The Division of Clinical Psychology (DCP) exists to promote the professional interests of Clinical Psychologists across the UK.
The DCP works closely with a number of organisations including the NHS, the government, and multiple professional bodies and groups in the voluntary sector, to promote and develop clinical psychology as a body of knowledge and skills.
For any queries regarding the work of the Division of Clinical Psychology please contact the Member Networks Team
HCPC and the BPS working group
A Practice Board working group was established to develop the BPS’s relationship with the HCPC to work collaboratively to address members concerns. Considerable progress has been made, including establishing regular operational and executive meetings. Tony Lavender chairs the group and is supported by staff member Nigel Atter. They have written a blog about the current work which is available online.
Survey of psychologists in physical healthcare settings
Angela Busuttil is leading a group which will be carrying out a survey across the UK to identify the numbers of psychological professionals working in healthcare settings in May and June. This is the repeat of a survey carried out in 2016, since which there has been a significant growth in posts in the area. We would be grateful if you can check that the survey has been received by your trust and take the time to complete the survey.
APPG for Prescribed Drug Dependence Press Release: New NICE guidance to tackle prescribed drug dependence fails to listen to patient evidence
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence has published a press release on the new NICE guideline on safe prescribing and withdrawal. Practitioner psychologists play a key role in this work and the group has been supported actively by the Division of Counselling Psychology and the DCP.
Responding to Consultations
At any one time, the BPS and DCP are engaged in responding to a number of consultation documents and evidence calls. It seemed helpful to provide a brief list of current consultations and to ask those interested in contributing to get in touch.
There is a current call for evidence to inform a new 10-year mental health plan. The plan is intended to build on the NHS Long Term Plan and forms part of the government’s wider commitments to work towards putting mental health on an equal footing with physical health, and will form a key part of its commitments to address health disparities across the country. The discussion paper provides detail of the information being requested. To contribute to the BPS response could you please let me have any contributions, along with accompanying evidence, by the end of the day on Tuesday 1 June.
The National Audit Office is in the early stages of scoping for a new study on mental health services and is holding a series of meetings with stakeholders as part of this process. The areas that they are looking to cover include:
What you see as the main challenges and developments in delivery of mental health services, including workforce
Your views on progress against the broader parity of esteem agenda and investment standard, including on access and waiting time standards, and previous initiatives/targets (eg. the Five Year Forward View on Mental Health or NHS Long Term Plan)
The impact of Covid-19 on mental health service performance and activity, demand and workforce
Upcoming or planned developments or changes of which we should be aware
Your views on where an NAO report could best add value
Any relevant data or other information you could share with the NAO
HEE psychological professions workforce plan
HEE has taken the unusual step of publishing a workforce plan for the psychological professions for the first time. This is in recognition of the significance of the workforce’s contribution to the NHS Long Term Plan and to inform the key commissioners and ICSs about the nature of this workforce.
Mental health workforce plan in Wales - consultation
A consultation on the new workforce plan has been launched. The BPS will be producing a response and those wishing to provide comment can contact the BPS Liaison Officer to the Welsh Government.
Job planning
The DCP is leading on producing guidance on job planning and will liaise with the other divisions with staff working in the NHS through the Practice Board. An initial proposal has been drawn up which provides some categorisations and definitions of the full range of work carried out by applied psychologists.
Survey of psychologists in physical healthcare settings
Angela Bussutil is leading a group who will be carrying out a survey across the UK to identify the number of psychological professionals working in healthcare settings in the coming months. This is a repeat of a survey carried out in 2016, since which there has been a significant growth in posts in the area. It is not possible to ascertain this data from existing databases and so if you are working in the area, we would be grateful if you can take the time to complete the survey.
Clinical psychology programme tendering in England
The tender for all clinical programmes in England for the 2023 intake was published in February 2022, later than expected, with submissions due at HEE by mid-March. The outcomes will be known over the summer. This call comes at a time of significant increases in commissions to help with the delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan.
CAPs/CAAPs Developments
Two groups have recently been established in connection to CAPs/CAAPs. The first is a Group of Trainers in CAPs/CAAPs (equivalent to GTiCP), which is not yet part of the BPS structures, and second, a Committee of Training in CAPs/CAAPs (within the BPS) to accredit courses. Care will be taken to ensure the governance arrangements do not negatively affect the long-standing provision in Scotland. Unite continues to dispute the current banding arrangements in England.
Assistant psychologist guidance
The Assistant Psychologist Task and Finish Group is in the process of developing guidance on the recruitment and employment of assistant psychologist. A survey was completed by over 400 assistants to gather information about their roles and responsibilities. The results from this survey will be used to inform the guidance.
