Consultant Psychiatrist
The closing date is 14 March 2026.
An exciting opportunity has arisen for us to appoint a full time Consultant in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The post will be based in the Tier 4 Mental Health Unit at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust. The appointee will work full time within Sunflower House, our Tier 4 Mental Health Unit. The consultant is primarily responsible for delivering a high-quality clinical service, as well as contributing to the leadership and strategic development of the service. The post holder will have the opportunity to take on the role of clinical supervisor for a trainee and/or trust grade doctor based within the service. For further information related to this role, please refer to the job description.
Main duties of the job
The consultant psychiatrist is primarily responsible for delivering a high-quality clinical service, as well as contributing to the leadership and strategic development of the service. The postholder will offer a psychiatry view to the triage of all new referrals. They will offer senior oversight and psychiatric formulation and opinion to contribute to MDT thinking of all cases considered and seen by the team. The postholder will hold psychiatric responsibility for all inpatients and day patients – this will involve completion of psychiatric assessments, formulations and management plans. The psychiatrist will hold responsibility for initiation and monitoring of all medication treatments. The postholder is the responsible clinician for the patients. The postholder will manage, appraise and give professional supervision to junior medical staff as agreed between consultant colleagues and the medical director and in accordance with the Trust's personnel policies and procedures. This may include assessing competences under the Modernising Medical Careers framework. The post holder will supervise one junior doctor in this role (Deanery Higher Specialty Trainee (St 3+)).
About us
Sunflower House (previously Dewi Jones Unit) is a tier 4 mental health unit for Children and Young People up to the age of 13. The team have recently moved into a purpose built facility on site at Alder Hey with 12 specially designed bedrooms, and a family bedroom providing a safe and high quality place to stay. We also have a therapy garden, calming sensory room, an immersive room and many other facilities to allow young people to access lift skills sessions and therapy. We have a highly skilled multi-disciplinary team including nurses, social workers, family therapy, psychotherapy and psychiatry. The team are focused on developing the very best outcome for children and young people. As one of Europe’s biggest and busiest children’s hospitals, at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, we treat everything from common illnesses to highly complex and specialist conditions. In addition to our main hospital site, we offer paediatric services at a number of community sites and hold local clinics across Merseyside, Cumbria, Shropshire, Wales and the Isle of Man. We also provide specialist inpatient care for children with complex mental health needs in our recently relocated and newly opened state of the art facility.
Job description
Job responsibilities
For further information about this role, please refer to the job description and person specification.
Person Specification
Education and Training
Essential
* Full GMC registration, licence to practice with inclusion on GMC specialist register (or eligible for or within 6 months of eligibility for)
* Primary medical degree
* MRCPsych
* Approved clinician status OR able to achieve within 3 months of appointment
* Approved under S12 OR able to achieve within 3 months of appointment
Desirable
* Qualification or higher degree in medical education, clinical research, or management
* Additional clinical qualifications
Experience
Essential
* Excellent knowledge in specialty
* Excellent clinical skills using bio-psycho-social perspective and wide medical knowledge
* Excellent oral and written English communication skills
* Ability to manage clinical complexity and uncertainty
* Ability to make decisions based on evidence and experience including the contribution of others
* Able to meet duties under MHA and MCA
Desirable
* Wide range of specialist and sub-specialist experience relevant to post
Skills
Essential
* Ability to deliver undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and training
* Ability to work in, and lead a team
* Ability to supervise the clinical work of doctors in training and other staff
* Ability to organise and prioritise personal workload and that of others
* Ability to build effective relationships and work collaboratively with staff at all levels of the organisation. Ability to relate to patients and carers from a wide range of backgrounds and to empathise with their needs and concerns
* Evidence of being a team player and effective communicator as part of a multiagency team
* Leadership: ability to develop a vision and lead the change that brings it into effect within a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency context
* Effective time management, ability to work under pressure
* Well-developed reflective and self-care skills and ability to foster these attributes in others
* Ability to share knowledge and difficulties with colleagues
Desirable
* Experienced in clinical research/service evaluation
* Awards/presentations/publications
personal attributes
Essential
* Self-motivated to set and achieve targets
* Flexible in regard to teamwork
* Effective member of multidisciplinary team
* Demonstrable evidence of ongoing commitment to personal and professional development
* Demonstrable evidence of ongoing commitment to the development of a high-quality service
* Flexible, adaptable, thorough and resilient
* Demonstrable evidence of ongoing commitment to clinical governance
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here: Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.
Employer details
Employer name: Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, Eaton Road, Liverpool, L12 2AP
Employer's website
https://alderhey.nhs.uk/
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