Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist – COAST CAMHS (£45k RRP)
Full Time – 10 sessions | Permanent | Haywards Heath
An opportunity to lead crisis care for young people within an innovative CAMHS acute service.
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist to join the COAST (Crisis Outreach Acute Support Team), based at Chalkhill, Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.
COAST provides intensive home treatment and crisis outreach for young people experiencing acute mental health crises, working closely with community CAMHS teams, inpatient services and wider urgent care pathways to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions.
About the role
As Consultant Psychiatrist within COAST, you will provide senior psychiatric leadership within a well‑established multidisciplinary crisis service.
You will support an active caseload of approximately 12–20 young people at any one time, providing specialist psychiatric assessment and treatment while helping shape crisis care pathways across the CAMHS system.
Your responsibilities will include:
* Leading psychiatric assessments and management of complex clinical presentations
* Providing specialist input for young people receiving intensive home treatment
* Supporting access and gatekeeping assessments across the CAMHS urgent care pathway
* Acting as Responsible Clinician for patients detained under the Mental Health Act where required
* Providing supervision and support to junior medical staff
* Contributing to service development, quality improvement and pathway redesign
* Participating in the CAMHS Consultant on‑call rota (currently 1:9 with compensatory rest)
You will play a visible leadership role across the service, contributing to daily handovers, clinical discussions and system‑wide decision making.
* Opportunity to shape crisis and acute CAMHS pathways
* Work within a highly skilled multidisciplinary team including therapists, psychologists, nurses, occupational therapists and social workers
* Strong collaboration with inpatient units, community CAMHS teams and provider collaboratives
* Supportive consultant peer network and medical leadership structure
* Opportunities for teaching, research and service innovation
This role attracts a Recruitment and Retention Package of up to £45,000, paid over three years:
Why Haywards Heath?
Haywards Heath offers excellent transport links with direct trains to London and the south coast, easy access to Gatwick Airport and proximity to the South Downs National Park. Free on‑site parking is available at the hospital.
About you
You will be a Consultant Psychiatrist in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, with GMC registration and inclusion on the Specialist Register (or within six months).
You will demonstrate:
* Strong clinical expertise in CAMHS and crisis care
* Excellent leadership and multidisciplinary team working
* Ability to manage complex clinical presentations
* Experience supporting service development and quality improvement
* Commitment to teaching, research and continuous professional development
Approved Clinician and Section 12 approval (or ability to obtain within three months) are required.
Location: Chalkhill, Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath
Contract: Permanent
Our commitment
We are committed to building a workforce that reflects the communities we serve and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and from disabled candidates who are currently under‑represented within our organisation.
If you are passionate about improving outcomes for young people in mental health crisis and want to contribute to the development of a leading CAMHS acute service, we would love to hear from you.
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