Consultant Psychiatrist in MHSOP Community

NHS; Consett; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare trust in Consett is seeking a full-time Consultant Psychiatrist to provide clinical leadership in community mental health services for older people. The role involves working in a well-established team, conducting mental health assessments, and contributing to the care of a diverse patient population. Ideal candidates must be GMC-registered and possess relevant psychiatric qualifications. This position promises a supportive environment with opportunities for professional development.

Qualifications

• Registration with GMC with a license to practice at appointment.
• Ability to lead multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience in teaching and clinical research.

Responsibilities

• Provide clinical leadership to community team.
• Conduct Mental Health Act Assessments.
• Deliver mental health services to older populations.

Skills

Excellent clinical skills

Excellent knowledge in specialty

Management of clinical complexity

Oral and written communication skills in English

Education

MB BS or equivalent

Fully registered with the GMC

MRCPsych qualification

Qualification in medical education or management

Job description

Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust

Consultant Psychiatrist in MHSOP Community

The closing date is 09 December 2025

This is a full-time (1.0 WTE) Consultant Psychiatrist post providing clinical and medical leadership to the Community Mental Health Services for Older Peoples teams in Northwest County Durham. The post-holder will work into a well-established community team in Derwentside, alongside another consultant psychiatrist colleague who also works into a neighbouring community team.

In 2024, the posts were reconfigured to reflect demographic changes within the catchment area and provide an equivalent level of psychiatrist staff input to teams across the locality. As such, this is a new post.

The post holder will provide consultant psychiatric input to a population of 30,658 people over 65 years in the Derwentside & Chester‑Le Street area, shared with another consultant colleague, Dr Karyn Ohioma (0.4 WTE into this sector), and a specialty doctor.

The consultant workload is predominantly divided into sectors based on GP surgeries, which are distributed amongst the consultants in proportion to their time with the team. This allows the longitudinal development of strong working relationships with local communities and primary care colleagues.

The team provides mental health services to older people with mental health problems and frailty‑related complexities. We also accept referrals for young‑onset dementia patients. Each team has administrative support and co‑located social workers.

Main duties of the job

The Clinical PAs are 7.5 PA across the week, working with the Derwentside and Chester‑Le‑Street Community Mental Health Team.

This post provides consultant leadership to the community team, working closely with other consultant colleagues working in the County Durham area CMHTs, and the consultants and teams at our inpatient MHSOP services.

The post‑holder will be responsible for the delivery of mental health services to the population of older people of approximately 31,000 shared amongst 2 consultants (including this post) providing a total of 1.4 WTE consultant input.

There is the potential that the Consultant Psychiatrist could be asked to take on Responsible Clinician duties in relation to patients who are subject to Community Treatment Orders and are permanently resident at one of the care homes which the team cover, though the number of such patients is expected to be very low.

The post‑holder is expected to prioritise Mental Health Act Assessments for their own patients during working hours, and be a qualified DOLS Mental Health Assessor for any patients on their personal caseload. Occasionally, there may be ad hoc Section 49 Mental Capacity Act reports to prepare, and these are offered evenly amongst the consultant body. Any such reports would be additional to the planned work of the post‑holder, and attract an hourly fee for this work.

About us

We are one of the largest specialist mental health and learning disabilities trusts in the country, with an annual income of £320m and a workforce of some 6,700 staff operating from around 100 sites in Durham, Teesside, North Yorkshire and York and Selby. We provide a range inpatient and community services to 2m people living in County Durham, the Tees Valley, Scarborough, Whitby, Ryedale, Harrogate, Hambleton and Richmondshire. We also provide additional specialist services to other parts of Northern England.

We deliver our services by working in partnership with eight local authorities and clinical commissioning groups, a wide range of voluntary organisations, as well as service users, their carers and the public.

Psychiatrists are essential contributors to our mental health teams. Service users expect and are justified to expect collaborative relationships with dedicated psychiatrists who work consistently as part of effective services. The Medical Directorate and Medical Development Team are striving to improve medical workforce recruitment and retention in a variety of ways and the cornerstone of these efforts is The TEWV Charter for the Medical Workforce (Please see attached Supporting Document).

Job responsibilities

Please see the attached job description and person specification for further information on this post. Please note, the Job Description has not been approved by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Person Specification

Leadership

• Reflects on own performance and behaviour, seeking and acting on feedback. Able to influence and persuade to improve services. Able to take on leadership role in multidisciplinary team. Knowledge of structure and management of the NHS and the Trust. Shows commitment to quality through knowledge of quality improvement and lean thinking methodology or able to achieve within one year of appointment. Able to adapt to and lead service change.
• Able to take on a leadership role outside the multidisciplinary team. Understanding of NHS & wider health economy and its implications for the work of the Trust. Trained to standard equivalent to level 2 in TEWV Trust Quality improvement system.

Academic Skills & 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 undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and training relevant to this post. Reflected on purpose of CPD undertaken. Experienced in clinical research and/or service evaluation. Evidence of achievement in education, research, audit and service improvement: awards, prizes, presentations and publications. Has led clinical audits leading to service change.

Qualifications

• MB BS or equivalent medical qualification.
• Fully registered with the GMC with a licence to practise at the time of appointment.
• Qualification or higher degree in medical education, clinical research, or management.
• MRCPsych postgraduate qualification or CESR (Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration) qualification.
• Additional clinical qualifications.

Clinical Skills, Knowledge & Experience

• Excellent 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.
• Wide range of specialist and sub‑specialist experience relevant to post within NHS or comparable service.
• Fully registered with the GMC with a licence to practise at the time of appointment.
• Eligible for inclusion in the Specialist Register in the Specialty or within 6 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.
• Included on the GMC Specialist Register.
• In good standing with GMC with respect to warning and conditions on practice.

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.

Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust