Locum Consultant Psychiatrist

Somerset NHS Charity; Bristol; On-site; GBP 109,000 - GBP 146,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare provider in England is seeking a Locum Consultant Psychiatrist to join their Hospital Liaison Service for up to 12 months. The role involves delivering psychiatric expertise, supporting the hospital staff, and improving patient outcomes. Candidates should possess relevant medical qualifications, leadership skills, and experience in a general hospital setting. The position offers a competitive salary and opportunities for professional growth within a collaborative environment.

Benefits

Competitive benefits package

Protected time for professional activities

Opportunities for teaching and research

Qualifications

• Fully registered with the GMC and licensed to practice.
• Experience in assessing and treating patients in a general hospital setting.
• Evidence of continuous professional development (CPD).

Responsibilities

• Deliver expert diagnostic and treatment advice for complex mental health needs.
• Support the wider team in high-risk case management.
• Provide teaching and training to general hospital staff.

Skills

Leadership skills

Excellent communication skills

Crisis management

Team collaboration

Education

MB BS or equivalent medical qualification

Relevant Higher Degree (e.g., MD, PHD, MSc)

MRCPsych or equivalent

Job description

Main area Hospital Liaison Psychiatry Grade NHS Medical & Dental: Locum Consultant Contract Fixed term: 12 months (Locum Consultant Contract - 6 - 12 months) Hours Full time - 10 sessions per week Job ref 342-LORVN114-BNSSG-DH

Employer Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust Employer type NHS Site Long Fox Unit Town Weston-Super-Mare Salary £109,725 - £145,478 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 09/02/2026 23:59

NHS Medical & Dental: Locum Consultant

Job overview

We are seeking a Locum Consultant Psychiatrist or a Higher Specialist Trainee within 6 months of CCT to join our Hospital Liaison Service at Weston General Hospital covering a period of Maternity Leave for a period up to 12 months.

This is an exciting opportunity for a clinician who is passionate about improving mental health services & committed to achieving parity of esteem between mental and physical health.

You will play a key role in:

· Delivering psychiatric expertise within the Emergency Department (open 8am–10pm) and across hospital wards.

· Supporting general hospital staff in providing high-quality care to patients experiencing mental distress.

· Working collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams to enhance patient outcomes and service delivery.

North Somerset offers the perfect blend of professional challenge & lifestyle benefits:

• Seaside and countryside living at the gateway to the South West.
• Close to vibrant cities: Bristol, Bath, and Exeter.
• Excellent transport links:
  • Direct train services from Weston-Super-Mare to Bristol and London.
  • Easy access via M4 and M5 motorways to Devon, Cornwall, South Wales, & beyond.

Main duties of the job

As Consultant Psychiatrist in the Mental Health Liaison Service, you will providemedical leadership to a dynamic, multi-disciplinary team serving Weston General Hospital. Your responsibilities will include:

• Delivering expert diagnostic and treatment advice for patients presenting with complex mental health needs.
• Supporting the wider team in high-risk case management.
• Leading on service improvement and development in partnership with the team manager.
• Providing teaching and training to general hospital staff, enhancing knowledge and confidence in mental health care.

You will play a pivotal role in sh aping the service, ensuring psychiatrists remain at the forefront of innovation and improvement.

North Somerset Locality is proud of its forward-thinking and inclusive medical community , where collaboration and clinical excellence are central values.

We are committed to your growth and career aspirations, you will receive:

• 2.5 Programmed Activities (PAs) of protected time for Supporting Professional Activities (SPA).
• Opportunities to engage in service leadership, management, and quality improvement projects.
• Full support to pursue your interests in teaching, research, and innovation.

We offer one of the most competitive and flexible benefits packages in the region, designed to support your wellbeing and work-life balance

Working for our organisation

We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust) a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care. We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire.

Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person-centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.

At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to the accompanying job description for full details on the roles and responsibilities of this post.

Person specification

Qualifications

• MB BS or equivalent medical qualification
• Relevant Higher Degree e.g MD,PHD,Msc or other additional clinical qualifications
• MRCPsych OR MRCPsych equivalent approved by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
• 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 of gaining CCT
• Approved clinician status OR able to achieve within 3 months of appointment
• Approved under S12 OR able to achieve with 3 months of appointment
• CCT in General Adult Psychiatry and/or Old Age psychiatry

Experience

• Experience of assessing and treating patients in a general hospital setting.
• Knowledge and evidence of participation in CPD
• Evidence of effective multidisciplinary team involvement

Personal Skills

• To possess leadership skills and be able to work collaboratively in a multidisciplinary team.
• Ability to manage own time, workload and prioritise clinical work
• Ability to appraise own performance as a Consultant.
• Able to demonstrate excellent communication skills, in order to effectively work with patients, carers and staff.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Evidence of specific achievements that demonstrate leadership skills

Clinical Skills

• Ability to assess and treat psychiatric problems in Adults of working age and to deal with crisis situations.

Knowledge

• Understanding of the management skills required to function successfully as a Consultant.
• Awareness of current issues in mental health service provision, policy and legislation.
• Knowledge of alternatives to inpatient admission care approaches

Teaching

• Commitment to and experience of undergraduate and postgraduate learning and teaching.
• Experience as an Educational Supervisor for trainees

Research and Audit

• Experience or involvement in a research project and publication.
• Experience of carrying out an audit project.

Management

• Evidence of management/leadership skills training.
• Previous management experience including that of other junior medical staff

We are proud to be fostering a diverse workforce that reflects our communities. A key commitment to this is improving staff representation from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, those from the LGBTQ+ communities, people with ‘lived-experience’ of mental health conditions and people living with disabilities,– we are a ‘Disability Confident Employer’ offering a guaranteed interview to Disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria. This includes people with a variety of disabilities and neurodivergent conditions (for example autism, ADHD, sensory, physical and learning disabilities).

We encourage applications from people who wish to work on a flexible basis, recognising that flexibility may mean a range of different working patterns and hours, we do our utmost to work with our staff to meet their needs and the needs of our service users.

Please apply to join us, we would love to hear from you. Any personal details you supply to us are kept safe in line with the General Data Protection Regulations.

Adverts normally close for application a few minutes before midnight on the closing date and we will let you know if we are offering you an interview by email via our recruitment system ‘TRAC’. We contact all applicants within 4 weeks after the closing date, so please check your emails regularly once you have submitted your application; you are welcome to contact us, via the TRAC system, if you have any queries about your application.

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Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.