Consultant Psychiatrist-Forensic Psychiatry-Community Forensic Service

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board; Bristol; On-site; GBP 105,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust) seeks a Consultant Psychiatrist with a passion for community forensic work and experience with learning disability and/or autism to join the Secure Services medical team in Bristol. The post offers clinical leadership in education, management, quality improvement and research, with opportunities to contribute to service development and to participate in the consultant on-call rota.

Interview date: 22 October 2026.

Qualifications

• MB BS or equivalent medical qualification
• MRCPsych or equivalent approved by the Royal College of Psychiatrists
• 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, CCT in Forensic Psychiatry or CCT in General Adult Psychiatry with significant experience of working in the community
• Knowledge and evidence of participation in CPD
• Evidence of effective multidisciplinary team involvement and leadership abilities
• Ability to manage own time and prioritise clinical work
• Excellent communication skills to work with patients, carers and staff
• Experience of working in secure services and understanding management skills for a Consultant

Responsibilities

• Act as Consultant and Responsible Clinician for a community caseload and fulfil duties related to MHA/MAPPA/MoJ
• Provide forensic psychiatric and medico-legal expertise to the team
• Lead the development of multidisciplinary formulations and treatment plans
• Provide clinical leadership and supervision within the team
• Attend referral and bed management meetings and participate in on-call rota
• Collaborate with the team manager on governance and service development
• Participate in teaching and educational initiatives and supervise trainees

Skills

Leadership skills

Multidisciplinary teamwork

Communication skills

Time management

Education

MB BS or equivalent medical qualification

MRCPsych or approved equivalent

GMC registration

Specialist Register or within 6 months of CCT

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". Interested candidates are encouraged to make contact with the Medical Lead to arrange a meeting and tour of the unit. Interview Date: 22 October 2026, 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., Please refer to the accompanying job description for full details on the roles and responsibilities of this post.

Eligibility

• MB BS or equivalent medical qualification, Relevant Higher Degree e.g MD,PHD,Msc or other additional clinical qualifications
• MRCPsych OR MRCPsych equivalent approved by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
• 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, CCT in Forensic Psychiatry or CCT in General Adult Psychiatry with significant experience of working in the community, Experience of assessing and treating patients in a inpatient setting.
• Knowledge and evidence of participation in CPD
• Evidence of effective multidisciplinary team involvement, 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, Ability to assess and treat adults of working age with complex mental health and risk issues., Previous experience of working with individuals in secure services., Understanding of the management skills required to function successfully as a Consultant.
• Awareness of current issues in mental health service provision, policy and legislation., Knowledge of alternatives to inpatient admission care approaches

Teaching

• Commitment to and experience of undergraduate and postgraduate learning and teaching.
• Understand principles of teaching., Experience as an Educational Supervisor for trainees

Research and Audit

• Experience or involvement in a research project and publication.
• Experience of carrying out an audit project.

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