Assistant Psychologist, Crisis Plus

Role overview

This opportunity sits within the Lambeth Crisis Plus service, part of Lambeth Adult Mental Health Services. The role supports community-based adult mental health care across the Lambeth directorate, with a focus on people who experience frequent psychiatric admissions and repeated use of crisis services.

What the role involves

Working under the guidance of a qualified psychologist, you will help create practical multi-agency crisis plans with high-use service users and their care teams. The individuals supported may present with complex and at times challenging behaviour, alongside significant risk during periods of crisis.

You will use psychological skills such as assessment, formulation, and a systemically informed way of working. The post also includes delivering time-limited interventions for service users, carers, and a range of mental health professionals to support the development of Anticipatory Management Plans.

This will involve detailed review of developmental history, patterns of presentation, and previous use of crisis services by drawing on clinical records and consultation. The information gathered will be used to produce guidance for service users, carers, mental health teams, and external agencies so that future crises can be managed more effectively and recovery can be better supported.

A significant part of the job is liaison with services to refine plans, help embed them in practice, and support teams to action agreed steps. You will attend MDT meetings, ward rounds, and similar clinical forums, and must be comfortable following as well as contributing to multidisciplinary discussion.

The position also has a substantial data component. This includes collecting, analysing, and interpreting both qualitative and quantitative outcomes from service users and professional networks, as well as creating and maintaining databases related to the identification of HIUs.

Working arrangement and location

This is a face-to-face role rather than remote, because close relationships with services and service users are central to the post. You will be based across several sites in Lambeth, including Lambeth/Maudsley Hospital and community teams in Brixton and Streatham.

Benefits

Staff benefits mentioned for South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust include a generous package covering pay, pension, and leave, subject to role and service length. Flexible working is supported, including part-time working and job sharing. Career development is encouraged through mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership, and other talent programmes.

Additional benefits include competitive car lease arrangements, access to keyworker housing on selected sites, NHS retail discounts of up to 10% through Health Service Discounts, counselling services, long service awards, a cycle to work scheme, season ticket loan, and staff restaurants.

Contact for informal discussion

For further details or an informal conversation, contact Suzanne Jolley, Clinical Psychologist, at suzanne.jolley@slam.nhs.uk or 07984400176. Another contact provided is Ketan Sonigra, Trust Crisis Plus Lead, ketan.sonigra@slam.nhs.uk.