Principal Practitioner Psychologist for Pain Management

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Job summary

The Pain Management Service at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust is seeking an experienced Principal Practitioner Psychologist to provide strategic, clinical and professional leadership for psychological services within our multidisciplinary Pain Management Team.

Based at Plymouth Marjon University, this role offers an exciting opportunity for a highly skilled Clinical, Counselling or Health Psychologist with substantial experience in chronic pain and complex physical health settings.

The post holder will lead the development and delivery of psychologically informed pain pathways for patients with highly complex chronic pain presentations and co-morbid physical and mental health difficulties. Working as an autonomous advanced practitioner, the successful candidate will provide highly specialist psychological assessment, formulation and intervention, alongside expert consultation to multidisciplinary colleagues.

The role includes leadership of specialist pain programmes and pathways, including psychological assessment for invasive pain procedures such as spinal cord stimulation, as well as responsibility for supervision, service development, governance, teaching, audit and research.

***Preference will be given to internal Trust staff, as well as ‘Priority’ and ‘At Risk’ status including NHS At Risk staff throughout Devon who are able to display recent relevant experience as dictated by the Person Specification.***

Main duties of the job

  • Provide highly specialist psychological assessment, formulation and intervention for patients with complex chronic pain presentations and co-morbid physical and mental health conditions.
  • Deliver evidence-based interventions including CBT, ACT, mindfulness-based approaches, motivational interviewing and trauma-informed interventions.
  • Lead and contribute to multidisciplinary Pain Management Programmes and specialist pain pathways.
  • Provide specialist psychological assessment and recommendations for patients undergoing invasive pain procedures including spinal cord stimulation.
  • Offer expert consultation and psychological leadership to Pain Consultants, nurses, physiotherapists and wider MDT colleagues.
  • Provide professional leadership, supervision and line management to psychology staff within Pain Services.
  • Lead on service development, pathway redesign, audit, governance and quality improvement initiatives.
  • Contribute to teaching, training and psychologically informed practice across the Trust and regional networks.
  • Participate in research, outcome evaluation and innovation within Clinical Health Psychology and Pain Services.
  • Work autonomously within HCPC and professional guidelines while contributing strategically to the future development of Pain Psychology Services.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Evidence of ongoing specialist post-doctoral CPD relevant to clinical health psychology and/or chronic pain.
  • HCPC registration as Practitioner Psychologist.

Desirable

  • Additional post-doctoral training in long term health conditions/Clinical Health

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

  • Substantial post-qualification demonstrable experience as a qualified Clinical/Counselling/Health Psychologist within physical health services.
  • Demonstrable experience of leadership, service development and quality improvement initiatives.
  • Demonstrable experience of risk assessment and management in complex clinical contexts.

Desirable

  • Record of having published in either peer reviewed or academic or professional journals and/or books

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).

Closing Date: 9 August 2026

To apply for this job please visit apps.trac.jobs.