of patients and families remain central to ongoing learning, support and improvement.

This is a unique opportunity to contribute to a service focused on compassionate support, recovery, learning and rebuilding trust following an extremely difficult period for many families.

About us
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health and social care organisation dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting and empowering them to lead fulfilling lives.

Our clinical teams deliver a wide range of NHS services across inpatient, primary care and community settings, including children's, adult and older people's mental health, forensic and specialist mental health, learning disabilities, primary care and liaison psychiatry, substance misuse, social care, and research and development.

To achieve our goals, we recruit high calibre candidates who share our vision and values. As an equal opportunities' employer, we welcome applications from all sections of the community, particularly under represented groups including people with long term conditions and members of our ethnic minority and LGBTQ+ communities.

All appointments are subject to the successful completion of a probationary period.

Please note we reserve the right to close adverts early should we receive sufficient applications.

Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all roles. If you apply for a post that does not attract sponsorship, your application will be withdrawn from the process.

For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at

Details
Date posted: 10 August 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 5
Salary: £32,073 to £39,043 a year per annum pro rata
Contract: Fixed term
Duration: 12 months
Working pattern: Part-time
Reference number: 310-CYPF-8175717
Job locations: The Beacon, Block 18, Ida Darwin site, Fulbourn, Cambridge, CB21 5EE, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities

• To contact patients identified patients and create awareness of the offer of a follow up psychological service.
• To undertake protocol based psychological assessments of clients applying self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with children.
• To work alongside other members of the Orthopaedic service.
• To write reports that are based on a comprehensive assessment, under the supervision of a qualified Clinical Psychologist.
• To assist in the formulation and delivery of care plans involving the psychological treatment and/or management of a childrens and families difficulties, under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist, in both community and in-patient/outpatient settings.
• To assist in the coordination and running of therapeutic groups.
• To assist in the development of a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings where care takes place.
• To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary meetings.
• To have excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, and be able to communicate effectively within the MDT, complex professional systems and wider teams.

Person Specification
Education / Qualifications
Essential

• An upper second-class honours degree or higher in psychology.
• A lower second-class honours degree will be considered if the candidate has previous paediatric experience
• Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society
• Previous clinical experience working as an Assistant Psychologist in the NHS

Desirable

• Previous experience in a paediatric/mental health setting
• Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis.
• Experience using Q-interactive and other neuropsychological assessments.

Experience
Essential

• Experience of initiating contact with patients who may not be aware of the service.
• Experience of working with children and their families

Desirable

• Work with people within an acute hospital setting with psychological difficulties and/or other disabilities
• Previous experience undertaking neuropsychological assessments
• Experience of formulating and writing neuropsychological assessments

Skills & Abilities
Essential

• High level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive.
• Ability to communicate sensitive information to patients, carers and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance.
• An understanding of the needs and difficulties of people with mental health problems or other disabilities.
• An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a mental health context
• An understanding of psychology applied to health care.

Desirable

• Experience using computers for databases or data-analysis, especially SPSS for Windows.
• High standard of report writing.

Knowledge & Understanding
Essential

• Knowledge of issues and models relating to family and parental adjustment to illness, loss and bereavement.
• Knowledge of the application of family centred counselling approaches to assessment and intervention.
• Understanding of issues within an acute hospital setting and multi-agency involvement

Desirable

• Knowledge of child development
• Knowledge of systemic approaches

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).

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.

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).

Employer details
Employer name: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
Address: The Beacon, Block 18, Ida Darwin site, Fulbourn, Cambridge, CB21 5EE, United Kingdom
Employer's website:

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Service Manager
Amanda Redgate
View email address on meeveem.com

Supporting documents
Privacy notice
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust's privacy notice (opens in a new tab)