Featured job: Explore a role with Priory

Job Titles:

Various roles in Clinical, Forensic and Counselling Psychology

Employer:     

Priory, part of MEDIAN

Among several responsibilities, Michele Gilluley is Professional Lead for Psychology. She talks about developments. 'We recognise the changing needs of psychologists, as new career pathways and ways of practice develop: so we're developing a profession of psychology within Priory to address these changes, as well as to answer questions psychologists may have about working in the independent sector.

'At Priory, we work in close partnership with the NHS among others, and we are building a supportive in-house community. Our heads of psychology are meeting monthly to drive this forward. Since I took that role, I've been working to create an approach which values practitioners' skills, listens to them and offers genuine development.'

Michele reckons there are many vacancies across all levels. 'We employ clinical, forensic, and counselling psychologists. We look at candidates in terms of skills, knowledge, and competences: we consider the person rather than a simple qualification. Our vacancies are in England, Scotland, and Wales, and we recruit early, mid, and late career, practitioners who bring different attitudes, skills, and experiences. All of our psychologists work in multi-disciplinary teams so it's important that we value the opinions of  colleagues. We also take on graduate students as assistants.

'I'm particularly interested in how we continue our psychologists' scientific attitude and research skills. Psychologists are often encouraged to do research to underpin practice, then find their time absorbed by other things. We already have the Priory Academy, a training resource, for all professions: personalised CPD develops out of annual appraisals. A research network group encourages research and we're developing relationships with universities for doctoral placements.'

Priory is a leading independent provider of mental health services in the EUK. It is also one of the leading providers of specialist residential adult care.

Priory is part of MEDIAN, a European provider of high-quality mental health and medical rehabilitative services. Overall, there are 443 facilities in MEDIAN, comprising 307 in the Priory group with 4,763 beds in the United Kingdom, and 122 facilities and 19,200 beds in Germany, and approximately 35,000 employees, caring for 260,000 patients. It offers a generous range of benefits and, says Michele, 'as part of developing the psychological profession, we've been reviewing job descriptions and salaries too, to ensure they remain competitive.'

Michele's final comment is, 'If this innovative, supportive approach interests you, get in touch. You won't regret it.'

Find out more via our Jobs in Psychology website