Job summary
- Main area
- Consultant
- Grade
- NHS Medical & Dental: Consultant
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 10 sessions per week (SPA- 2.5, DCC- 7.5)
- Job ref
- 350-MED8371027
- Employer
- Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Knowsley Resource & Recovery Centre, Whiston Hospital
- Town
- Prescot
- Salary
- £113,565 - £150,569 n/a
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 01/12/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Community Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist - Knowsley
NHS Medical & Dental: Consultant
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Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.
We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and also particularly encourage applications from ethnically diverse, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under-represented in our workforce. Furthermore we welcome applications from reservists and ex-armed forces personnel as we recognise the benefits of the values, skills, training and experience that they bring to their work with us. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.
Using AI to support your application
AI can be a useful tool to support the preparation of your application. However, all information submitted must be accurate, truthful and reflect your own skills, experience and achievements. Applications should include personal examples demonstrating how you meet the person specification. Applications that appear mostly or fully generated by AI, without clear personal examples linked to the person specification, may be rejected. For tips and guidance, please refer to our applicant guidance.
Identity verification
Candidates attending interview will be required to provide original photographic identification where available. Where suitable photographic identification is not available, a photograph will be taken at interview for identity verification purposes. Successful candidates will also be required to complete digital identity and right to work checks via TrustID, including facial recognition and image matching technology, to verify their identity throughout the recruitment and onboarding process. Identity verification will also be undertaken on the first day of employment in line with NHS employment check requirements.
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Job overview
As a Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist working for Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust you will be responsible for ensuring that our service users’ needs are met through the delivery of high quality care.
As a leader of the outpatient multi-disciplinary team at the Knowsley Later Life & Memory Service, you will manage the community mental health team and Memory service, providing clinical care to service users who have been referred for older adults mental health care and specialist cognitive assessment.
You will work closely with a wide range of clinical and professional disciplines in order to deliver holistic care by completing assessments of new referrals to the team, making formulations and managing their treatment in order to optimise the quality of life of the service users under your caseload.
Main duties of the job
Working for our organisation
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We’re currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The overall pathway for the older adult service at Knowsley LLAMS is as below:
- Referrals are received from the GP/first response service/other medical specialty such as Neurology, Geriatrics or Movement Disorder services
- All referrals are added to the Assessment pathway upon receipt and referrals are autonomously screened by senior nursing staff from the team on a daily basis. This practitioner may seek support from team management for certain referrals or discuss with the Consultant if greater medical oversight is felt to be required on a case by base basis.
- For all accepted referrals, a screening call is completed within 72 hours and an initial assessment is then completed by a Band 6 practitioner or above within two weeks. Physical health screening is completed by a Band 3 practitioner.
- Once the initial assessment has been completed then a diagnostic appointment (new patient appointment) is made with the Consultant Psychiatrist in outpatient clinic or as a home visit in order to establish the diagnosis and management plan.
- If a diagnosis of dementia is confirmed and treatment is commenced, the patient will be booked in for Memory Team review at 11 weeks, 3 months and then 6 monthly thereafter. Any confirmed diagnoses of Mild Cognitive Impairment are discharged from the service with appropriate advice. If further investigations are required these are requested prior to commencing treatment.
- Post diagnostic support is completed by the team which oversees memory medication titration and monitors pulse and blood pressure on follow up visits. Cognitive Stimulation Therapy is offered on site by the team and also on a one to one basis if required. Once memory medication tolerance has been confirmed following titration, patients are subsequently reviewed every six months by the Memory Team part of the MDT. If there are any concerns around increased risk or needs for any patients then they are stepped up to being followed up by the CMHT section of the team.
- Patients diagnosed with dementia who are settled and established on treatment with appropriate onward referrals for social care input and other support in the community are stepped down to having further follow up by the Dementia Care Navigator in the team. Anybody who has been diagnosed with dementia and is living in the community is never discharged by the team. For those living in 24 hour care placements, they are discharged to the care of the Care Home Liaison team
As of the mid-2022 population estimates, the over-65 catchment populations in the Huyton and Whiston areas covered by the postholder are 11.200 and 2500 respectively, with the total populations in these areas being 63,000 and 13,500 respectively. The total annual number of referrals from the Huyton area between May 2025 and May 2026 was 421 and from Whiston was 131. Total current caseload for the team is 472.
The post holder will cover seven care homes in the locality, with three of these being EMI Residential homes, three being EMI Residential and Nursing and one being a Dementia Plus home.
There are 15 GP surgeries in Huyton and 5 in Whiston which are covered by the postholder’s catchment area.
In addition, there is a separate Care Home Liaison team caseload for those with established diagnoses of dementia living in 24 hour care placements. The postholder does not have care responsibility for this caseload but for any patients who are unsettled and require medical input, the Care Home Liaison team may refer to the postholder for input.
Person specification
Registration
Essential criteria
- Full registration with General Medical Council
- Inclusion on or eligible for inclusion on the Specialist Register of the General Medical Council or within 6 months of CCST/CCT or equivalent in Old age Psychiatry at date of interview
- Section 12 (2) Approval + Approved Clinician
- Status or demonstrated ability to gain approval
Desirable criteria
- In good standing with GMC with respect to warning and conditions on practice
Qualifications and Training
Essential criteria
- MbChb, MBBS or equivalent
Desirable criteria
- Qualification or higher degree in medical education, clinical research or management
- Additional Qualifications
- Membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists or equivalent
- Undertaken ‘Train the Trainer’ and ‘Equality and Diversity’ Training
Transport
Essential criteria
- Holds valid UK driving licence and will use own car for work related travel OR provides evidence of proposed alternative
Clinical Skills, Knowledge and Expereince
Essential criteria
- Excellent clinical 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
Desirable criteria
- Experience in working previously in similar roles at a relevant level
- Training or worked as a DoLs assessor
- Experience in management and service development Knowledge and use of IT systems
Academic Skills and Lifelong Learning
Essential criteria
- 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
Desirable criteria
- Able to plan and deliver teaching and training relevant to this post
- Reflected on purpose of CPD undertaken
- Experienced in clinical research and / or service evaluation
- Has led clinical audits leading to service change
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Dr Andrew Kiridoshi
- Job title
- Associate Clinical Director
- Email address
- [email protected]
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