Equality and Diversity
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect. We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and encourage applications from ethnically diverse, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under‑represented in our workforce. We welcome applications from reservists and ex‑armed forces personnel. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.
Job Overview
As a Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist working for Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust you will be responsible for ensuring that our service users' needs are met through the delivery of high quality care.
Key Responsibilities
* Lead the outpatient multi‑disciplinary team at The Beckett Unit, Hollins Park, managing the community mental health team and Memory service, providing clinical care to service users who have been referred for older adult mental health care and specialist cognitive assessment.
* Work closely with a wide range of clinical and professional disciplines to deliver holistic care by completing assessments of new referrals, making formulations and managing their treatment to optimise the quality of life of the service users under your caseload.
* Serve as the Responsible Clinician for patients in your caseload within the Later Life & Memory Service based at The Beckett Unit, ensuring equitable allocation of GP surgeries and providing consultative, supervisory and supportive roles within the multidisciplinary team.
* Take an active part in the clinical work of the team and lead the development of the service.
* Provide leadership to the team, facilitating assessment, management and support of older adults referred for assessment of cognitive function and functional mental disorders and ensuring timely access to services and smooth pathways between primary care and secondary services.
* Operate within multi‑disciplinary integrated and co‑located teams, including health and social services staff, being accessible to team members, GP, primary care staff, patients and carers for expert advice and interventions.
* Participate in the allocation procedure within the team and respond flexibly to the needs of the team.
Assessment & Care Pathway
1. All referrals are added to the Assessment pathway upon receipt and autonomously screened by senior nursing staff from the team on a daily basis. The consultant may be consulted for greater medical oversight on a case‑by‑case basis.
2. For accepted referrals, a screening call is completed within 72 hours and an initial assessment by a Band 6 practitioner or above within two weeks.
3. Following the initial assessment, a diagnostic appointment is made with the Consultant Psychiatrist to establish the diagnosis and management plan.
4. For cognitive assessments, if a diagnosis of dementia is confirmed and treatment commenced, the patient is booked for Memory Team review at 11 weeks, 3 months and then 6 months thereafter.
5. Patients with a confirmed diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment are discharged from the service with appropriate advice.
6. Further investigations, if required, are requested prior to commencing treatment.
Team and Caseload
The postholder will cover 18 GP surgeries in the Warrington area, 23 care homes (including three dementia‑plus homes) and manage a Care Home Liaison team with a caseload of 45. The overall caseload for the postholder’s MDT is 1019, with approximately 50% of referrals from the total 1251 for the Warrington Later Life & Memory Service (Oct 2024‑Sep 2025). The over‑65 catchment population in Warrington is 41,115 (19.43%) and the service receives an average of 104 referrals per month.
Training & Development
Core Trainees in Psychiatry and Higher Trainees in Old Age Psychiatry (or Dual Higher Trainees in Old Age & General Adult Psychiatry) are typically placed with Warrington LLCS. The postholder’s MDT usually hosts a Core Trainee in Old Age Psychiatry; the other MDT at Warrington LLCS, led by Dr Rosemary Cameron, hosts a Higher Trainee.
Benefits
* Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.
* New entrants to the NHS will commence on the first pay point of the relevant band.
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