Clinical Psychology Programme Tendering in England
A revised timetable has been agreed for the tendering of clinical psychology programmes in England. The tender will be for programmes for the 2023 intake, rather than the 2022 intake that was originally envisaged. The rescheduling has been welcomed by programmes. There has been a request for further information, particularly about programme costs, which were submitted in November. This information will be used to inform the tender specification which will go live on 17 January and stay open for submissions until the end of February. Whilst it is planned that there will be a further increase in the number of commissions to contribute to the delivery of the NHS long term plan (up to 1200 for 2022) the funding is not yet secure. There is optimism and a great deal of energy going in to securing the funding.
HEE Statement re two-year Funding Ruling
The changes proposed by HEE (Health Education England) to introduce the requirement for a two-year gap between completing an NHS funded psychological professions training and undertaking a further NHS funded psychological professions training had been the subject of further engagement work. Following the original announcement, it has been agreed that there would be no retrospective introduction of the ruling. This means individuals who have already joined an NHS funded psychological professions training by the end of March 2022 will not be affected by the change. An initial equalities impact assessment had been undertaken but a full independent Equalities Impact Assessment has been commissioned which will report in January 2022. This will be taken into consideration in publishing the final position. For further details and updates see: https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/mental-health/psychological-professions/....
Chief/Lead Psychological Professions Officers
In England there is agreement to recruit a National Psychological Professions Team across HEE/NHSE/I. It is important to note that there will be a merger of HEE, NHSE/I, NHS Digital and NHS X which is due to be completed in April 2023 and the new team will work across the new structures as they emerge. The Team will include a full time Lead, a part time Deputy Lead and a number of supporting positions. Advertisements for these posts will appear over the next few months as the recruitment process gets underway.
In Wales a lean National resource remains in place on a secondment basis (Matrcs Cyrmu Leadership and Infrastructure Project) and a draft business case for a longer term expanded resource has been developed with a range of stakeholders. Its current iteration includes a part time National Lead, a part time Academic Lead (to act as Editor for the evidence tables) and an Engagement Lead for the Psychological Professions to lead on the development of psychological services nationally. A linked assistant psychologist embedded in each Health Board has been suggested to help feed the national workforce data gathering.
As previously announced Scotland already has a psychology advisor to the Scottish government. Plans for a similar lead role are being redeveloped in N Ireland.
HCPC BPS Working Group news
The Working Group have recently discussed the Professional Standards Authority (PSA-the regulator of the regulators, including of HCPC) paper about what they saw as being needed for the future of regulation in the UK. In keeping with the Government’s initiatives to reduce the number of regulators they go one step further and propose the creation of a single regulator and quoted the Australian model as a good example. The Australian regulator has a number of Boards and regulations for each profession and one of the Boards is for Psychology. The single regulator seems more common in countries with a complex regulatory system. Watch this space for future update.
Meanwhile the group has established regular meetings with the PSA and HCPC to deal with the issues and concerns that have been gathered from members. Thanks to all who responded to the request for people to come forward with their concerns.
Health Select Committee call for evidence re NHS Training, Recruitment and Retention in Health and Social Care
Hannah Randle is coordinating the BPS (and DCP) response to the Committee. If anybody is willing to contribute, please contact Hannah at Hannah Randle [email protected]. The Committee is calling for evidence about:
The BPS Practice Board has established an HCPC Working Group to address the issues that have arisen over the years about the working of HCPC for practitioner psycholo- gists. The BPS used to have regular meetings with HCPC and the intention is to re-establish this contact.
The group was previously chaired by Kath- erine Carpenter who has needed to give up the role because of her responsibilities as the newly elected BPS President. Tony Lavender has agreed to take up the role of chair. We have collated the issues that we have noticed and that have been drawn to our attention by members (thanks to members who submitted points) and we will be developing plans in relation to those issues.
Issues raised have included:
Eric Karas has been in the role of Interim Chief National Assessor for the appointment to Consultant Posts and has, with the help of Hannah Farndon, successfully relaunched the Scheme. The role of the National Assessor is to advise employers on whether applicants meet the standards for appointment to the role of Applied Consultant Psychologists at Band 8C and above. We advise that national assessors are used for all consultant level appointments, An assessor can be identified by contacting the BPS Practice Team on: [email protected] bps.org.uk
Guidelines on the appointment of consultant psychologists can be accessed here. It was always planned that Eric would stand down after the relaunch of the scheme and so we have sent a request to all Lead and National Assessors to apply for the Chief Assessor role. The advert request only went to the Leads and National Assessors because the Chief role requires someone with a good level of knowledge about the Scheme. We are all very pleased and grateful for the energy, ingenuity and thoughtfulness Eric has put into the role.
