Consultant Psychiatrist

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust; Winwick; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional health service provider in England is seeking a full-time Consultant for its First Response Service. The successful candidate will provide dynamic leadership and clinical expertise, conduct patient assessments, and collaborate with a multidisciplinary team to ensure quality care. This role offers substantial responsibilities including management of psychiatric emergencies and participation in risk management processes. The candidate must be a qualified Consultant Psychiatrist with GMC registration and experience in community mental health services.

Qualifications

• Must be a qualified Consultant Psychiatrist.
• Registration with the General Medical Council (GMC) necessary.
• Experience in community mental health required.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and clinical expertise for the First Response Service.
• Conduct comprehensive psychiatric assessments.
• Support staff in managing psychiatric emergencies.
• Attend multi-professional meetings and provide medical leadership.
• Participate in Trust’s risk management processes.

Skills

Consultancy skills

Psychiatric assessment

Crisis management

Team leadership

Communication

Education

Medical degree

Registration with GMC

Job description

We are seeking to recruit a full time Consultant for First Response Service across Mid Mersey and are looking for an enthusiastic, proactive colleague to provide dynamic leadership to the service and the Trust as a whole.

This is a new full-time post based in Hollins Park Hospital. The post holder will work collaboratively with our Operational Manager, Clinical Service Manager and FRS Specialty doctor based in Clock View to provide leadership and clinical expertise to the First Response Service and ensure we deliver an excellent, responsive, and high‑quality service. The post holder will also be supported, where appropriate, to develop a special interest in a clinical area, which meets the Trust objectives.

The post holder will be responsible for the overall assessment, and management of patients presented to FRS in Mid Mersey by working closely with other members of the multidisciplinary team including clinical service manager, advanced clinical practitioner, clinical lead, Operational Managers (Band 8A), dual diagnosis practitioners, mental health practitioners, assistant practitioners, assistant clinical psychologist, clinical psychologist, social workers and support workers.

You will enjoy working as part of a highly skilled and motivated team to deliver excellent care.

Urgent reviews for the patients and to chair management planning meetings involving families, community and social care services.

Clinical/managerial supervisor responsibilities for the specialty doctor based in FRS in Clock View Hospital.

For Medic Assessments within team there are appointments available within office hours. They are first triaged by the clinical leads. Registered practitioners can speak to the medic on site or by phone to discuss acceptance of service users. Urgent Assessments are facilitated by the medic directly and via secretary.

If an MHAA is required, this should be discussed with the clinical lead. Every opportunity should be actioned to support contact with the service user. This includes telephone contacts, home visit, discussion with family or carers, prior to application to careline, in order to gain as much clinical or collateral information as possible.

Consultant psychiatrist responsibility for FRS across Mid Mersey.

Carry out comprehensive psychiatric assessments and provide treatment for patients referred to FRS as in outpatient and community assessment.

Support FRS staff to manage psychiatric emergencies.

Conduct patient reviews, and mental health act assessments, and attend multi-professional meetings.

Maintain a high standard of clinical work when carrying out assessments.

Ensure compliance with our clinical governance framework, you will motivate colleagues, champion service user safety and dignity and drive continuous improvement.

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.

Clinical duties of post holder:

• Consultant psychiatrist responsibility for FRS across Mid Mersey.
• Carry out comprehensive psychiatric assessments and provide treatment for patients referred to FRS as in outpatient and community assessment.
• Support FRS staff to manage psychiatric emergencies.
• Conduct patient reviews, and mental health act assessments, and attend multi-professional meetings.
• To carry out comprehensive Risk Assessments and participate in Trust’s risk management processes such as Health Risk Assessment and Management Meetings (H‑RAMM) and Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangement (MAPPA) Meetings.
• To provide medical leadership to the FRS team.
• Liaise with families / carers.
• Liaise with aspects of the Criminal Justice System regarding patients.
• Liaise with other stakeholders and interested parties.
• The post holder will be expected to maintain effective communication with other services, including in-patient and community mental health teams, crisis services, and primary care.
• Provide clinical/educational supervision to junior colleagues, NMP and AP.
• To attend daily safety huddle and multidisciplinary team meetings.
• The Trust has a number of medical management roles and encourages medical staff to participate in these. Likewise, medical staff are encouraged to participate in the wider discussion forums within the Trust and join committees/working parties in other areas. Support is provided within job plans to undertake these roles.
• The post holder will be expected to participate in the Consultant on call rota covering all specialties apart from CAMHS and Forensic services in the Warrington, Halton, St Helens & Knowsley areas.

Please see job description for further details.

This advert closes on Sunday 1 Feb 2026.