Job responsibilities
This post aims to provide integrated mental and physical health care for patients with diabetes. At a national and hospital trust level, the patients voice and growing research in the area has led to a better understanding that psychological factors and psychiatric disorders can interfere with diabetes self-management, which if untreated leads to increased risk of diabetes complications and premature mortality and increased health care use. We at Kings Health Partners, in collaboration with our Mind Body Programme, have one of the largest clinical and research programmes delivering mental health services to people with diabetes. Our services, in particular 3 Dimensions for Diabetes (3DFD) have led to multiple national awards such as BMJ Diabetes Team 2014, Quality in Care 2011, Diabetes UK Mary MacKinnon Award 2015, NHS Type 2 diabetes Regional Innovations 2014 Award. Our service was the basis of the Health Foundations Scaling Up Project applying our integrated models to heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and hypertension. This diabetes psychiatry post has been developed to support our continuing advances at the cutting edge of liaison psychiatry and we are looking for consultant who wants to be part of our exciting, extremely rewarding and pioneering services.
The post holder will assess, manage, sometimes case manage, and support people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes who have mental health issues interfering with diabetes self-care with the primary aim of improving diabetes outcomes, help integrate mental health care into the service, have a strategic role in developing services and be involved in team education and training.
The post holder will see the full range of psychiatric morbidities, there is a high prevalence of depression, anxiety, eating disorders, borderline personality, substance misuse, borderline learning difficulties and family issues.
GSTT has an interest in supporting young adults living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes with award winning pioneering projects such as the YES empowerment project for young people with type 1 diabetes. These patients social context is often high levels of socio-economic deprivation and parental neglect; they are an engaging group of people to work with and there are many opportunities for applying and adapting your clinical and psychotherapeutic skills in this setting.
The multidisciplinary team is made up of Diabetes consultants and trainees, psychologists, psychotherapists, dieticians, pharmacists, DSNs and podiatrists. There is a diabetes psychiatry outpatient clinic on Monday afternoon, which has slots for one new patient and three follow up patients. There is a multidisciplinary complex clinic on Tuesdays, which would typically include 4-6 patients, some of whom may have been referred urgently on the same day, followed by an MDT meeting. One Monday per month there is a Young Diabetes clinic for up to four patients. Between November 2020 and October 2021, there were 233 referrals to the service.
Dr Belinda Hemingway, Highly Specialised Health Psychologist
Stephanie Singham, Medical Psychotherapist
The post holder will be part of the group of SLaM consultant psychiatrists based at GSTT; Dr Cormac Fenton, Dr Tim Segal, Dr Ranjith Gopinath and Dr Georgios Basdanis at STH. Dr Polyxeni Christodoulou at Guys. Dr Daniella Barros, neuropsychiatry. Dr Livia Martucci, perinatal. Dr Suhas Hydros and Dr Ben Baig CAMHS. Dr Viv Mak, older adult liaison.
