Durham & Tees Valley Mental Health Services for Older People (MHSOP) provides a comprehensive mental health service to older people living in the region and works in partnership with acute and community health services provided by 3 acute Trusts.
The service serves an over-65 population of over 250,000. The service provides assessment and treatment of organic and functional mental illness for the population over 65 years old, although younger patients who are appropriate for the service are also accepted.
Durham & Tees Valley MHSOP is comprised of 9 community mental health teams, 3 inpatient wards for patients with functional illnesses and 3 inpatient wards for patients requiring organic assessment and treatment. The service also provides dedicated MHSOP Crisis, Intensive Community Liaison and Care Home Liaison teams; medical input for the latter is provided by the community consultants.
This post is for the Durham and Sedgefield North Community Mental Health Team based at The Bowes Lyon Unit, Lanchester Road Hospital, Durham. The team has a caseload of 1070 and receives approximately 1200 referrals a year.
The Specialty Doctor will attend multi-disciplinary huddles each morning providing clinical leadership and support, complete clinic appointments as required for functional and organic patients including delivering diagnosis of Dementia, provide appointments, as required, in patients homes including Care Homes and carry out Mental Health Act Assessments.
The post-holder would support two consultants. The team is divided into three different cells; functional, organic and care home liaison. Most of the work consists of outpatient reviews in the organic cell including dementia diagnostic appointments. However, it is expected that the post-holder will support all three cells. This will also involve conducting the occasional initial assessment. Due to the nature of our patients, there will also be the expectation to complete some home visits. The weekly workload for the post holder will consist of around 1 new patient assessment, with flexibility to respond to urgent referrals, face to face support to the team in meetings and ad-hoc, around 8 - 10 face to face reviews of community patients either at their home or in clinic with actual numbers dependant on the complexity of the review. Urgent referrals may also involve completing Mental Health Act Assessments. If the post holder is not yet Section 12 approved, then support will be available to obtain this.
We are one of the largest specialist mental health and learning disabilities trusts in the country operating from sites in Durham, Teesside, North Yorkshire and York and Selby. We provide a range inpatient and community services to 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 essential contributors to our mental health teams. Service users expect and are justified to expect collaborative relationships with dedicated psychiatrists who work consistently as part of effective services. The Medical Directorate and Medical Development Team are striving to improve medical workforce recruitment and retention in a variety of ways and the cornerstone of these efforts is The TEWV Charter for the Medical Workforce. (Please see attached Supporting Document).
10 August 2026
Hospital medical and dental staff
Specialty Doctor
£63,696 to £102,689 a year
Permanent
Full-time
C9346-MHSOP-218M
Lanchester Road Hospital
Lanchester Road
Durham
DH1 5RD
United Kingdom
More detailed information about the post can be found on the job description attached to this advert.
More detailed information about the post can be found on the job description attached to this advert.
- MB BS or equivalent medical qualification.
- Fully registered with the GMC with a licence to practise at the time of appointment
- Approved under S12 of MHA OR able to achieve within 6 months of appointment
- In good standing with GMC with respect to warning and conditions on practice
- Able to demonstrate good clinical skills and knowledge in psychiatry with bio-psycho-social perspective
- Able to demonstrate good clinical communication skills showing empathy and sensitivity
- Person-centred and recovery focused
- Postgraduate experience in the relevant specialty
- Able to manage clinical complexity and uncertainty
- Able to undertake duties under MHA and MCA
- Able to show commitment to Trust values of respect, involvement and well-being
- Able to work co-operatively in a multi-disciplinary team and to delegate appropriately.
- Evidence of annual appraisal and commitment to appraisal and revalidation.
- Able to manage and prioritise workload and cope under pressure
- Participated in and reflected on the purpose of continuous professional development
- Participated actively in clinical audit.
- Able to use and appraise clinical evidence.
- Able to deliver undergraduate or postgraduate teaching and training
- Participated in research or service evaluation.
- Knowledge and understanding of the NHS Healthcare Leadership Model (HLM)
- Able to show essential behaviours on the 9 dimensions of the HLM
- Able to show proficient behaviours on the 9 dimensions of the HLM
- At least 4 years postgraduate experience, including at least 2 years in a core psychiatry training programme in UK or abroad
- MB BS or equivalent medical qualification.
- Fully registered with the GMC with a licence to practise at the time of appointment
- Approved under S12 of MHA OR able to achieve within 6 months of appointment
- In good standing with GMC with respect to warning and conditions on practice
- Able to demonstrate good clinical skills and knowledge in psychiatry with bio-psycho-social perspective
- Able to demonstrate good clinical communication skills showing empathy and sensitivity
- Person-centred and recovery focused
- Postgraduate experience in the relevant specialty
- Able to manage clinical complexity and uncertainty
- Able to undertake duties under MHA and MCA
- Able to show commitment to Trust values of respect, involvement and well-being
- Able to work co-operatively in a multi-disciplinary team and to delegate appropriately.
- Evidence of annual appraisal and commitment to appraisal and revalidation.
- Able to manage and prioritise workload and cope under pressure
- Participated in and reflected on the purpose of continuous professional development
- Participated actively in clinical audit.
- Able to use and appraise clinical evidence.
- Able to deliver undergraduate or postgraduate teaching and training
- Participated in research or service evaluation.
- Knowledge and understanding of the NHS Healthcare Leadership Model (HLM)
- Able to show essential behaviours on the 9 dimensions of the HLM
- Able to show proficient behaviours on the 9 dimensions of the HLM
- At least 4 years postgraduate experience, including at least 2 years in a core psychiatry training programme in UK or abroad
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.
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 (Opens in a new tab).
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 (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
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.
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 (Opens in a new tab).
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 (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust
Lanchester Road Hospital
Lanchester Road
Durham
DH1 5RD
United Kingdom
https://www.tewv.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)
Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust
Lanchester Road Hospital
Lanchester Road
Durham
DH1 5RD
United Kingdom
https://www.tewv.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)