Health Education England (HEE) have now published a statement describing their expectations of courses in terms of providing training that will equip trainees to help deliver the NHS Long Term Plan. The full statement is available at: (add link). As part of this HEE wants the significant expansion in funded training commissions over the last two years to continue in subsequent years. Final decisions are subject to the outcome of the Government’s forthcoming spending review. There is also funding currently available to help increase the diversity of trainees and to facilitate programmes incorporating into the training the accreditation of courses in CBT (up to level 2 BABCP) and Systemic Practice (intermediate AFT) training. There is also funding to continue the recently developed EDI initiatives on Courses and in Trusts. The courses have submitted bids for this funding and are awaiting the outcomes.
There has been much lobbying to postpone of a component of HEE’s initial statement that people in receipt of HEE funding needed to wait 2 years before being eligible for funding for another HEE funded programme. This was seen as disadvantaging for people who had begun planned career pathways to clinical training people which involved completing an HEE funded programme. The case was also put that this move might inadvertently reduce the diversity in clinical psychology applicants which was nobody’s intention. HEE have agreed to withdraw the retrospective application of the rule and are consulting with representative bodies on a revised timescale for implementation. HEE will seek to work with courses and services to continue to increase equity, diversity and inclusion in clinical psychology training. The revised update can be found here.
HEE following an internal audit that they needed to go through a process of retendering for all English courses in order to comply with public contracting requirements. All courses have been notified and the timescales for the whole process are very tight with a market engagement meeting in September with the tender to go live in October and outcomes by February 2022. This comes at a difficult time as courses are adapting to delivering increased numbers and other initiatives. HEE attention has been drawn to the fact that this does not sit easily with the application timescales (applications need to be in to Clearing by end of December). All courses are busy preparing tenders and the strong advice to applicants is to go on applying as you had been planning.
In Scotland there are currently no plans to change existing funding arrangements for NES commissioned psychology programmes. Over the next few months NES will be undertaking the annual commissioning process with NHS Boards which includes gathering stakeholder views on future development of the psychology workforce for the NHS in Scotland.
Demand for mental health support continues to increase and people are still waiting too long for CAMHS and psychological therapy treatment. The Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan outlines the need to expand the workforce. Significant additional investment is being committed over the lifetime of the parliament to mental health.
The Minister for Mental Health has prioritised funding from the Recovery and Renewal fund as part of a planned 5 year expansion to existing NES Applied Psychology programmes. Funding is available to increase training places in the 3 year Doctoral Clinical Psychology programme by 10 per year resulting in annual intakes of 80. The funding also supports an increase in the postgraduate 1 year Masters programmes leading to annual intakes of 50 for the Psychological Therapies in Primary Care programme and 40 for the Applied Psychology Children and Young People programme.
NES has developed an EPP Training Model. The Mental Health Minister has also agreed to prioritise funding from the Recovery and Renewal fund as part of a plan to support EPP over 5 years. Funding is available for both training and service posts. By 2026, 450 new services posts will be created.
This is a new certificate level training scheme to create a new workforce of psychological practitioners capable of delivering high-quality, evidence-based interventions for mild to moderate difficulties in a way that can be efficiently brought to scale. This proposed approach aims to make effective use of the large cohorts of graduates in Psychology and related disciplines – as well as those with equivalent training and experience - to deliver and support, under supervision, brief, outcome-focused evidence-based interventions. Enhanced practitioners will provide a defined clinical service, working under supervision.
The NES/SG (2015) The Matrix; A Guide for Delivering Evidence Based Psychological Therapies in Scotland, has contributed to the development of capacity to deliver the right psychological therapies and interventions to the right people by practitioners who are suitably trained and supervised in a Scottish context. However, as the evidence develops there is a need for a robust process of review, but it was also recognised that the context for delivering psychological services had already been changing and this has been hugely accelerated by the ongoing pandemic. As a result, we are undertaking a significant review which includes a refresh of the contextual chapters to reflect the emerging policy and organisational position along with a significant additional chapter including a recent evidence review of the use of technology enabled delivery. Language has been changed, in consultation with stakeholders to increase consistency with the knowledge and skills frameworks which have been influential over the past few years in Scotland. The evidence tables will aim to have more integrated, lifespan approach and be searchable on a new digital platform. Therapies and interventions which are on the evidence tables will also have interactive tools which enable a more nuanced review based on specific implementation factors such as fit with a local population need and identify implementation barriers.
