Band 7 Psychologist / MBT Therapist and Band 6 Trainee MBT Therapist

The Bedfordshire and Luton Complex Needs Service is excited to be able to advertise for a Band 7 Psychologist / MBT Therapist to join our developing MBT team that enables us to offer a choice of evidence-based treatment for people with complex emotional needs (associated with a diagnosis of 'personality disorder')., The successful candidates will be committed to working collaboratively with service users, carers, and colleagues to create a psychologically safe environment that enables the delivery of effective treatment. The post holders will be required to actively participate in weekly team consultation/peer supervision meetings, and will offer specialist advice, supervision, training, and consultation to other professionals and teams to support effective and efficient psychologically-informed care and treatment across Bedfordshire and Luton. We would particularly welcome interest from candidates who are committed to co-producing the development of the care pathway through participation in clinical research, audit and/or quality improvement projects., This post will be based within ELFT's Bedfordshire and Luton Complex Needs Service. The multi-disciplinary team includes: a Medical Psychotherapist; Clinical Psychologists; Psychological Therapists; a Lived Experience KUF Development Lead; a Clinical Associate in Psychology; a Peer Support Worker; and an Assistant Psychologist. The team operates as a hub, in reaching to community mental health services in Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Luton to provide specialist advice, training, consultation and supervision to other professionals and colleagues. The team also offers assessments and evidence-based interventions to a caseload of service users who have complex emotional needs and engage in self-harming and suicidal behavior., Please see attached job descriptions for details of main responsibilities of both the Band 7 Psychologist / MBT Therapist and Band 6 Trainee MBT Therapist roles.
Making Things Better
Quality Improvement is a key part of our work to improve our services and refine how we do things. We have a global reputation for our quality improvement work and we don't stand still! So we offer a fantastic opportunity for our staff to learn, lead and contribute towards improving our services.
We launched our Five Year Strategy in April 2018, which identified four main strategic outcomes to improve: population health outcomes, experience of care, staff experience and improve value. This complements the NHS Long Term Strategy and sets out our direction of travel.
Our Community
We provide a wide range of community health and mental health inpatient services to children, young people, adults of working age, and older adults in The City of London, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Bedfordshire and Luton. We also provide psychological therapy services to the London Borough of Richmond, and provide Forensic services to the whole of North East London. We provide services in urban and rural settings, sometimes in our inpatient units, but mostly in the community close to where people live. Integrated care is key in making the best use of resources and providing effective care.
Aiming High
We were rated 'Outstanding' by the CQC in 2016, were proud to be rated 'Outstanding' again in 2018 and continue to be rated 'Outstanding' in 2021. We were named in the HSJ's Top 10 best places to work in healthcare and were voted Provider Trust of the Year in 2018.
Staff and Service Users United
We strive to ensure that staff feel valued by the Trust and as they are truly pivotal in delivering better outcomes for our patients and service users. Our aspiration is to help to make ELFT the best place to work. This Trust is clinician-led and provides the highest possible level of clinical expertise throughout its services. We pride ourselves on our service user involvement. A service user will be on your assessment centre and interview panel if you are invited to meet us.
We especially welcome people with lived experience of health difficulties, with insight and understanding of different backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles in our population as we believe that this will equip staff to deliver a high standard of care to our service users and patients.
Diversity
ELFT Is committed to being a diverse organisation and our workforce is reflective of the population and communities we serve. We believe that having colleagues with a range of backgrounds and life experiences enriches and adds value to the outcomes we have set out to achieve. Having partnered and endorsed by organisations who are representative and experts in various areas of equality and diversity, we can ensure we are meeting the pre-set standards all the way from recruitment stage throughout the career journey of our employees by being accessible, having fair inclusive practices and a host of staff networks to support, nurture and celebrate our valued staff in the workplace.
Other reasons to apply
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that's job share, part time or another flexible pattern.
As part of the relocation scheme we presently have, the Trust could support you with offering up to £10,000 for removal and associated expenses. This is subject to change and terms and conditions apply.
AI in applications
If you use AI or other tools to assist in writing your job application, make sure you add your own personal touch especially in the supporting information section. AI can make writing easier, but it doesn't fully understand the position you're applying for and might generate false or misleading information. Applications written only by AI often sound generic and may not show your real skills, knowledge, or experience. It's important to write your supporting statement in your own words. East London NHS Foundation Trust does not recommend relying only on AI, as it could negatively impact on your chance of success in the application process.
We carefully check applications to make sure no one has an unfair advantage, and we verify all references. At the interview, you'll be asked about your experience, so be honest and ensure everything in your application is accurate. Please remember that using AI during the interview is not allowed.

Ideal candidates would already have an accredited training in Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT), an evidence-based therapy for 'personality disorder'. However, the service would consider appointing senior mental health professionals (e.g. Community Social Workers, Community Psychiatric Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Art Therapists) with highly developed clinical skills, and interest and enthusiasm for working with people with complex emotional needs, to a Band 6 Trainee MBT Therapist role. To be considered for this trainee role, applicants would have to be willing to undertake concurrent training in MBT and would need to maintain satisfactory progress in this training in order to continue working in this role. On successful completion of the accredited training and supervised practice within a two-year period, the banding of this post would change to Band 7 MBT Therapist.
This post requires a UK driving license and access to a vehicle insured for business use for the purpose of travel between bases in the county (due to limited public transport in some areas).

ELFT has long been recognised as a centre of excellence for mental and health care, innovation and improvement. So it is a very exciting time for you to come and work for us. Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.