Specialty Doctor

Job overview

Are you a Psychiatric trainee or specialty doctor looking for an exciting role in London that combines clinical work with opportunities for research and quality improvement ,with no on call commitments?

We have two posts available - each for a full time specialty doctor on our well established acute adult in patient wards ( Clare ward – male and Virginia Woolf ward – female) within the London Borough of Lewisham. These services  are  part of the renowned South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation trust.

For further details please refer to attached advertisement.

Main duties of the job

The main duties of the post holder are to provide psychiatric input for the ward’s case load, and to work with the consultant, junior doctors, and ward MDT to deliver high quality  and safe care for patients under the care of the unit.

You will be expected to deputise for the Consultant in their absence although there will be nominal consultant cover in place to support you and the MDT.

You will participate in the ward’s daily MDT hand over meetings (also called as DCCM – Direct clinical care meetings) and  twice weekly ward rounds. Although ward rounds are MDT run and consultant chaired, the post holder will be expected to chair these meetings in the absence of the consultant. Please note that there will always be nominal consultant cover should the regular consultant be on leave, so the post holder can be reassured of senior support at these times.

For further details please refer to attached JD.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

You will also be expected to attend the directorate’s bed management meetings ( if your consultant cannot) and any other forums/meetings aimed at improving length of stay and quality of care within our acute in patient services.

Many of the ward patients would have been detained under the Mental health act and a fundamental part of the role is to ensure completion of statutory paperwork relevant your grade including tribunal reports and representing the consultant in MH tribunal hearings.

The applicant must be able to conduct in depth informed clinical interviews, to be able to do mental state assessments, risk assessments (with risk management plan – supported by team Consultant and MDT colleagues), general physical examination and request relevant investigations like ECG, Bloods and formulate appropriate treatment plans with the clinical team and support their implementation.

Post holder will be required to do necessary documentation in the patient’s electronic notes and liaise with the ward multidisciplinary team and the Consultant as well as other services including carers and relatives, to optimise care. You may be required to make referrals to other services and complete discharge and other relevant documentation although large majority of this is done by the junior doctors on the ward.

The role also includes undertaking and completing psychiatric reports under supervision for Mental Health Tribunals and Hospital Managers hearings as needed. You will therefore need to be section 12 approved or eligible for Sec 12 approval within one to two months of commencing in post.

You will be given the opportunity to participate (and as a learning experience, chair) in a variety of other meetings apart from ward rounds such as the Team Governance meeting, Audit/QI projects and the In-patient forum.

For further details, please refer to attached JD.