There has been 10% (2 additional) increase in D.Clin.Psychol. places for this year’s intake.
A two year pilot for a graduate psychology enhanced training has been funded by the Department for Economy. The course is being co-designed with Clinical Psychologists and co-delivered by the Schools of Psychology at Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Ulster. This PG cert aims to provide psychology graduates with a foundation to prepare them for employment in the NHS - probably in Band 4/5 posts, with further training being planned to provide career pathways to Band 6.
Clinical Psychology is represented on the Mental Health Strategic Reform Board, which will oversee the implementation of the new 10 year Mental Health Strategy. Progress is being made on the establishment of a lead regional clinical psychology role/ CPO.
The BPS Practice Board has established an HCPC Working Group to address the issues that have arisen over the years about the working of HCPC for practitioner psychologists. The BPS used to have regular meetings with HCPC and the intention is to re-establish this contact. The group was chaired by Katherine Carpenter who has needed to give up the role because of her responsibilities as the newly elected BPS President. Tony Lavender has agreed to take up the role of chair. We have collated the issues that we have noticed and that have been drawn to our attention by members (thanks to members who submitted points) and we will be developing plans in relation to those issues. Issues have included who should be the regulator, communication from HCPC about re-registering, the misuse and evasion of titles, the approval processes for international colleagues, the relationship between BPS and HCPC accreditation processes and Fitness to Practice Standards and processes.
Eric Karas has been in the role of Interim Chief National Assessor and has, with the help of Hannah Farndon, successfully relaunched the Scheme. It was always planned that Eric would stand down post relaunch and to this end we have sent a request to all Lead and National Assessors to apply for the Chief Assessor role. The advert request only went to the Leads and National Assessors because the Chief role requires someone with a good level of knowledge about the Scheme. We are all very pleased and grateful for the energy, ingenuity and thoughtfulness Eric has put into the role.
You can read the HCPC's full response to our letter 
here.
We are aware that a significant number of members have experienced difficulties registering with the HCPC. There appear to be a variety of reasons for this including the HCPC’s decision not to send reminders by post but by email, which meant that members who had changed their email address since last registering (and not told HCPC) not receiving reminders. This particularly affected members in Scotland where there had been a change in the email addresses of all NHS staff. The problems did not end there and many experienced various problems with the HCPC system which made reregistering rather difficult. This delay caused some issues with employers that required addressing locally. We will be writing to HCPC to point out our concerns and to ask what is being done to address the issues. For those experiencing difficulties here is some information from their website.
Unrelatedly the BPS Practice Board has established an HCPC Working Group to address the issues that have arisen over the years about the working of HCPC for practitioner psychologists. The BPS used to have regular meetings with HCPC and the intention is to re-establish this contact. The group is chaired by Katherine Carpenter (newly elected BPS President) and has Tony Lavender as the clinical psychology member. We have already identified a number of the issues, including misuse and evasion of titles, the approval processes for international colleagues, the relationship between BPS and HCPC accreditation processes and Fitness to Practice Standards and processes. If any members have issues they would like to raise, could they send them to Tony Lavender and if members are “HCPC partners” we would be grateful if you could let us know. ([email protected])
The Workforce and Training sub committee is about to set up a working group looking at the issue of job planning for clinical psychologists. This has become on of the ways that so called ‘indirect work’ (i.e. non face to face contacts) can be properly integrated and recognised into the work of clinical psychologists. If any members would be interested in joining the group or has papers/documents that are relevant could you let Tony Lavender know.
NHSE has approved and HEE will start to commission a new role in mental health, the Mental Health Practitioner. The role is intended to support the delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan in England. The role will have two functions a generic team worker able to plan and coordinate care with patients as part of the MDT in a trauma informed way and the delivery of specific psychologically informed wellbeing interventions (these aren’t NICE guidance interventions but practice informed evidence interventions). This will allow the rapid deployment of a new supply route. These will be Band 4 in training and Band 5 on completion and align well to PWPs, CWPs and EMHPs. Training will be at a graduate or postgraduate certificate level and open to graduates and non-graduates. Many are likely to be from psychology, but the roles are open to a wider group.
