Job summary
- Main area
- Forensic Adult Psychiatry
- Grade
- Consultant
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 10 sessions per week
- Job ref
- 350-MED6318785-B
- Employer
- Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Rathbone Low Secure Unit
- Town
- Liverpool
- Salary
- £109,725 - £145,478 per annum plus 10% R&R (non contractual) and on call
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 19/10/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist - Rathbone Low Secure Unit
Consultant
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Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.
We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and also particularly encourage applications from ethnically diverse, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under-represented in our workforce. Furthermore we welcome applications from reservists and ex-armed forces personnel as we recognise the benefits of the values, skills, training and experience that they bring to their work with us. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.
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Job overview
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust is seeking to appoint a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist to join the team at Rathbone Low Secure Unit in Liverpool. This is a full-time, permanent position, arising due to the retirement of the current post holder.
About the Service
Rathbone Low Secure Unit provides specialist forensic mental health care for detained male patients with mental disorders who present a significant risk to others and require treatment in a secure setting. The service comprises 32 beds across two wards, serving a population of approximately 330,000 across North and South Liverpool, South Sefton (up to Southport), and part of Kirkby. It forms a key part of the secure services pathway within Mersey Care.
The Role
The successful candidate will:
- Join a well-established multidisciplinary team (MDT) with strong medical support.
- Work alongside a substantive consultant colleague, each managing 16 inpatients.
- Be supported by a full-time substantive staff grade doctor, a core trainee, and a full-time Physician Associate.
- Maintain clinical responsibility for patients throughout their journey within the unit
Main duties of the job
The post holder will act as Responsible Clinician within a multidisciplinary team. They will lead on the management of a caseload of 16 male inpatients. This will include preadmission planning, MDT meetings, CPA reviews and discharge planning. The post will require liaison with other agencies, including the Ministry of Justice, police, probation, social care and other mental health services. They will exercise statutory responsibilities for patients detained under Restriction Orders, including completing statutory reports to the Ministry of Justice. For both non-restricted and restricted patients under their care they will be responsible for providing reports regarding Consent to Treatment and providing reports to, and attending, Tribunals and Managers’ Reviews.
The post holder will lead on the assessment of individuals referred for admission from a variety of sources including other secure services, general adult services, courts or prisons. . These are discussed at the weekly referral meeting. The postholder will participate in the panel meetings which are also held weekly and review referrals for admission to low secure and forensic step-down beds across the Merseyside and Cheshire region.
The post holder will be expected to participate in the management of the service and attend clinical team meetings and other service-related meetings as appropriate. They will also provide supervision to the junior doctors and / or Physician Associate working in the service.
Working for our organisation
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.
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.
Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The post holder will manage the care and treatment of 16 male in-patients within the LSU. This will include patients across both wards (Allerton and Childwall). This will include preadmission planning, MDT meetings, CPA reviews and discharge planning. The post will require liaison with other agencies, including the Ministry of Justice, police, probation, social care, and other mental health services.
The post holder will be lead on the assessment of individuals referred for admission from a variety of sources including other secure services, general adult services, courts, or prisons. The service on average receives 2-3 referrals for assessment for admission a month.
The post holder will exercise statutory responsibilities as a Responsible Clinician within the meaning of the Mental Health Act 1983 (Amended 2007) for patients detained under Restriction Orders, including completing statutory reports to the Ministry of Justice. For both non-restricted and restricted patients under his/her care he/she will be responsible for providing reports regarding Consent to Treatment and providing reports to, and attending, Tribunals and Managers’ Reviews. The postholder will be expected to be approved under Section 12(2) of the Mental Health Act 1983 for the purposes of recommending admission to hospital and be an Approved Clinician.
The post holder will be expected to participate in the management of the service and attend clinical team meetings and other service-related meetings as appropriate.
PLEASE SEE JOB DESCRIPTION FOR FULL DETAILS ON THE ROLE
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- MB BS or equivalent medical qualification.
- MRCPsych
Desirable criteria
- Qualification or higher degree in medical education, clinical research or managment
- Additional Clinical qualifications
Eligibility
Essential criteria
- Fully registered with the GMC with a licence to practise at the time of appointment
- Included on the GMC Specialist Register OR within six months.
- Approved clinician status OR able to achieve within 3 months of appointment
- Approved under S12 OR able to achieve with 3 months of appointment
Desirable criteria
- In good standing with GMC with respect to warning and conditions on practice
Transport
Essential criteria
- Holds and will use valid UK driving licence OR provides evidence of proposed alternative
Clinical Skills, Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
- Excellent knowledge in specialty
- Excellent clinical skills using bio-psycho-social perspective and wide medical knowledge
- Excellent oral and written communication skills in English
- Able to manage clinical complexity and uncertainty
- Makes decisions based on evidence and experience including the contribution of others
- Able to meet duties under MHA and MCA
Desirable criteria
- Wide range of specialist and sub-specialist experience relevant to post within NHS or comparable service
Academic Skills & Lifelong Learning
Essential criteria
- Able to deliver undergraduate or postgraduate teaching and training
- Ability to work and lead team
- Demonstrate commitment to shared leadership & collaborative working to deliver improvement
- Participated in research or service evaluation
- Participated in continuous professional development
- Able to use and appraise clinical evidence
- Has actively participated in clinical audit. and quality improvement programmes
Desirable criteria
- Able to plan and deliver undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and training relevant to this post
- Reflected on purpose of CPD undertaken
- Experienced in clinical research and / or service evaluation
- Evidence of achievement in education, research, audit and service improvement: awards, prizes
- Has led clinical audits leading to service change or improved outcomes to patientss
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
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Dr Gill Holt
- Job title
- Clinical Director
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0151 431 5152
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