Band 8d Divisional Head of Psychological Therapies - Bristol

This is a pivotal senior leadership role within AWP, offering an experienced psychological professional the opportunity to actively shape the future direction and delivery of psychological and therapy services both within the Trust and across the BNSSG system.

As a key member of the Division's Senior Leadership Team, the postholder will be responsible for the strategic development, leadership and embedding of high-quality, evidence-based psychological and psychologically informed interventions across community and inpatient settings. The role will actively contribute to, and support, ambitious and complex transformation programmes, ensuring that psychological therapies are central to system-wide service redesign and improvement.

The postholder will provide expert leadership on key theoretical frameworks, service challenges and practice-related issues, constructively challenging existing models where required and driving innovation to address complex and longstanding problems. You will seek creative, pragmatic solutions to barriers to access and delivery, promoting consistently high-quality, safe and responsive care across the Division.

This role requires a high level of credibility and influence, with exceptional communication skills across written, verbal and presentation formats. The successful candidate will be highly motivated, values-driven and committed to continuous improvement, with a clear focus on improving outcomes and experience for people who use services.

A key focus of the role will be leading the scoping and coordination of NICErecommended psychological therapies for people with serious mental illness and complex mental health needs across the BNSSG footprint. Working in close partnership with senior leaders in the third sector, IAPT services and wider system partners, you will support the development of a more standardised, equitable and sustainable model of provision, including the expansion of supervision and training capacity.

The postholder will also lead on the coordination of NHSEfunded psychological therapy training programmes across BNSSG, including demand scoping, allocation of training places and alignment with strategic workforce priorities.

To lead the scoping of the provision of NICE recommended psychological therapies and psychologically informed interventions across the BNSSG division (community and inpatient) for people with serious mental health problems.

To work with partners in the VCSE sector and local IAPT services to develop a model to improve access to evidence based psychological interventions/ therapies for people with serious mental illness and complex mental health needs across BNSSG.

To work collaboratively with system partners to develop a more standardised and equitable model of care for the provision of psychological therapies/ interventions, including expansion of supervision capacity. In particular you will focus on AWP provision across the BNSSG division.

To provide professional leadership to the Divisional Therapies Services, ensuring that everyone receives support, supervision, annual appraisals and a development plan which ensures on-going service development that fits the needs and priorities of each sector. To work with the Clinical Director, locality Clinical Leads and Heads of Therapy to ensure good governance of these services.

To strategically lead the planning and development of BNSSG Therapy Services working with other senior managers and Clinicians to ensure that these services meet the ambitions of the 10 year plan.

To work with system partners to ensure a whole system approach to the provision of therapeutic interventions, training, supervision, clinical outcomes and service evaluation.

To liaise with the Clinical Director, Division and Locality Managers/ Leads to ensure that an appropriate range of services and interventions are provided by psychological therapists within community teams and inpatient services, including IAPT.

To take a lead role in service/business development and performance and clinical outcome monitoring of therapy services across BSNSSG. This includes horizon scanning for new service development opportunities which support the Divisional Business Plan, especially those working with system partners and Primary Care.

To identify gaps in service provision and also to seek opportunities for the development of Therapy Services in the BNSSG Division within defined frameworks.

To lead the redesign of therapy services across BNSSG division and work with the locality managers and leaders to redesign services promoting the development of services in line with national guidance. This includes ensuring that therapy services are integrated across care pathways so that interventions can be provided where the person is in their care.

To be a source of clinical expertise to managers, professional colleagues and leaders within the Trust and across the BNSSG system on both public and internal matters.

To deal with complaints and disciplinary matters in liaison with other managers and professional leads both within and outside of Therapies, especially those of a particularly complex nature.

To support the negotiation of innovative, integrated ways of working with system partners to ensure service developments in the area of therapies are driven by population need.

To convene and chair regular therapy meetings in the Division and across the BNSSG System to improve integration, monitor performance and outcome measures, share learning from experience and coordinate integrated approaches to quality improvement.

To establish a framework for effective management of therapy staff in the Division.

To ensure that Trust Health and Safety Regulations are adopted within the Therapy Services.

To identify appropriate staffing levels and skill mix for Psychological Therapies, drawing on advice from relevant colleagues as required and promoting innovation.

To promote the Trust in professional networks and to ensure that other Therapy staff do likewise in specific situations relevant to their posts and responsibilities.

To manage senior clinical staff in divisional roles.

To participate in the Senior Out of Hours on call Rota.

CLINICAL (Note therapy covers Psychology, CBT/ IAPT, Arts Psychotherapy , Psychotherapy, Family Therapy Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Dietetics )

To provide a highly developed, evidence based clinical care comprising assessment, formulation and therapy, consultation and teaching and supervision.

To formulate plans for the treatment and/or management of a client's mental health problems based upon an appropriate conceptual framework, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.

To be responsible for implementing a range of therapeutic interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.

To make highly skilled evaluations and decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.

To be responsible for ensuring that all members of the therapy services have access to a psychologically based framework for the understanding and care of clients of the service, through the provision of advice and consultation and the dissemination of expert knowledge, research and theory.

To communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner, complex information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care to clients, carers, relatives and other staff and respond appropriately in situations where there is hostility or a highly charged emotional atmosphere.

We are the lead provider of healthcare for people with serious mental illness, learning disabilities and autism across Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES), Swindon and Wiltshire, and Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

We aim to provideHigh Quality, Compassionate Careeverywhere, every day. This means our services will be safe, clinically effective and provide a positive all round experience for our patients, families and carers. And we believe passionately in treating everyone with kindness, respect and empathy.

Key to this is providing a supportive and safe environment for our 4,000 staff where we all feel welcome and able to do the best we can for those we support. Our staff and teams work incredibly hard delivering services across more than 90 locations, covering 2,200miles, to more than 1.8million people.

At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.

Education & Qualification

Desirable: - Formal training in leadership skills and/or management.; - PhD or equivalent Research Doctorate in a clinically related area

Skills and Abilities