Consultant Psychiatrist - Addictions, Bedford

ELFT has long been recognised as a centre of excellence for mental and health care, innovation and improvement. So it is a very exciting time for you to come and work for us. Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Job Overview

The post holder will support the multidisciplinary team in the management of patients with a dual diagnosis. The post-holder will work with an MDT including pharmacy, psychology, social work, CPN colleagues, and trainees.

Path to Recovery (P2R) is an innovative community drug and alcohol service offering interventions to residents in Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire. P2R is an East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) service and forms part of a network of addictions services within the Trust.

There is an opportunity to be the visiting psychiatrist to the Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) service.

Closing date: 29-Apr-2026

Interview date (AAC panel): TBC

Main duties of the job

• Provide consultant leadership and support continued development of the Addictions services with an opportunity to be a visiting FDAC psychiatrist.
• Provide regular clinical input to the service through conducting specialist clinics that offer assessment and evidence-based treatment interventions for dual diagnosis patients (open to both CMHT and addiction services) and patients under addiction services (P2R).
• Provide a key role as the senior specialist clinician within the team and will support the wider work of the multi-disciplinary team.
• Provide a clinical assessment, including relevant psychiatric and physical investigation.
• Take an active part in the implementation, adherence and development of internal and external clinical governance procedures.
• Provide clinical advice and guidance to primary care physicians to manage patients in the least restrictive environment.
• Work with the Team manager to ensure the KPI targets are met.
• Develop the service to achieve HTAS accreditation
• Work closely with colleagues from other specialist teams to provide a collaborative approach to the care of patients who are jointly under the care of these services.
• Provide appropriate clinical supervision and training for junior medical staff and lead the multidisciplinary team.
• Take part in mandatory Trust audit programmes and also develop local relevant audit cycles to improve the function of the team.
• Actively participate in the Trust’s clinical and strategic development.
  
  

Working for our organisation

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Please find a YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/UUIY7EQUikY

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

Main Responsibilities are as above - a full detailed job description and person specification attached

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Fully Registered with GMC
• Eligible for inclusion in the GMC Specialist Register (or Specialist Registrar within 6 months of gaining CCT at time of interview)
• Membership or Fellowship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists or equivalent qualification (in accordance with Royal College of Psychiatrists guidelines)
• Eligible for Section 12 Approval (Mental Health Act)/ Approved Clinician or willing to apply for such approval once in post.
  
  

Desirable criteria

• A higher degree such as MD or PhD
  
  

Knowledge Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of clinical work in Adult Psychiatry at SpR, SASG or Consultant level within the last 3 years
• Excellent working knowledge and experience of the application of the Mental Health Act
• Appreciation and understanding of ethnic minority issues and a commitment to developing culturally sensitive practices
• Understanding of social factors relevant to psychiatry
• Robust experience of working with severe and enduring mental illness and risk assessment, management
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Experience of service development and introducing new services in mental health
• Experience of working at consultant level with physical health interface.
  
  

Essential Criteria

Organisation Skills / Abilities

• Ability to manage complex workloads and support others to do that
• Leadership skills
• Ability to work as a part of multidisciplinary, multi-model team
• Consultation skills to services, teams and individuals
• Commitment to working in multidisciplinary setting
• Commitment to working with service users on service development
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Formal leadership and management training
• Experience of team /service leadership
• Experience of organisational development work
• Project management ability
  
  

Essential Criteria

Clinical & Supervision Skills

• Ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team and provide leadership for the team
• Self-motivating and innovative
• Expertise in risk assessment
• Confident in therapeutic risk taking
• Commitment to clinical governance
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Experience in supervising trainee doctors and SAS doctors
  
  

Teaching

Essential Criteria

• Experience in teaching junior staff
• Good teaching and communication skills
• Experience of teaching medical undergraduates and postgraduates
• Experience of teaching non-medical mental health professionals
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Medical education qualification
  
  

Research & Audits

Essential Criteria

• Experience of research work, or be able to interpret research findings and apply them to clinical practice.
• Audit experience
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Experience of grant-funded project work
• Publications in peer-reviewed journals in relevant academic fields
  
  

Making Things Better

Quality Improvement is a key part of our work to improve our services and refine how we do things. We have a global reputation for our quality improvement work and we don’t stand still! So we offer a fantastic opportunity for our staff to learn, lead and contribute towards improving our services.

We have launched our new Five Year Strategy 2026-2031. This strategy sets out how we will build on our strengths, focus on what matters most, and work with our communities to improve outcomes, reduce inequalities and deliver high-quality care now and in the future.

Our Community

We provide a wide range of community health and mental health inpatient services to children, young people, adults of working age, and older adults in The City of London, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Bedfordshire and Luton. We provide Forensic services to the whole of North East London. We provide services in urban and rural settings, sometimes in our inpatient units, but mostly in the community close to where people live. Integrated care is key in making the best use of resources and providing effective care.

Staff and Service Users United

We strive to ensure that staff feel valued by the Trust and as they are truly pivotal in delivering better outcomes for our patients and service users. Our aspiration is to help to make ELFT the best place to work. This Trust is clinician-led and provides the highest possible level of clinical expertise throughout its services. We pride ourselves on our service user involvement. A service user will be on your assessment centre and interview panel if you are invited to meet us.

We especially welcome people with lived experience of health difficulties, with insight and understanding of different backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles in our population as we believe that this will equip staff to deliver a high standard of care to our service users and patients.

Diversity

ELFT Is committed to being a diverse organisation and our workforce is reflective of the population and communities we serve. We believe that having colleagues with a range of backgrounds and life experiences enriches and adds value to the outcomes we have set out to achieve. Having partnered and endorsed by organisations who are representative and experts in various areas of equality and diversity, we can ensure we are meeting the pre-set standards all the way from recruitment stage throughout the career journey of our employees by being accessible, having fair inclusive practices and a host of staff networks to support, nurture and celebrate our valued staff in the workplace.

Other Reasons To Apply

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s job share, part time or another flexible pattern.

As part of the relocation scheme we presently have, the Trust could support you with offering up to £8,000 for removal and associated expenses. This is subject to change and terms and conditions apply.

AI in applications

If you use AI or other tools to assist in writing your job application, make sure you add your own personal touch especially in the supporting information section. AI can make writing easier, but it doesn’t fully understand the position you’re applying for and might generate false or misleading information. Applications written only by AI often sound generic and may not show your real skills, knowledge, or experience. It’s important to write your supporting statement in your own words. East London NHS Foundation Trust does not recommend relying only on AI, as it could negatively impact on your chance of success in the application process.

We carefully check applications to make sure no one has an unfair advantage, and we verify all references. At the interview, you’ll be asked about your experience, so be honest and ensure everything in your application is accurate. Please remember that using AI during the interview is not allowed.

What Next?

If you like the sound of ELFT, don’t waste a moment. We sometimes close adverts early if there is a high response, so apply now!

As part of our recruitment process we may be required to share information you provide on the application form with NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) and/or other organisations for the purpose of the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of fraud or any other unlawful activity affecting the NHS. We also use third party providers to check and verify your qualifications who may be contacting you on our behalf to verify the same..

If you do not hear from us within four weeks of the closing date, please consider that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion. You must provide professional email addresses for all referees as we will contact them as soon as an offer has been made. Please note we do not request references prior to interviews. All applications made through NHS Jobs account will be processed by TRAC System. Please note that some emails may go to your spam/junk mailbox so make sure you check this regularly.

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