Consultant Psychiatrist Dorset Prisons

Job overview

The post holder will be eligible for inclusion in the Specialist Register in Forensic Psychiatry or General Adult Psychiatry.

The primary duties of the post holder will include consultant leadership for the Mental Health In-reach Team at prisons based in Dorset.

The post will be divided as follows;

1 FTE covering all 3 sites:

• 2 days HMP Guys Marsh only
• 2 days HMP Portland only
• 1 day HMP The Verne only

The post holder will have 2.5 SPA allocated in their job plan for undertaking activities that support the professional role such as teaching, training, clinical management, clinical governance, service development and other relevant activities.

There is 1 FTE vacancy across Dorset, and we welcome applications from candidates interested in some or all of the following arrangements:

• 1 FTE across all three sites (2 days Guys Marsh, 2 days Portland, 1 day Verne)
• 2 days – Guys Marsh only
• 2 days – Portland only
• 1 day – The Verne only
• 3 days – The Verne & Portland

We are keen to accommodate flexibility and encourage interest from applicants with varied availability across the region.

Main duties of the job

Clinical work – HMP Guys Marsh, HMP Portland & HMP The Verne

• assessing prisoners in the house-blocks and in Healthcare
• liaising with services outside the prison to arrange CPAs, aftercare plans or transfers to hospital
• attending the inpatient unit to manage psychiatric cases.
• any other care which could reasonably be expected of a consultant acting in an in-reach capacity in a prison
• quality improvement initiatives, to be agreed with multidisciplinary colleagues and the service managers.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

This is a new full time post created in response to clinical demand and service mobilisation.

The post holder will be supported by the South West Prisons Consultant team and the Associate Clinical Director for South West Prisons, who will also act as Line Manager.

The post includes an interesting and varied range of clinical responsibilities for prisoners with a wide range of clinical conditions, including acute and chronic mental illness, personality disorder and ADHD.

Workload at HMP Guys Marsh, HMP Portland & HMP The Verne

The in-reach team holds a caseload and within this caseload, a number of patients would be subject to CPA management. New assessments are normally slotted into the ward rounds (Inpatients) and into prearranged out-patient clinics if the new assessments are generated from the referral system. All referrals are triaged by the In-Reach Team. On rare occasions, assessments are requested as an emergency from the wings or segregation unit. This is variable but on average couple of times a week.  Whilst there is flexibility in allocation of individual responsibilities, the overarching model is one of integrated working across the mental health multidisciplinary teams.

This post-holder will have his or her base at HMP Guys Marsh, HMP Portland and HMP The Verne for the allocated PAs, where the mental health service comprises a full multidisciplinary team, including mental health practitioners, occupational therapists, Support Time and Recovery workers, and a psychology team, supported by administration and a service manager.