Consultant Psychiatrist in Adult Learning Disability

Consultant Psychiatrist in Adult Learning Disability

Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust

The closing date is 21 January 2026

This is a new post. It hasbeen developed as a need has been identified for additional medical support forthe respective services.

The North Tees Community Team provides a specialist service to adults with a learning disability who live inthe Stockton and Hartlepool locality. The team has an active caseload of around 400, with between 20 and 50 allocations per month. Dr Amarasuriya is anestablished and highly experienced consultant for the team. He has beencovering the whole team for several years and this arrangement will continueuntil this post is appointed to. The combined psychiatry caseload for the twolocalities is 102, with between 0 and 4 referrals per month.

BankfieldsCourt is a purpose-built specialist inpatient service for adults with alearning disability. The Trust is committed to the principles of TransformingCare and the Green Light Toolkit, so the service is reserved for patients whorequire highly specialist support. Patients are drawn from across the Trustfootprint. The service has 11 beds, of which 6 arecurrently occupied. In the last year there has been 1 admission and 1discharge, reflecting the specialist nature of the service. Medical support here is provided by Dr AdelMuir, an experienced Specialist Doctor with a specialism in physicalhealthcare.

Main duties of the job

The appointed consultant willhave responsibility for the Stockton and North Stockton localities (population 117,979)with a projected caseload of 36. Dr Amarasuriya will retain responsibility forHartlepool, Billingham and Norton localities (population 210,910, projectedcaseload 66).

The majority of patients willbe jointly managed with the wider MDT. The initial timetable for the postcontains two outpatient clinics per week, with additional domiciliary visits asrequired. Given the caseload numbers outlined above, the majority of clinictime will be spent reviewing existing cases.

At Bankfields Courtthe post holder would act as ResponsibleClinician for a small number of patients (no more than half), shared with an experienced Nurse Consultant / Responsible Clinician. The postholder would lead on the psychiatric care provided for all patients, and on themedication aspects of the Mental Health Act.

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 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.

Psychiatrists are essentialcontributors to our mental health teams. Service users expect and are justifiedto expect collaborative relationships with dedicated psychiatrists who workconsistently as part of effective services. The Medical Directorate and MedicalDevelopment Team are striving to improve medical workforce recruitment andretention in a variety of ways and the cornerstone of these efforts is The TEWVCharter for the Medical Workforce. (Please see attached Supporting Document).

Job responsibilities

Please see the attached job description for further information on this post.

The job description is currently waiting for approval from the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

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.