Consultant Psychiatrist - Adult Community Service (Bridgwater)

Job summary

This post has arisen following the reduction in another consultant's hours. It is a 6 PA post which includes 1.0 PA SPA. There is potential for flexibility in the working time equivalence of this post depending on suitable candidates needs.

The post will be alongside 4 established consultant psychiatrists (2.5 WTE). Bridgwater also has an Early Intervention team and Home Treatment team with their own dedicated consultants. Also there is a county wide Perinatal, Eating Disorders and ADHD services with dedicated consultants.

Main duties of the job

The core CMHT works closely with the wider community mental health service and is referred to as CMHS. This consists of therapists, psychologists, occupational therapists, social workers, mental health nurses, psychiatrists and three managers. We work together especially in complex cases and where there is higher risk to support patients and colleagues. This working together includes within patient consultation, professionals meetings, care planning, referrals meetings and multi-disciplinary team meetings. We also have formal liaison meetings with inpatient services planning admissions and discharges

Community services have expanded across the Trust with concomitant expansion in staff as we have built up a new service called Open Mental Health in the last 2 years. This service works closely with primary care, the wider community and the voluntary sector. This service includes psychologists, assistant psychologists, liaison staff, eating disorder leads and support workers. This gives many more options for patients referred or being discharged from mental health services. Linked software and interface meetings ensure all referrals have a considered and appropriate offer with reduced repeated assessments. We are able to provide a more holistic service with greater satisfaction for staff and patients.

The post is open to a suitable candidate who is not on the specialist register but has plans to go through the CESR process.

About us

Bridgwater is between the Somerset Levels and the coast and is proximal to Taunton which is Somerset's county town, which is an administration and education centre. Glanville House is 5 minutes from the M5. Distance to Bristol and London by train are less than 1 hour and 2 hours, respectively. Bridgwater is 28 miles from central Bristol with average train time journey of 51 minutes.

Our Trust was formed on 1 April 2020 when Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust merged. We provide community and mental health services across the whole of Somerset and acute hospital services in the north, west and centre of the county and beyond. Somerset NHS Foundation Trust is the first NHS trust on the English mainland to provide community, mental health and acute hospital services. We work with health and social care partners in Somerset to ensure that we deliver outstanding services that meet the needs of our population.

In November 2020 and October 2021 Somerset FT was shortlisted for the mental health trust of the year award in the widely acclaimed HSJ Awards. It follows a series of initiatives that we've introduced that have changed the way we develop and plan our mental health services - by listening to and involving patients themselves. The HSJ judges said they were looking for trusts which offer excellent, patient-centric care built on strong engagement between clinicians within and beyond the organisation.