Consultant Psychiatrist in Old Age Psychiatry - Easington in North East

This is an exciting opportunity for an old age consultant psychiatrist to become involved with the Easington community service. The community teams provide mental health assessments for people who have memory problems or who have other mental health problems requiring secondary care intervention in the locality. Approximately 70% of referrals to the teams are due to organic presentations, most commonly dementia. The team works with patients who are predominantly aged 65 and over. However, the service is defined on the basis of need rather than age, and so people with cognitive presentations who are aged under 65, as well as people younger than 65 who have significant frailty, may be open to the team.

Main duties of the job:

• The Clinical PAs are 7.5 PA across the week, to include a combination of clinics at the team base, and home visits.
• There is the potential that the Consultant Psychiatrist could be asked to take on Responsible Clinician duties in relation to patients who are subject to Community Treatment Orders and are open to the team, though the number of such patients is expected to be very low.
• The post-holder is expected to prioritise Mental Health Act Assessments for their own patients during working hours, and be a qualified DOLS Mental Health Assessor for any patients on their personal caseload.
• Occasionally, there may be ad hoc Section 49 Mental Capacity Act reports to prepare.
• It is necessary for the post-holder to have Approved Clinician, Section 12 and DOLS Mental Health Assessor Status, and support can be provided to attain the latter if the prospective applicant does not already hold this status.
• The post-holder will be expected to have a familiarity with important relevant legislation affecting the care of older people with mental illness.
• The Trust is eager to support the development of a special interest and this is negotiable either at the time of employment or at the Annual Job Plan Review meeting.
• The post-holder will work with the Locality Manager, General Manager, Lead Psychiatrist and Associate Clinical Director to plan and develop the service in line with the Service Business Plan.

About us:

We are one of the largest specialist mental health and learning disabilities trusts in the country, with an annual income of £320m and a workforce of some 6,700 staff operating from around 100 sites in Durham, Teesside, North Yorkshire and York and Selby. We provide a range of inpatient and community services to 2m people living in County Durham, the Tees Valley, Scarborough, Whitby, Ryedale, Harrogate, Hambleton and Richmondshire. We also provide additional specialist services to other parts of Northern England. We deliver our services by working in partnership with eight local authorities and clinical commissioning groups, a wide range of voluntary organisations, as well as service users, their carers and the public. Psychiatrists are essential contributors to the majority of our mental health teams. Service users expect and are justified to expect collaborative relationships with dedicated psychiatrists who work consistently as part of effective services.

Job responsibilities:

Please see the attached job description for further information on this post. Please note the job description is currently waiting approval from the Royal College.

Person Specification:

• Leadership: Reflects on own performance and behaviour, seeking and acting on feedback. Able to influence and persuade to improve services. Able to take on leadership role in multidisciplinary team. Knowledge of structure and management of the NHS and the Trust. Shows commitment to quality through knowledge of quality improvement and lean thinking methodology OR able to achieve within one year of appointment. Able to adapt to and lead service change. Able to take on a leadership role outside the multidisciplinary team. Understanding of NHS & wider health economy and its implications for the work of the Trust. Trained to standard equivalent to level 2 in TEWV Trust Quality improvement system.
• Academic Skills & Lifelong Learning: Able to deliver undergraduate or postgraduate teaching and training. Participated in continuous professional development. Participated in research or service evaluation. Able to use and appraise clinical evidence. Has actively participated in clinical audit. Able to plan and deliver undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and training relevant to this post. Reflected on purpose of CPD undertaken. Experienced in clinical research and/or service evaluation. Evidence of achievement in education, research, audit and service improvement: awards, prizes, presentations and publications. Has led clinical audits leading to service change.
• Qualifications: MB BS or equivalent medical qualification. Fully registered with the GMC with a licence to practise at the time of appointment. Eligible for inclusion in the Specialist Register in mental health services for older people or within 6 months of gaining CCT. Approved clinician status OR able to achieve within 3 months of appointment. Approved under S12 OR able to achieve within 3 months of appointment. Qualification or higher degree in medical education, clinical research or management. MRCPsych or equivalent postgraduate qualification.
• Clinical Knowledge & Skills: Excellent knowledge in specialty. Excellent clinical skills using bio-psycho-social perspective and wide medical knowledge. Excellent oral and written communication skills in English. Able to manage clinical complexity and uncertainty. Makes decisions based on evidence and experience including the contribution of others. Able to meet duties under MHA and MCA. Wide range of specialist and sub-specialist experience relevant to post within NHS or comparable service.
• Experience: Describe your clinical experience relevant to this job role. Any other experience that may be applicable.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check: This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Salary: £113,565 to £150,569 a year. This post may be subject to a recruitment premia.