Consultant Psychiatrist-Forensic Psychiatry-Community Forensic Service

Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

Bristol

On-site

GBP 95,000 - 120,000

Full time

7 days ago

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Job summary

Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust is seeking a Consultant Psychiatrist with an interest in community forensic work, including patients with learning disability and/or autism, to join the Secure Services medical team in Bristol. The post will involve leadership across multidisciplinary teams, teaching and involvement in service development initiatives.

The role includes a workload of ~6 PAs in FIND and 4 PAs in Specialist Community Forensic Team, leading on-call duties and

Qualifications

MB BS or equivalent medical qualification.
Fully GMC registered with licence to practise at appointment.
Included on GMC Specialist Register OR within six 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.
Experience of assessing and treating patients in an inpatient setting.
Evidence of CPD participation and MDT involvement.
Commitment to leadership, teaching and service development.

Responsibilities

Act as consultant and Responsible Clinician for a community caseload and fulfil duties under MHA, MAPPA and MoJ.
Provide forensic psychiatric and medico‑legal expertise and support multi-disciplinary formulations and treatment plans.
Provide clinical leadership and oversee team decisions, meetings and supervision.
Attend referral and bed management meetings and undertake access/admission assessments.
Provide senior clinical leadership and contribute to governance, service development and quality improvement.
Participate in teaching, educational initiatives and supervision of trainees; participate in on-call rota.

Skills

Leadership

Time management

Performance appraisal

Communication skills

Written and verbal communication

Education

MB BS or equivalent

MRCPsych OR equivalent

GMC registration with licence to practise

Specialist Register likelihood / CCT timing

S12 status or equivalent

Job description

We are seeking a Consultant Psychiatrist, with an interest in community forensic work and experience working with patients who have learning disability and/or autism, to join the Secure Services medical team.

This is a new post following a successful business case for service expansion. The post holder will join a group of 16 consultants (12 WTE) working in the service, 5 of whom work in community services.

The service supports a number of core and advanced psychiatry trainee posts. The post holder will work 6 PAs in the Forensic Intellectual, Neuropsychiatric and Developmental Disorders team (FIND) team and 4 PAs in the Specialist Community Forensic Team.

They will work with a caseload of approximately 22 patients who are under care-coordination in the community. They will regularly contribute to consultations with external teams and to assessments.

The service supports consultants to take additional leadership roles in medical education, management, quality improvement and research.

There are lots of opportunities for staff to be involved in service development work within AWP and SWPC. This includes the service's current cultural quality improvement project Making Secure a Great Place to.

Interview Date: 22 October 2026

Main duties of the job

To act as consultant and Responsible Clinician for a caseload of patients in the community and fulfil associated duties related to the MHA, MAPPA and MoJ.

To provide forensic psychiatric and medico-legal expertise into the team. To support the development of multi-disciplinary formulations, assessments and treatment plans for patients on the caseload.

To provide clinical leadership into the team by overseeing clinical decisions, contributing to multi-disciplinary meetings and offering supervision and advice to colleagues.

To attend referral and bed management meetings as appropriate. To undertake access assessments and admission assessments for patients referred into the service. To provider senior clinical leadership into their teams. To work closely with the team manager and to contribute towards the management, governance and development of the ward.

To regularly attend team meetings and reflective practice. To communicate effectively and work collaboratively with other teams and external stakeholders.

To work closely with other senior leaders within the medical team and wider service and contribute to quality improvement and service development projects.

To participate in the consultant on-call rota for secure services. To participate in teaching and educational initiatives, and to supervise trainee psychiatrists.

About us

We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust) a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care. We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B& NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire and in parts of Dorset.

Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person-centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.

Please note that Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust is not currently a sponsor under the GMC Sponsorship Scheme. As a result, we regret to inform you that we are unable to consider applications from individuals who require GMC sponsorship

Job description

Job responsibilities

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

MB BS or equivalent medical qualification

Desirable

Relevant Higher Degree e.g MD,PHD,Msc or other additional clinical qualifications
MRCPsych OR MRCPsych equivalent approved by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Eligibility

Essential

Fully registered with the GMC with a licence to practise at the time of appointment
Included on the GMC Specialist Register OR within six months of gaining CCT
Approved clinician status OR able to achieve within 3 months of appointment
Approved under S12 OR able to achieve with 3 months of appointment

Desirable

CCT in Forensic Psychiatry or CCT in General Adult Psychiatry with significant experience of working in the community

Experience

Essential

Experience of assessing and treating patients in a inpatient setting.
Knowledge and evidence of participation in CPD
Evidence of effective multidisciplinary team involvement

Desirable

Experience of working in forensic psychiatry.

Personal Skills

Essential

To possess leadership skills and be able to work collaboratively in a multidisciplinary team.
Ability to manage own time, workload and prioritise clinical work
Ability to appraise own performance as a Consultant.
Able to demonstrate excellent communication skills, in order to effectively work with patients, carers and staff.
Excellent written and oral communication skills

Desirable

Evidence of specific achievements that demonstrate leadership skills

Clinical Skills

Essential

Ability to assess and treat adults of working age with complex mental health and risk issues.

Desirable

Previous experience of working with individuals in secure services.

Knowledge

Essential

Understanding of the management skills required to function successfully as a Consultant.
Awareness of current issues in mental health service provision, policy and legislation.

Desirable