Consultant Psychiatrist in CAMHS - South Durham

Consultant Psychiatrist in CAMHS - South Durham

Closing date is 20 January 2026

This is an exciting opportunity for a child and adolescent consultant psychiatrist to become involved in transformation and leadership within a forward looking CAMHS service. We are keen to shape the post to fit the needs of the right applicant and to support them in developing their interests within our broad portfolio of services.

Durham Tees Valley Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services work with children and young people up to the age of 18 across GettingHelp, Getting More help and neurodevelopmental assessment teams. Generic teams are closely linked with LD CAMHS, Eating Disorders and Forensic CAMHS. The out of hours activity is supported by a dedicated CAMHS crisis team, which operates on a 24/7 basis and provides extended crisis input as well as home treatment options as an alternative to hospital admissions.

The Durham and Darlington Children and Young Peoples Service is based in The Acley Centre in Newton Aycliffe. The population of the local authority area is over 100,000 people with 25 % of the people under the age of 18 years old.

The post holder will have responsibility for the assessment and management of mental and/or behavioural needs of children and young people presenting with mental disorder and requiring assessment for neurodevelopmental needs.

There are opportunities to become a GMC registered trainer e.g. clinical and/or educational supervisor.

Main duties of the job

The post holder is expected to offer mental health assessment, psychiatric opinions, diagnosis and holistic care plans for patients up to the age of 18, referred to them in hours and when on call. The Trust expects about 2 new patient assessments per week with 650 face to face contacts per year; this is for a full-time consultant, but exact figures can vary, depending upon the type of work undertaken, in agreement in job planning.

Direct patient contact would include new patients to service, new psychiatric assessments and review appointments. Main conditions would be expected to include: ADHD, ASD, Anxiety Disorders, Mood Disorders, Eating Disorders, Tic Disorders, Psychosis, Self harm, Conduct Disorder and Sleep disorders. The Trust has a number of person centred pathways of care developed specifically for young people and the post holder would generally be expected to follow these.

About us

We are one of the largest specialist mental health and learning disabilities trusts in the country, with an annual income of £320 m 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 of inpatient and community services to 2 m 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 deliver our services by working in partnership with eight local authorities and clinical commissioning groups, a wide range of voluntary organisations, as well as service users, their carers and the public.

The Trust welcomes a conversation about flexible working.

Person Specification Leadership

• Reflects on own performance and behaviour, seeking and acting on feedback. Able to influence and persuade to improve services. Able to take on leadership role in multidisciplinary team. Knowledge of structure and management of the NHS and the Trust. Shows commitment to quality through knowledge of quality improvement and lean thinking methodology or able to achieve within one year of appointment. Able to adapt to and lead service change.
• Able to take on a leadership role outside the multidisciplinary team. Understanding of NHS & wider health economy and its implications for the work of the Trust. Trained to standard equivalent to level 2 in TEWV Trust Quality improvement system.

Academic Skills & Lifelong Learning

• Able to deliver undergraduate or postgraduate teaching and training. Participated in continuous professional development. Participated in research or service evaluation. Able to use and appraise clinical evidence. Has actively participated in clinical audit.
• Able to plan and deliver undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and training relevant to this post. Reflected on purpose of CPD undertaken. Experienced in clinical research and/or service evaluation. Evidence of achievement in education, research, audit and service improvement: awards, prizes, presentations and publications. Has led clinical audits leading to service change.

Qualifications

• MB BS or equivalent medical qualification.
• Fully registered with the GMC with a licence to practise at the time of appointment.
• Qualification or higher degree in medical education, clinical research or management.
• MRCPsych or equivalent postgraduate qualification.
• Approved Clinician Status and Section 12 Status or be able to achieve within 3 months.

Clinical Knowledge & Skills

• Excellent knowledge in specialty. Excellent clinical skills using bio psycho social perspective and wide medical knowledge. Excellent oral and written communication skills in English. Able to manage clinical complexity and uncertainty. Makes decisions based on evidence and experience including the contribution of others. Able to meet duties under MHA and MCA.
• Wide range of specialist and sub specialist experience relevant to post within NHS or comparable service.

Experience

• Describe your clinical experience relevant to this job role.
• Any other experience that may be applicable.

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.

Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust