Consultant in Perinatal Psychiatry

East London NHS Foundation Trust; Bedford; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job description

ELFT has long been recognised as a centre of excellence for mental and health care, innovation and improvement. So it is a very exciting time for you to come and work for us. Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Job overview

There is an exciting opportunity for an additional consultant psychiatrist to work in Bedfordshire and Luton to support the development of a countywide perinatal service. There is a well established multidisciplinary team who work collaboratively with colleagues in other mental health services, maternity services and health visiting services. There are networks with other East London perinatal services in addition to perinatal services across East of England.

In addition to direct clinical care, the service is active in quality improvement. There are training and development opportunities in quality improvement in the Trust and there are strong collaborative working relationships with people participation.

There are many service development opportunities and the service is working towards achieving accreditation with the Perinatal Quality Standards Network as part of the Royal College of Psychiatrists College Centre for Quality Improvement.

In addition, there are opportunities for teaching and training in addition to research. There are close links with Queen Mary University and research related to perinatal psychiatry could be supported.

Closing date: 1st of June 2025

AAC Panel date: Tuesday 17th June 2025

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will provide strong consultant leadership and will support continued development of the service. The team base is in Bedford, but the service is countywide.

The service offers advice, assessment and treatment for all perinatal patients with severe and complex mental health condition in the Bedfordshire and Luton area. The service receives over 1,200 referrals a year and offers support throughout pregnancy until up to 24 months post partum. The post holder will hold regular clinics in addition to visiting patients at home where required. There are monthly joint obstetric liaison clinics. Collaborative working with maternity colleagues, health visitors, primary care and other mental health services is essential.

The consultant will also foster good relationships with the local mother and baby units. There are many opportunities for teaching and training, and for resident doctors to be based within the service.

Working for our organisation

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

This post is being advertised as a full time position, however, we would welcome a conversation about individual requirements including part time, job share and flexible working. If you are successful at interview, we can offer relocation expenses in line with the Trust relocation policy.

We would welcome interested candidates getting in touch for more information and we can arrange for candidates to visit the team.

Person specification

Teaching

Essential criteria

1. Experience of teaching medical undergraduates and postgraduates
2. Good teaching and communication skills
3. Experience of teaching non-medical professionals

Desirable criteria

1. Medical education qualification

Research and audit/ QI

Essential criteria

1. Experience of research
2. Audit or quality improvement experience

Desirable criteria

1. Publications in peer-reviewed journals in relevant academic fields
2. Experience of grant funded research work

Qualifications

Essential criteria

1. Fully registered with the General Medical Council
2. On the GMC Specialist Register or within 6 months of CCT, on approved higher training scheme at the time of interview
3. Membership or Fellowship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists or equivalent qualification (in accordance with Royal College of Psychiatrists guidelines)
4. Approval under Section 12(2) of Mental Health Act 1983 and Approved Clinician status

Desirable criteria

1. A higher degree such as MD or PhD

Knowledge and Experience

Essential criteria

1. Experience of clinical work in adult psychiatry at higher trainee, SASG or consultant level within the last 3 years
2. Knowledge and experience of the application of the Mental Health Act
3. Robust experience of working with severe and enduring mental illness, and risk assessment and management

Desirable criteria

1. Experience of working in perinatal mental health services
2. Experience of service development and introducing new services in mental health

Clinical skills and Supervision

Essential criteria

1. Ability to work in multidisciplinary team and provide leadership for the team
2. Expertise in risk assessment
3. Commitment to clinical governance

Desirable criteria

1. Experience in supervising trainee doctors and SAS doctors

Making Things Better

Quality Improvement is a key part of our work to improve our services and refine how we do things. We have a global reputation for our quality improvement work and we don't stand still! So we offer a fantastic opportunity for our staff to learn, lead and contribute towards improving our services.

We launched our Five Year Strategy in April 2018, which identified four main strategic outcomes to improve: population health outcomes, experience of care, staff experience and improve value. This complements the NHS Long Term Strategy and sets out our direction of travel.

Our Community

We provide a wide range of community health and mental health inpatient services to children, young people, adults of working age, and older adults in The City of London, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Bedfordshire and Luton. We also provide psychological therapy services to the London Borough of Richmond, and provide Forensic services to the whole of North East London. We provide services in urban and rural settings, sometimes in our inpatient units, but mostly in the community close to where people live. Integrated care is key in making the best use of resources and providing effective care.

Aiming High

We were rated 'Outstanding' by the CQC in 2016, were proud to be rated 'Outstanding' again in 2018 and continue to be rated 'Outstanding' in 2021. We were named in the HSJ's Top 10 best places to work in healthcare and were voted Provider Trust of the Year in 2018.

Staff and Service Users United

We strive to ensure that staff feel valued by the Trust and as they are truly pivotal in delivering better outcomes for our patients and service users. Our aspiration is to help to make ELFT the best place to work. This Trust is clinician-led and provides the highest possible level of clinical expertise throughout its services. We pride ourselves on our service user involvement. A service user will be on your assessment centre and interview panel if you are invited to meet us.

We especially welcome people with lived experience of health difficulties, with insight and understanding of different backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles in our population as we believe that this will equip staff to deliver a high standard of care to our service users and patients.

Diversity

ELFT is committed to being a diverse organisation and our workforce is reflective of the population and communities we serve. We believe that having colleagues with a range of backgrounds and life experiences enriches and adds value to the outcomes we have set out to achieve. Having partnered and endorsed by organisations who are representative and experts in various areas of equality and diversity, we can ensure we are meeting the pre-set standards all the way from recruitment stage throughout the career journey of our employees by being accessible, having fair inclusive practices and a host of staff networks to support, nurture and celebrate our valued staff in the workplace.

Other reasons to apply

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that's job share, part time or another flexible pattern.

As part of the relocation scheme we presently have, the Trust could support you with offering up to £10,000 for removal and associated expenses. This is subject to change and terms and conditions apply.

What Next?

If you like the sound of ELFT, don't waste a moment. We sometimes close adverts early if there is a high response, so apply now!

As part of our recruitment process we may be required to share information you provide on the application form with NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) and/or other organisations for the purpose of the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of fraud or any other unlawful activity affecting the NHS. We also use third party providers to check and verify your qualifications who may be contacting you on our behalf to verify the same.

If you do not hear from us within four weeks of the closing date, please consider that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion. You must provide professional email addresses for all referees as we will contact them as soon as an offer has been made. Please note we do not request references prior to interviews. All applications made through NHS Jobs account will be processed by TRAC System. Please note that some emails may go to your spam/junk mailbox so make sure you check this regularly.

Find us online at www.elft.nhs.uk | Find us on Facebook | Follow us on @NHS_ELFT

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

1. Consultant Perinatal Psychiatry Post Bedfordshire and Luton (PDF, 512.3KB)
2. ELFT at a glance (PDF, 151.0KB)
3. Staff Benefits (PDF, 7.1MB)
4. ELFT Strategy (PDF, 153.5KB)
5. Trust Demographic Information (PDF, 1.5MB)