In Scotland the 25% increase in commissioned places has been consolidated in the base line numbers and across the 2 courses the new entry will have risen to 80. In N Ireland a further increase in 3 places has been agreed so that the 2021 first year entry will be 21. In Wales the picture is slightly more complicated in that there was an increase of 2 commissions last year (rolled over to this year) and a further increase of 1 in South Wales and 1 rolled over from last year plus another 1 in North Wales. HEIW have indicated there will be a year on year 10% increase, but this has yet to be signed off. In England the entry for 2019 was 511, for 2020 it was 688 and for 2021 the total commissions available was 914 although it looks like approximately 900 will be taken. This seems a very good uptake given the rapidness of the expansion. Across all the Nations course staff and staff in services are working hard to ensure the successful delivery of the much needed expansion in training numbers. Thanks to all.
Eric Karas (Chief National Assessor) has been leading the relaunch and revitalising of the National Assessor Scheme. Regular meetings of the Lead Speciality Assessors have been taking place and a new operational system for Trusts to secure National Assessors via BPS staff been established. As part of the relaunch an advert was placed on the BPS website and it is still open for applications from senior clinical psychologists to become National Assessors.
Please if you are such a person, or know of others who may be interested, apply or encourage them to reply. FInd out more about how to apply to the National Assessors Scheme.
Leadership is recognised as one of the key components of quality care.
Clinical psychologists working in health and social care are expected to be providing leadership and have a responsibility to work with others to manage planned and emergent change.
They often find themselves in leadership roles with little or no training and sometimes soon after qualifying.
The DCP commissioned a project to look at leadership development and support needs of clinical psychologists working in health and social care.
The project worked with clinical psychologists to understand the needs and current opportunities for leaders in health and social care.
Based on the findings of the project, this paper looks at concerns the profession has with regard to its leadership capacity and sustainability and makes a series of recommendations to strengthen clinical psychologists’ professional capacity to lead and influence.
The new Interim Chief National Assessor (Eric Karas) has been working hard with Hannah Farndon (BPS) and the Lead National Assessors to establish a revised operational system to improve the effectiveness of the Scheme. The Scheme will be launched on 4 May 2021 and employers wishing to secure National Assessors for recruitment will then be able to contact the central BPS Team who will enlist appropriate National Assessors and pass their names back to the employer within 5 working days.
Employers that have an existing relationship with National Assessors will continue to be able to contact them directly as in the past and the existing database of National Assessors will also remain available online. The new documentation will be sent to all Heads of Psychology Services across the UK and those Heads will be asked to pass the Guidance to employers to HR in their Trust/Health Board.
New National Assessors will be sought after the 4 May in specialities where there is a shortage. It is recognised that the responsiveness of all involved is vital to the success of the relaunch.
HEE have announced a significant increase (over 25%) in commissions for 2021/22. This is in addition to the previous year’s 25% increase. This is very welcome news and leaves us now with the challenge of delivery. The distribution of the 2021 places across courses will be variable dependent on the size of increase courses can manage.
In Scotland there has been a parallel increase in commissions of 33% over 2 years. In N Ireland a 25% increase in 2020/21 is likely to be continued in the current year and a smaller increase has been agreed in Wales.
The main challenges are securing placements/supervisors in services, appointing adequate numbers of course staff and the continuing support of the Trusts that employ trainees. Everybody has a role in seizing this opportunity.
The initiatives funded by HEE to help address the diversity and inclusion issue in clinical psychology are under way. They include to 27 Clinical Psychology Programmes to: (i) develop ways to improve equity of access and inclusion for Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority entrants to Clinical Psychology training, and (ii) develop mentoring programmes for aspiring psychologists from Black Asian and minority backgrounds. HEE has also provided funding to Trusts to develop and deliver paid clinical work experience opportunities to aspiring psychologists from disadvantaged backgrounds to help them progress their careers. Courses and Services are working together to coordinate all this work.
In addition, HEE has provided the funding of a scheme (the RISE leadership and mentoring programme) to provide leadership mentoring and training opportunities for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic psychological professionals who are from a qualified psychological profession and working within a mental health setting. ACP-UK has been working with the DCP to ensure the successful delivery of the programme.
Two workshops have taken place between HEE and NHSE/I and the training community to discuss the alignment between clinical psychology and the long term plan. There is a great deal of agreement in terms of EDI, the client groups particularly covered by the Plan and the importance of being responsive to the plans of the NHS. The issue of secondary accreditations is one area where ther is not unanimous agreement and this will be the subject of ongoing discussions. It is important to note that care is and needs to be taken of the alignment of training to the NHS Strategies and Plans of all the home nations not just England. Further work on these issues is being planned.
HEE have made funding available for individuals to train to take up the role of Approve Clinician under the Mental Health legislation. These funds also include money for backfill which is hoped will make it easier for people to take up the training. If you are interested you should contact your Head of Service and make arrangements to apply and engage the regional HEE leads.
