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 team in Easington, County Durham. The post‑holder will work as part of the community team, which is based in Seaham.
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. This is a replacement post following retirement of the previous postholder.
This post includes scheduled sessions in the Easington CMHT; no other fixed commitments with any other teams or services are included. We would, however, be keen to hear from applicants with any special interests and these would be considered as part of the job planning process, by mutual agreement.
The post holder will provide consultant psychiatric input to a population of 20,647 people over 65 years in the Easington area, alongside a specialty doctor.
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. The teams use the Care Programme Approach (CPA) to ensure regular reviews and risk assessments are completed, with supervision in place in accordance with trust policy.
Main duties of the job
The Clinical PAs are 7.5 PA across the week, based at the Seaham team base and this is likely to include a combination of clinics at the team base, and home visits across the catchment area. The post‑holder will be responsible for the delivery of mental health services to the population of older people of approximately 20,000.
This post provides consultant leadership to the community teams, working closely with other consultant colleagues working in the Durham and Darlington CMHTs, and the consultants and teams at our inpatient MHSOP services. The post holder will provide clinical supervision to the team specialty doctor.
The Consultant is an integral member of enthusiastic and well managed multi‑disciplinary team.
There will be a requirement to undertake some home visits. It is expected that the post holder will carry a small personal caseload (historically, around 10 patients or fewer) with the team members being care coordinator for most patients, reviewing that care with the consultant in line with new ways of working.
The weekly workload for the consultant will consist of around 1‑2 new patient assessments with flexibility to respond to urgent referrals, face‑to‑face support to the team in scheduled meetings and ad‑hoc, around 10‑12 face‑to‑face reviews of community patients either at their home or in clinic with actual numbers depending on the complexity of each review.
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 2 million 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
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