Specialty Doctor in Adult Mental Health – Community

Job summary

This is a replacement 10 PA post for a specialty doctor working in North Durham Mental Health Team. North Durham Community Mental Health Team serves Adults aged 18 upwards who present with a mental illness. The team is integrated with Durham County Council and provides statutory care act assessments alongside mental health assessment. Patients with an organic illness are managed by Service for Older People. The service operates Monday to Friday between the hours of 9 to 5, with flexible working to see patients from 8am to 6pm.

The team is currently spread between 2 bases one at Chester Le street Health Centre and the other at Derwent clinic in Consett with a plan to find a suitable base for all the team within the covered areas. Patients are seen both at base and in the local community. The team covers the North Durham Area, Chester Le street, Stanley and Consett ( 3 WTE Consultants for the 3 areas). There are excellent working relationships with primary care and works closely with the local community/voluntary sector.

Main duties of the job

Clinical duties of post holder

To conduct comprehensive assessment including risk assessments

to respect the rights and the dignity of patients and to consider the individual and cultural needs of patients and work with families and carers in the best interest of the patient

To conduct Medication reviews/follow up/ annual reviews for psychotropic medications and to adhere to evidence-based prescribing and monitoring of pharmacological treatment

To adhere to guidelines of monitoring of physical health of patients on psychotropic medications

To Prescribe safely and be involved in medication management

To participate fully in huddle, DDM and MDT meetings.

To fully contribute to Formulation meetings

To be involved in Clinical leadership.

To be approved under S12 of MHA OR able to achieve within 6 months of appointment. Once section 12 approved, there is an expectation to contribute to Mental Health Act assessments.

On-call arrangements

To contribute to service improvement/ Audit

To comply with Trust policies and procedures and to contribute to the formulation of Trust Clinical Policies as appropriate

About us

We are one of the largest specialist mental health and learning disabilities trusts in the country, with an annual income of £320m and a workforce of some 6,700 staff operating from around 100 sites in Durham, Teesside, North Yorkshire and York and Selby. We provide a range inpatient and community services to 2m people living in County Durham, the Tees Valley, Scarborough, Whitby, Ryedale, Harrogate, Hambleton and Richmondshire. We also provide additional specialist services to other parts of Northern England.

We are a multi-award winning trust and are included within the Health Service Journals Best 100 Places to Work. The trust take a positive and proactive approach to support staff in their personal development and has embedded the Talent Management approach within the Trust.

Psychiatrists are essential contributors to the majority of our mental health teams. Service users expect and are justified to expect collaborative relationships with dedicated psychiatrists who work consistently as part of effective services. The Medical Directorate and Medical Development Team are striving to improve medical workforce recruitment and retention in a variety of ways and the cornerstone of these efforts is The TEWV Charter for the Medical Workforce. (Please see attached Supporting Document).

Details

Date posted

23 April 2026

Pay scheme

Hospital medical and dental staff

Grade

Specialty Doctor

Salary

£61,542 to £99,216 a year

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

12 months

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working

Reference number

C9346-AMH-326M2

Job locations

Chester-le-street Health Centre

Newcastle Road

Chester Le Street

County Durham

DH3 3UR

Job responsibilities

Please see the attached job description for further information on this post. Please note that this job description has not yet been approved by The Royal College and therefore subject to change.

Teaching & Training

Essential

Desirable

CPD & Appraisal

Essential

Qualifications

Essential

Desirable

Clinical Knowledge & Skills

Essential

Desirable

Research, Audit & Quality Improvement

Essential

Desirable