Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist

Following a planned uplift of funding through the Long Term Plan, we are delighted to be able to offer an additional substantive Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist post (0.6PA) to join our expanding team covering the ‘Mid Mersey’ region (Warrington, Halton, St Helens and Knowsley). You will join a passionate and welcoming multidisciplinary team (which includes an existing 0.8PA Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist) delivering high quality, evidence based care to women and families throughout their perinatal journey.

The team has a base at Hollins Park hospital, but has satellite clinics across the Mid Mersey and the post holder will work across the Mid Mersey Region, covering the boroughs of Warrington, Halton, St Helens and Knowsley. It is likely the consultant will be predominately provide consultant input to 2 out of the 4 boroughs (the other 2 being covered by the other consultant already in post), but the ability to work flexibly across the boroughs will be required if necessary

The consultant psychiatrist is expected to carry a caseload of the most complex cases. The majority of these will be care co-ordinated or have another team member involved delivering perinatal specific interventions. They will also be available to provide consultation, advice and assessments to other team members and secondary community mental health services, although they are not required to act as care co-ordinator. They will be required to undertake new assessments for complex patients, provide medication and diagnostic assessments, lead CPA reviews and birth planning appointments, provide crisis and urgent reviews and lead discharges planning appointments for complex patients.

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 11 million people.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We’re currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

While primarily responsible for delivering a quality clinical service, the consultant psychiatrist is also expected to be actively involved in the development of the team and broader service, together with the rest of the leadership team. We have an active, ambitious and innovative perinatal service Quality Improvement programme, overseen by the Clinical Development Oversight Group, which consists of the service clinical leads and those clinicians involved in specific QI projects.

The service has an ambitious training plan, and the consultant will be able to access regular ‘in house’ training, and will also be expected to deliver training across the trust and to external agencies.

There is no inpatient commitment with this post and there is no Mother and Baby Unit located within the service, but we have close links with our local regional units in Wythenshawe and Chorley.

The Mid Mersey division has borough CMHTs (these are called Recovery teams), an EIP service, CAMHs, psychiatric liaison services at both acute hospitals (Warrington and Whiston), Crisis teams and older persons mental health teams. There are acute inpatient units in each of the boroughs. The local maternity units are at Whiston Hospital and Warrington.

The consultant will join a supportive community of established and experienced local and regional perinatal psychiatrists, in addition to the network of psychiatrists of all disciplines within Merseycare.

When the post holder is on leave cover is provided by the other medics on the days they work and by generic adult mental health team consultant relevant to the geographical patch at other times, with expert perinatal advice available from perinatal consultants in other teams.

The team consists of:
0.8 WTE consultant perinatal psychiatrist

0.4 WTW consultant perinatal psychiatrist (Currently a consultant psychiatrist is employed on a 1 year fixed term contract, pending this substantive post)

0.9WTE specialty doctor

1 WTE Band 7 Clinical Team Manager

1 WTE Band 7 Clinical Lead

0.8 WTE Band 8a Advanced Clinical Pharmacist

6 WTE Band 6 Mental Health Practitioners in post and currently recruiting to 9.5 WTE

1.6 WTE Band 6 Occupational Therapists

3.4 WTE Band 8a/8b Clinical Psychologists

2 WTE Band 4 Family Support Workers

1 WTE Band 4 Assistant Practitioner

2 WTE Band 4 Assistant Psychologists

1.2 WTE Band 3 Peer Support Workers

1 WTE Band 7 Systemic Family Practitioner

2 WTE Band 2/3 Administrator

1.6 WTE Band 4 Medical Secretary

The team has a senior leadership team consisting of the consultants, clinical lead, lead psychologist and team manager, and meets on a weekly basis.

Please see job description for further details.