The work carried out by the NHS Confederation has been commissioned by NHSE/I.
The survey is about engaging with the draft design principles that will provide a framework for all ICSs to design effective arrangements for clinical and care professional leadership.
Given the future importance of ICSs in the NHS in England we strongly recommend the completion of the survey to help make it clear that psychology needs to be at the heart of professional leadership within the ICSs to ensure the successful delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan.
We would therefore like to ask you to complete the survey for us before close of play on Wednesday 31st March.
Great news on workforce and training - Increase in training commissions for 2021 - Tony Lavender, Jan Hughes and Paul Salkovskis
Health Education England has announced that there will be a very significant increase in clinical psychology commissions for the 2021 entry in England.
Last year (2020), places expanded by 25 per cent at the last minute, and on top of this there will be a further increase of up to 30 per cent for 2021.
As Adrian Whittington (National Lead for Psychological Professions, NHS England/Improvement and HEE) wrote in making the announcement there is now the “huge challenge of delivering this” and thanked all involved for their “contribution and willingness to take up this opportunity. The increase of >60 per cent for the new intake over the past two years is going to make a really significant difference to the public. Needed now more than ever.”
This news comes on top of Scotland and Northern Ireland consolidating the 2020 increase into the 2021 intake, and Wales agreeing a smaller increase.
This will be demanding for the programmes and services which are working together to successfully deliver the expansion without compromising the quality of training.
The need for services and supervisors to increase the number of trainees they take is clearly vital to delivery and will be required at a time when we will, hopefully, be in the midst of services returning to a more usual mode of operating.
It will mean services and supervisors offering an increased number of placements on a routine basis in order that we can meet the future and growing demand for psychological services.
The DCP, and in particular the Group of Trainers in Clinical Psychology, are working with multiple stakeholders, including NHSE, HEE, and the Chief Psychological Professions Officers at a national, regional and local level.
A number of issues are being considered including the consistent utilisation of placement tariff money and the creative expansion of placement areas and populations.
Using a strap line from Obama’s election campaigns, working together “yes we can” deliver.
The National Psychological Professions Workforce Advisory Group had agreed to set up an Expert Advisory Group in physical health areas to set out the case for change in the way the psychological needs could be addressed. Once a chair is agreed for the Group there will be a process of recruiting members to the Group.
In parallel, the BPS, under the Practice Board, has established a group to look at the issues of psychologists input in the area of physical health care and how this can be promoted. Membership of the group has been agreed, with the physical healthcare DCP Faculties having a strong presence, and the first meeting arranged.
A 25% plus increase in training commissions was agreed for last year in Scotland, England and N Ireland. A smaller, deferred by a year, increase was agreed in Wales. This increase will be continued in Scotland for the 2021 intake. Although no formal announcement has been made to consolidate these increases for 2022 in England and N. Ireland, we are working hard to achieve this. A formal announcement is expected in the next few weeks.
All Trusts and Health Boards are able to access and use the measures that are held in the NHS Digital Repository free of charge. The NHS has negotiated with the publishers of the measures that these can be used free of charge. There is guidance on the website (Could we add the link it is webpages.).
On the web site there is also guidance for organisations to register to gain access to these measures. It was thought that this was not widely known amongst psychologists and was an important free resource.
We are delighted that Dr Lynne Taylor, a senior Consultant Clinical Psychologist, has been appointed to this new post within the Mental Health and Social Care Directorate which she took up in February 2021. We all wish Lynne well in this new role which she takes up in the depths of the pandemic. It marks the recognition that psychology should be at the heart of Government
The joint BPS/ACP-UK National Assessor review group chaired by Professor Tony Lavender has completed its work.
National Assessors are used for any appointments into consultant level posts (Band 8c and above).
The work has produced revised Guidance for National Assessors, Guidance for Employers, revised role descriptions, application forms and selection processes for the Chief, Speciality and Nation Leads and National Assessors.
The future operation of the Scheme will move from the DCP to the Practice Board.
Tony would like to thank the review group Linda Graham, Sheelagh Rodgers, Amra Rao (BPS/DCP), Tori Snell, Ruth Stocks (ACP-UK), Helen Barnett, Emma Smith and Lisa Howard (BPS) for their work on the review.
There have been meetings with the Lead National Assessors who will now oversee the operation of the Scheme and take forward the work of the review group with the support of the Practice Board (rather than the DCP) staff at the BPS.
A revised system is being introduced whereby employers seeking a National Assessor can either go to those Assessors with whom they have current relationships or directly to the National Assessor list or go to the BPS staff who, with the assistance of the Lead assessors, will find Assessors for the employer.
