Specialty Doctor - Tower Hamlets Early Intervention - Fixed Term

Job overview

The post is based at a community clinic which also houses two large CMHTs, an Early Detection Service and a Specialist Autism Assessment service. The post will have some inpatient cover at the Tower Hamlets Centre for Mental Health at Mile End Hospital as there is consultant continuity of care for patients under THEIS. The service base is very central to the borough with good bus and Tube connections. The post holder will be working with consultant psychiatrists Dr Haitham Ismail/Jennifer Ahrens and Dr Susham Gupta.

The Tower Hamlets Early Intervention Service is a specialist service for adults experiencing their first episode of psychosis.  It is a borough wide service with a multidisciplinary team operating along principles of team based care with access to inpatient beds on Lea Ward (male) or Roman Ward (female) for patients in crisis. The service has recently expanded to work with adults aged 18-65yrs with subsequent development of sub-teams covering East and West primary care networks.

Main duties of the job

This service provides a package of biopsychosocial interventions to young people experiencing a first episode of schizophreniform psychosis, and is compliant with IRIS EI service guidelines operating as a consultant-led multidisciplinary team. Continuity of care is provided by up to 6-8 beds on Lea Ward and 4-6 beds on Roman Ward.

The post would suit someone with previous experience of working in teams and someone wanting to develop specialist experience in early psychosis.

The post has arisen following the current Specialty Doctor going on maternity leave

The post-holder will work alongside another 0.8wte Specialty Doctor, and provide cross-cover for them at the both sites during periods of annual, study, and sick leave.

There is also a distinct Early Detection Service allied to a prevention strategy, public health well-being agenda and detection of ultra-high risk patients. There are opportunities to get experience in this service.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Specialty Doctor will share the medical input for the team with another 0.8wte Specialty Doctor, a Core trainee (based on the ward), and 1.0 Specialist Trainee with the 2.0 wte Consultant Psychiatrists, working under clinical supervision. There will be a need to screen referrals, contribute to multidisciplinary assessments, correspond with referrers, colleagues and other involved professionals and conduct psychiatric reviews and chair CPAs of community patients. There will be occasional need to review ward patients, write tribunal reports, and attend tribunals as required. Specific administrative support is provided for preparation of GP correspondence, tribunal reports, and other documentation.

On average 8.0 Programmed Activities per week will be devoted to Direct Clinical Care – with 4 out-patient clinics and occasional home visits.

SASG doctors may very occasionally support ward round duties to cover leave of senior colleagues. There are usually 3-6 patients on both the male and female wards.