Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

Gloucestershire Health and Care; Cheltenham; On-site; GBP 114,000 - 151,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free car parking

27 days leave plus bank holidays

Job summary

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust in Cheltenham seeks a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist to lead neurodevelopmental and CAMHS services. The post focuses on autism assessments, ADHD management, and clinical leadership for teams across CAMHS and Neurodevelopmental services.

You will provide expert input to MDTs, develop pathways, and support the wellbeing and safety of children and young people within a growing service.

Qualifications

• Experience in neurodevelopmental assessments (ADOS, QB testing, cognitive assessments)
• Ability to provide consultation and advice to CAMHS, paediatrics, education and other agencies
• Experience in MDT working and leadership within CAMHS services

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist autism assessments and ADHD medication input for children up to age 18
• Lead ADHD pathways, including clinic development and safe medication practices
• Supervise professional staff and advise on medication management
• Contribute to MDT discussions and case formulation
• Support CAMHS, education and other agencies with clinical input
• Engage in quality improvement and research activities
• Provide clinical leadership for neurodevelopmental and Core CAMHS teams

Skills

Multidisciplinary teamwork

Clinical leadership

Education

MRCPsych GMC Specialist Register in Child Psychiatry or Learning Disability

CCT or 6 months away from CCT

Job description

Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

NHS Medical & Dental: Consultant

Main area CAHMS Psychiatry Grade NHS Medical & Dental: Consultant Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 10 sessions per week (On Call 1:20) Job ref 327-26-856

Site Evergreen House Town Cheltenham Salary £113,565 - £150,569 per annum (Role pending Royal College Approval as new post) Salary period Yearly Closing 19/11/2026 23:59

We love what we do and we think you will, too!

At Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust (GHC), we provide joined-up mental health, physical health and learning disability services to people of all ages across Gloucestershire. We run community hospitals and provide care and support in people’s own homes and in a range of other locations across the county.

We are on a mission to enable people to live the best life they can and we have a vision to work together to provide outstanding care. We put people at the heart of our services, focusing on personalised care by asking ‘what matters to you ’.

We’re passionate about making sure that everyone can contribute to achieving our mission and w e are continually working to support healthy and happy high-quality team s in all areas of the Trust.

Our application process aims to understand each candidates knowledge, skills and experience. We have found that candidates that use AI to generate their answers can lack specificity and fail to address key criteria outlined in the job description.

It is really important to personalise your application to convey your individual skills, knowledge, and experiences effectively and for us to understand why you are applying for this role with GHC. We discourage over reliance on AI-generated applications as it will lessen your chances of success in securing an interview with us.

Job overview

This is a newly created post which is community-based with 10 programmed activities. The post comprises 6 programmed activities for the Neurodevelopmental Team role and 4 for the Core CAMHS Team. This post is a newly developed post to provide increased consultant psychiatric capacity within the Neurodevelopmental Service whilst also providing additional consultant capacity to the Core CAMHS service. We welcome part-time applicants and such applicants would be expected to do a minimum of 6 programmed activities in the Neurodevelopmental Team role.

For part-time applicants, the balance between Neurodevelopmental and Core CAMHS activity will be agreed through the appointment and job-planning processes, taking account of service requirements and the need to maintain continuity within both teams.

The post has been created to increase consultant psychiatric capacity within the developing Neurodevelopmental service and to provide additional consultant-level support to Core CAMHS. The development reflects the separation of the Neurodevelopmental and Core CAMHS medical roles within the current service configuration.

The Neurodevelopmental component is the principal specialist focus of the post. The Core CAMHS component provides additional consultant capacity to the Core CAMHS service and will include assessment, formulation, treatment advice, medication review, MDT working and clinical leadership for children and young people requiring consultant psychiatric input.

Main duties of the job

Roles and responsibilities in the CAAAS Team

• To work with the multidisciplinary team to offer specialist autism assessments for complex children and young people, providing psychiatric l assessment and formulation and considering differential diagnosis and co-existing mental health difficulties To provide consultant psychiatric input to ADHD medication initiation, optimisation and review for children and young people up to age 18, in accordance with relevant guidance and local pathways.
• To contribute to the development and implementation of safe and effective assessment and medication pathways for ADHD.
• To provide clinical supervision and professional advice around the provision of medication to a range of team members, including Speciality Doctors and non-medical prescribers.
• To run ADHD medication clinics, supporting the work of Speciality Doctors and non-medical prescribers, and holding a caseload of complex young people who require consultant psychiatric input.
• To contribute to MDT discussions and formulation of complex cases.
• To provide consultation and advice to colleagues in CAMHS, paediatrics, education and other relevant agencies.
• To support the evaluation and quality improvement of service provision and enable research.
• To contribute to the development of best practice through links with regional and national neurodevelopmental teams

Working for our organisation

We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people’s homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.

Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:

• 72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
• 76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
• 81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust’s priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.

This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

This role is offered on a permanent basis. The hours are full-time/ part time hours available.

The post has been created to increase consultant psychiatric capacity within the developing Neurodevelopmental service and to provide additional consultant-level support to Core CAMHS. The development reflects the separation of the Neurodevelopmental and Core CAMHS medical roles within the current service configuration.

The Neurodevelopmental component is the principal specialist focus of the post. The Core CAMHS component provides additional consultant capacity to the Core CAMHS service and will include assessment, formulation, treatment advice, medication review, MDT working and clinical leadership for children and young people requiring consultant psychiatric input.

The post-holder will be expected to provide psychiatric input to children and young people referred to CAMHS registered with GPs in Gloucestershire. Psychiatrists work in treatment clinics with multi-disciplinary colleagues to deliver either general CAMHS intervention or more specialist teamwork, such as neurodevelopmental work.

The post holder will also work closely with the Neurodevelopmental MDT, Core CAMHS teams, Community Paediatrics, CAMHS Outreach, CAMHS Mental Health Liaison, Non-Medical Prescribers, Speciality Doctors, trainees and other relevant health, education and social care professionals.

Person specification

Qualifications

• CCT or 6 months away from CCT to specialist register
• CAHMS specialism
• Knowledge and clinical skills to assess, treat and manage Neurodiverse conditions
• MRCPsych GMC Specialist Register in Child Psychiatry or Learning Disability

Experience

• Experience of Multidisciplinary team working
• Specialist working knowledge and skills in objective neurodiverse condition assessments, e.g. ADOS, QB testing and Cognitive assessments

When joining us, as well as becoming part of a team that makes a difference, we also offer:

• Free car parking at many of our sites
• 27 days leave plus bank holidays, increasing up to 33 days with long service
• A broad range of training and development opportunities, including apprenticeships up to Level 7 qualification.
• A multi-professional preceptorship programme for all Newly Qualified; Nurses, Nursing Associates, Internationally Educated Practitioners, Allied Health Professionals and Return to Practice Practitioners.
• Generous NHS pension and enhanced pay when if you work unsocial hours
• Flexible, family friendly and agile working opportunities
• Recognition and long service awards
• Fast Track physiotherapy
• Access to discounts and salary sacrifice schemes; including Cycle to Work, Car scheme and discounts on travel, leisure and retailers.

Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.

If you are aged 16-30, you may be eligible for financial and pastoral support from the King’s Trust, with who we are in partnership with to support your first 6 months in role. We will pass on your details to the King’s Trust who will be in touch with you if you are eligible. If you would rather not be contacted, please let us know.

For more information please see the attached 'Additional Information for Applicants' document.

Good luck with your application.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.