The system will also capture National Assessor activity. This system is currently being put in place and as soon as this work is completed the revised guidance and procedures will be launched.
Final checks are being made to ensure current Lead and National Assessors are able to continue
This process will make it clear the areas where new Lead and National Assessors are required.
Thus, rather than having an open call for new National Assessors a more targeted recruitment of new Lead and National will follow in the spring.
- Tony Lavender
We are very pleased to be able to announce that Eric Karas, a very experienced National Assessor, has been appointed to the role of interim Chief National Assessor.
The recommendation for the appointment was made by the Lead National Assessors and the Chair of ACP-UK and approved by Alison Clarke (Chair of the Practice Board).
The appointment is interim, as Eric wished to help with the relaunch of the Scheme and the eventual appointment of a Chief Assessor who would take up the appointment for the full three-year term.
The National Assessor scheme is used in providing External Psychology Assessors for appointments to Consultant posts (Band 8C and above) in Health and Social Care (and specific training/research posts within HEIs).
The National Assessor system and guidance documents have recently been reviewed and will shortly be published with relaunch of the Scheme.
We are about to embark on the recruitment of new National Assessors and any psychologists interested in making an application will be able to do this very shortly. We both thank and congratulate Eric in taking up this new role as Chief National Assessor.
There are three new HEE funded initiatives in this financial year.
More information should be available from your local HEE commissioner.
There was welcome news that agreement had been reached to continue to fund beyond March 2021 the NHSE/I Psychological Professions Leadership Team led by Adrian Whittington.
This meant the team could continue to take forward the programme of work that includes developing and evaluating the options regarding a future Chief Psychological Professions Officer, reviewing the involvement of Experts by Experience in the training of psychological professionals and working with NHS Digital to develop ways of recording and recognising the indirect work of psychological professionals.
The People Plan was published in July 2020 with a strong section on the mental health workforce, which set out the commitment to the 25% expansion of clinical psychology trainee numbers for the 2020/21 intake alongside significant expansion in the wider psychological workforce.
There is a very clear commitment, if money is made available in the spending review, to consolidate and increase this expansion in future years to deliver the NHS Long Term Plan. It is vital that the community responds positively to these developments which means courses adapting to larger numbers and services expanding the number of available supervisors and placements.
The National Psychological Professions Workforce Planning Group (NHSE/I HEE) has provided an important source of influence in the NHS on which the BPS/DCP is well represented.
Chaired by Adrian Whittington and Louisa Stuart it:
Approved clinician role: each region has been allocated money to fund the training and backfill for staff to occupy these roles. It is important for clinical psychologists to take up this opportunity and to find out the key HEE staff involved in this funding opportunity.
The national assessor system is about to be relaunched with revised guidelines, a new chief assessor and revised information for employers about the appointment of consultants. A check is being undertaken that existing national assessors wish to continue and there will be a call for new national assessors.
We urge clinical psychologists Band 8C and above to put themselves forward.
This National Stakeholder Group (established in April 2019) chaired by Adrian Whittington and Louisa Stewart (and on which the DCP have representatives in the form of Esther Cohen-Tovee and Tony Lavender) has established that the delivery of the NHS Plan will require an increase of 8,500 new psychological professions. The 25% increase in clinical psychologists in England provides a welcome but relatively small step in achieving the required numbers. It came just in time to deliver the increase for the 2020 intake which meant that some reserve list applicants were offered places immediately. It is not yet established that this increase will be maintained next year but we will be arguing strongly that it should and that there should be a further increase given the numbers required for the delivery of the NHS Plan.
There are moves across the four nations to establish a Chief Psychological Professions Officer (CPPO). In England the National Stakeholder Group received a paper outlining the options for developing such a role (to parallel the Chief Nurse and Chief Allied Health Professions Officer roles). A small leadership team accountable to NHSE/I and HEE will be funded from October 2020 to March 2021 but this is not permanent and needs further development and consolidation. In response to the options a joint letter explaining what is required has been sent from all the eight psychological professions’ organisations. The role is necessary if the psychological professions are to be closely involved in the development of policy and workforce plans rather than just being involved in providing responses to consultations. It would be part of such a role to ensure there was psychological leadership in all parts of the system. The DCP and the BPS policy leads alongside the other psychological professions organisations are playing a key role in this work.
The review of the National Assessor system is almost complete and new Guidelines have been written and shortly be published. National Assessors should be used for any appointments into consultant level posts (Band 8c and above). Over the summer a new Chief Assessor will be appointed, followed by appointments to the vacant Speciality and Nation Leads. There will be also be calls for new National Assessors (Band 8c and above) to ensure that we have sufficient Assessors to meet the demand from organisations to support their recruitment processes.
