Consultant Psychiatrist, Acute Community Services (Intake & Assessment)

Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora Counties Manukau; Auckland; On-site; NZD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous leave provisions

Protected non-clinical time

Support for professional development

Job summary

The New Zealand Government is seeking a Consultant Psychiatrist to join the Acute Community Services team in Auckland. This role focuses on delivering high-quality mental health care to those in crisis, emphasizing teamwork and service development.

Candidates should possess excellent communication skills and a commitment to equity and cultural safety. Opportunities for mentoring registrars and initiating service improvements are also available, with a supportive environment that prioritizes work-life balance.

Qualifications

• Experience in acute psychiatry settings is preferred but not required.
• Ability to supervise psychiatry registrars is a benefit.
• Strong organizational and communication skills essential.
• Willingness to lead a small team is necessary.

Responsibilities

• Deliver acute community psychiatric care to patients in crisis.
• Provide clinical leadership and mentoring to junior staff.
• Initiate service improvement initiatives within the team.
• Conduct initial assessments and brief interventions.

Skills

Experience in acute psychiatry

Excellent communication skills

Organizational skills

Leadership in team setting

Job description

A dynamic role working in acute community psychiatry focused on delivering care to those in crisis and in need, which offers a wide variety of clinical presentations.

Generous provisions under the collective agreement with protected non‑clinical time, stellar leave provisions and working within a team that prioritises service development and quality improvement.

About the Role

We are seeking a consultant psychiatrist to join our Acute Community Services (ACS) team. ACS is made up of acute teams providing acute assessment to both the community and Middlemore Hospital Emergency Department. After assessment, our Home‑Based Treatment (HBT) team provides acute care in the community at home or community respite facilities. The role focuses on improvement, excellence and delivering equitable and culturally safe care to all patients in Counties Manukau.

There are opportunities to teach, educate and mentor students (medical, nursing & allied health) and psychiatry registrars, and to initiate and commence improvement initiatives within the service, with dedicated and protected non‑clinical time to support this. Work‑life balance is exceptionally important to us at ACS. Both roles also provide clinical leadership, and the consultant has opportunities to contribute to policy, procedure and service development. The consultant psychiatrist will act as a role model for high standards of care by supporting an environment where excellence can flourish.

About the Team/Service/Location

The Intake & Assessment (I&A) service is the single point of entry into mental health in Counties Manukau. The service covers the whole region and completes initial assessment and brief interventions for service users in crisis. The psychiatrist works closely with a multidisciplinary team of other psychiatrists, nurses, social workers and cultural workers. The job offers opportunities to outreach by seeing service users at home or in community clinic locations, making the work dynamic and ever‑changing.

About You

We are looking for someone who is keen to work within and together with the diverse and culturally rich community of Counties Manukau, and who can promote teamwork, navigate challenges of providing complex care to whaiora with complex presentations, and maintain a genuine focus on equitable health systems and outcomes.

Qualifications & Experience

• Experience of working in an acute psychiatry or crisis psychiatry setting is a benefit, but not necessary.
• Experience of supervising psychiatry registrars (or keenness to do so) is a benefit, but not necessary.
• Excellent communication skills and highly organized.
• Prepared to lead a small team in an acute community setting.

Our Commitment to Diversity

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for all New Zealanders. We embrace a diverse and inclusive workforce that better serves our community. We welcome applications from Māori, Pacific, disabled and rainbow communities.