Consultant Psychiatrist in Community AMH

Job summary

The Harrogate & Ripon locality is covered by two community mental health teams: Harrogate Integrated Community team (HICT) and Ripon Integrated Community Team (RICT) now merged. These teams include workers with assertive outreach and primary care functions, hence the term Integrated. They are both based at Hummingbird House, 31-33 Victoria Ave, HG1 5QE in Harrogate. The post holder will be expected to provide medical leadership to the Harrogate Community Mental Health Team and support Ripon Community Mental Health Team.

HICT covers the areas of Harrogate and Wetherby. Consultants for crisis team, The Orchards, perinatal, EIP and eating disorders work less than full time supported by community consultants.

The postholder has dedicated admin support, including individual office space and access to PC/laptop/phone with easy access to IT support if required. This is in line with RCPsych recommendations for Consultant Psychiatrists office space and support. They also have dedicated time in their work schedule within which to complete their assigned clinical duties, including those on Community Treatment Orders (CTO). The post holder will have an average of 8 patients on CTO/MOJ.

Main duties of the job

You will provide consultant lead in line with the principles of New Ways of Working. The team works on principles of productive and purposeful community services (PPCS). This approach to community care provides increase meaningful clinical activity and ensures evidence-based care in a way that reduces patient journey times and waste. Key elements of PPCS are in place and include the use of clinical huddles and clinical leadership teams in key decision-making and the need for more assertive caseload review and management processes. This occurs through incorporating early senior input into patient formulation and care as well as hosting regular reviews which allows clear and early decision-making. The core clinical work will involve outpatient clinics, formulation, review and leadership meetings and Mental Health Act-related work. The direct clinical workload centres on one new-patient clinic (2-3) patients weekly and two follow-up clinics weekly (5-6 patients each) approximately. Assessment of new patients and review of old ones will be according to need, as may be requested by their different care co-ordinators or the leadership team.

Based on Royal College recommendations, Outpatient work will comprise 3.5 PAs; Clinical Admin 1 PA; MDT work 1 PA; Emergencies 1 PA and MHA work 0.5 PAs. There will be flexibility around this guide depending on team requirements and support.

Further information can be found in the attached Job Description.

About us

We are one of the largest specialist mental health and learning disabilities trusts in the country operating from sites in Durham, Teesside, North Yorkshire and York and Selby. We provide a range inpatient and community services to 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).