Building on the NHS Interim People Plan a people action plan has been published by NHSE/I in July 2021.
This Plan sets out actions for the leaders and staff in the short term but hopes to use the principals generated as part of building a sustainable future. It focuses on how staff must look after each other and foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, as well as actions to grow and train the workforce, and work together differently to deliver patient care.
Central themes of this report are:
The plan sets out actions that employers and systems should take, as well as the actions that NHSEI and HEE will take. The focus is on:
The six Chapters expand on these themes and provide detailed actions expected. They are heavily influenced by the experience of delivering services during the pandemic.
It is colourfully presented with many photos of NHS staff (though, unfortunately, not any clinical psychologists).
In chapter 5 “Growing for the Future” the importance of expanding psychological services is stressed and increasing clinical psychology training places is included. This is to be welcomed although this is under the banner of mental health services rather than across the healthcare system.
Each local ICS is asked to develop a local People Plan in response to the national plan, to be reviewed by regional and system level People Boards. Employers are also encouraged to devise their own local People Plan and metrics will be developed by September 2020 with the intention to track progress using the NHS Oversight Framework.
The Plan is a further enhancement of the earlier Interim People Plan although still does not capture the importance of psychological services in helping to enable the transformation required.
It is important that Psychologists understand the plan and show locally and nationally how they can contribute to the actions outlined but also to a more deeply psychologically informed NHS.
The NHS plan, published on 7 January 2019, sets out key ambitions for the next 10 years.
In the following document Professor Tony Lavender, Chair of the DCP Workforce & Training Sub-Committee, provides commentary and feedback on the content of the plan's seven chapters.
The Health Education England Staff and Learners’ Mental Wellbeing Commission report pledges to provide better mental health and wellbeing support for NHS staff and learners as part of its ‘workforce implementation plan.
Dr Amra Rao, Chair of the DCP Leadership and Management Faculty, has summarised the key themes and implications of the report in the following document:
There is currently a consultation on the Clinical Associate Psychologist Degree Apprenticeship Standards.
Tony Lavender, chair of the DCP Workforce and Training Sub-Committee, and Gary Latchford, co-chair of the Group of Trainers in Clinical Psychology, have written a briefing paper on the DCP’s view of the issues that need to be addressed, which will inform Members when responding to the consultation.
This document provides detailed feedback regarding each training course for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. Trainees provide qualitative and quantitative feedback each year about their course experience, offering prospective trainees an alternative perspective to The Clearing House website (where applications are made).
This document provides useful information and advice to supporting trainees and other pre-qualified clinicians working with children, young people, and their families.
The Group of Trainers in Clinical Psychology (GTiCP) is a network for colleagues involved in delivering training programmes in clinical psychology across the UK.
It provides a forum for discussion and debate of matters of strategic importance to clinical psychology training, as well as more practical and operational support to those involved in different aspects of training delivery.
There are seperate groups for academic tutors, clinical tutors, research tutors, service users and carers. They usually meet at each GTiCP meeting and the annual conference.
These groups also have their own email discussion lists.
To be added to one (or more) of these lists please email Helen Barnett
The Division of Clinical Psychology, Group of Trainers in Clinical Psychology were calling for statement of interests.
The deadline for submitting an statement of interest form is now closed
Elections will be formally ratified at the next Committee meeting for Division of Clinical Psychology, Group of Trainers in Clinical Psychology on 15 or 16 November 2021 (details to be confirmed)
If you have any queries regarding submitting an statement of interest please email Member Network Services
The GTiCP Programme Directors Sub-group is committed to ensuring that all members of the clinical psychology training community feel welcome and included and can learn and work free from the insidious and harmful effects of racism and other forms of discrimination.
The Division of Clinical Psychology publicly recognises and supports the unique and valued contribution that lived experience of mental health difficulties brings to individuals working within clinical psychology.
When lived experience is actively valued in aspiring, trainee and qualified clinical psychologists, it can help to enrich practice and improve service provision.
This document has been produced as guidance for the clinical psychology training community in order to increase the likelihood that trainees who experience mental health difficulties will be well supported.
Another central aim in producing this guidance was to recognise that mental health difficulties are just as common among mental health professionals and those in training as they are in the general population, and to challenge the silence, stigma and shame that often surrounds mental health difficulties.
The society also provides more general resources and information to help further your career in psychology on its Become a Psychologist page.
The information on offer includes details and advice about: