Community Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist - Knowsley

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust; Knowsley; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Job summary

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust seeks a Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist to lead the Knowsley Older Adults Memory Service and CMHT, delivering high-quality clinical care for service users with dementia and age-related mental health needs.

You will supervise a multidisciplinary team, coordinate assessments, develop treatment plans, and ensure seamless pathways between primary and secondary care while supporting service development and flexible working arrangements.

Qualifications

• Full GMC registration and eligibility for Specialist Register in Old Age Psychiatry.
• MBChB/MBBS with relevant postgraduate training and CPD.
• Membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
• Train the Trainer and Equality and Diversity training completed.

Responsibilities

• Act as Responsible Clinician within the Older Adults CMHT caseload.
• Provide clinical leadership, supervision and support to the MDT.
• Contribute to patient assessment, treatment and care pathways.
• Help ensure timely access and strong links between primary and secondary care.

Skills

Excellent clinical knowledge

Excellent communication skills

English proficiency

Bio-psycho-social approach

Education

MBChB / MBBS

Medical education / research / management qualification

Royal College of Psychiatrists membership

Train the Trainer / Equality & Diversity training

Tools

IT systems proficiency

Job description

Community Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist - Knowsley

As a Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist working for Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust you will be responsible for ensuring that our service users' needs are met through the delivery of high quality care.

As a leader of the outpatient multi-disciplinary team at the Knowsley Later Life & Memory Service, you will manage the community mental health team and Memory service, providing clinical care to service users who have been referred for older adults mental health care and specialist cognitive assessment.

You will work closely with a wide range of clinical and professional disciplines in order to deliver holistic care by completing assessments of new referrals to the team, making formulations and managing their treatment in order to optimise the quality of life of the service users under your caseload.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will act as the Responsible Clinician for patients within their allocated caseload in the Older Adults Community Mental Health Team. Caseloads are aligned to designated GP surgeries and allocated to ensure an equitable distribution of referrals and workload. The role involves providing clinical leadership, consultation, supervision and support to the multidisciplinary team, while actively contributing to patient assessment, treatment and care. The post holder will support timely access to services, promote effective pathways between primary and secondary care, and provide specialist advice to team members, GPs, patients and carers. Working within integrated Health and Social Care teams, they will contribute to service development, participate in allocation processes, and respond flexibly to the changing needs of the service to ensure the delivery of high-quality care.

About us

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Job responsibilities

The overall pathway for the older adult service at Knowsley LLAMS is as below:

• Referrals are received from the GP/first response service/other medical specialty such as Neurology, Geriatrics or Movement Disorder services
• All referrals are added to the Assessment pathway upon receipt and referrals are autonomously screened by senior nursing staff from the team on a daily basis. This practitioner may seek support from team management for certain referrals or discuss with the Consultant if greater medical oversight is felt to be required on a case by base basis.
• For all accepted referrals, a screening call is completed within 72 hours and an initial assessment is then completed by a Band 6 practitioner or above within two weeks. Physical health screening is completed by a Band 3 practitioner.
• Once the initial assessment has been completed then a diagnostic appointment (new patient appointment) is made with the Consultant Psychiatrist in outpatient clinic or as a home visit in order to establish the diagnosis and management plan.
• If a diagnosis of dementia is confirmed and treatment is commenced, the patient will be booked in for Memory Team review at 11 weeks, 3 months and then 6 monthly thereafter. Any confirmed diagnoses of Mild Cognitive Impairment are discharged from the service with appropriate advice. If further investigations are required these are requested prior to commencing treatment.
• Post diagnostic support is completed by the team which oversees memory medication titration and monitors pulse and blood pressure on follow up visits. Cognitive Stimulation Therapy is offered on site by the team and also on a one to one basis if required. Once memory medication tolerance has been confirmed following titration, patients are subsequently reviewed every six months by the Memory Team part of the MDT. If there are any concerns around increased risk or needs for any patients then they are stepped up to being followed up by the CMHT section of the team.
• Patients diagnosed with dementia who are settled and established on treatment with appropriate onward referrals for social care input and other support in the community are stepped down to having further follow up by the Dementia Care Navigator in the team. Anybody who has been diagnosed with dementia and is living in the community is never discharged by the team. For those living in 24 hour care placements, they are discharged to the care of the Care Home Liaison team
• As of the mid-2022 population estimates, the over-65 catchment populations in the Huyton and Whiston areas covered by the postholder are 11.200 and 2500 respectively, with the total populations in these areas being 63,000 and 13,500 respectively. The total annual number of referrals from the Huyton area between May 2025 and May 2026 was 421 and from Whiston was 131. Total current caseload for the team is 472.
• The post holder will cover seven care homes in the locality, with three of these being EMI Residential homes, three being EMI Residential and Nursing and one being a Dementia Plus home.
• There are 15 GP surgeries in Huyton and 5 in Whiston which are covered by the postholders catchment area.
• In addition, there is a separate Care Home Liaison team caseload for those with established diagnoses of dementia living in 24 hour care placements. The postholder does not have care responsibility for this caseload but for any patients who are unsettled and require medical input, the Care Home Liaison team may refer to the postholder for input.

Person Specification

Registration

• Full registration with General Medical Council
• Inclusion on or eligible for inclusion on the Specialist Register of the General Medical Council or within 6 months of CCST/CCT or equivalent in Old age Psychiatry at date of interview
• Section 12 (2) Approval + Approved Clinician
• Status or demonstrated ability to gain approval
• In good standing with GMC with respect to warning and conditions on practice

Qualifications and Training

• MbChb, MBBS or equivalent
• Qualification or higher degree in medical education, clinical research or management
• Additional Qualifications
• Membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists or equivalent
• Undertaken 'Train the Trainer' and 'Equality and Diversity' Training

Transport

• Holds valid UK driving licence and will use own car for work related travel OR provides evidence of proposed alternative

Clinical Skills, Knowledge and Expereince

• Excellent clinical 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
• Experience in working previously in similar roles at a relevant level
• Training or worked as a DoLs assessor
• Experience in management and service development Knowledge and use of IT systems

Academic Skills and 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 teaching and training relevant to this post
• Reflected on purpose of CPD undertaken
• Experienced in clinical research and / or service evaluation
• Has led clinical audits leading to service change

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.

Knowsley Resource & Recovery Centre, Whiston Hospital

Knowsley Resource & Recovery Centre, Whiston Hospital