Job summary
Consultant Psychiatrist in Older Adults, for functional old age psychiatry inpatient care, Leadenhall ward, Tower Hamlets Centre for Mental Health, Mile End Hospital.

This 10PA position

The appointee will have clinical responsibility for the care of acute elderly male and female inpatients from Tower Hamlets, Newham, City and Hackney on Leadenhall ward.

This full time post is inpatient based with an excellent, stable and well-resourced multidisciplinary inpatient team in Tower Hamlets Centre for Mental Health (Leadenhall ward). There are opportunities to work flexibly and good support from a collegiate consultant body within the older adults' teams and TH Directorate.

Anticipated start date 2nd November 2026

Main duties of the job
The post holder will be responsible for providing specialist mental health services to older adults living in Tower Hamlets including those with complex mental and physical health needs. The post holder will mainly deliver inpatient care for a patient population with functional illnesses, however there will be an overlap with organic illness. The post-holder will assume full consultant responsibilities for a proportion of service users under the care of Leadenhall Ward.

About us
ELFT- We provide a wide range of mental health, community health, primary care, wellbeing and inpatient services to young people, working age adults and older adults across the City of London, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Bedfordshire and Luton. Outstanding CQC rating 2023. We care, We respect, and We are inclusive

Job responsibilities
The 1.0 Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) job plan will be developed to meet the needs of the service and is envisaged to include 7.5 PAs for direct clinical care (DCC) and 2.5 PAs for supporting programmed activities (SPA). The main duties of the post consist of providing consultant input to Leadenhall ward assessing patients, devising management plans and providing clinical leadership

Qualifications
Essential

• Medical degree, MBBS or equivalent
• Fully registered with the General Medical Council and holding license to practice.
• Eligible for inclusion in the GMC Specialist Register for Psychiatry (or Specialist Registrar within 6 months of gaining CCT). If appropriate GMC registration duly revalidated and holding license to practice.
• Approved Clinician as approved by a Regional Panel

Desirable

• Higher Degree
• Membership or Fellowship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Eligible for inclusion in the GMC Specialist Register for Old Age Psychiatry (or Specialist Registrar within 6 months of gaining CCT)

Knowledge and Experience
Essential

• Good experience of working in old age psychiatry and community psychiatry services, especially in the care and assessment of complex physical co-morbidity
• Experience and knowledge of psychopharmacology in older people.
• Excellent working knowledge and experience of the Mental Health Act
• Comprehensive risk assessment and management in the community and inpatient setting.
• Excellent Clinical Leadership skills

Desirable

• Confident in working with frail older adults
• Experience of service development or change management in mental health
• Experience of working with psychotherapy models of care
• Experience of leading projects to improve quality of care

Academic Achievement and Teaching
Essential

• Able and willing to teach undergraduate medical students, promote an environment of continuous learning within the multidisciplinary team.
• Understanding of continuous improvement methodology (Quality Improvement).

Desirable

• Published research
• Qualification or experience in medical education.

Clinical and professional Skills
Essential

• Ability to train and supervise junior medical staff / medical students / staff from other disciplines.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Commitment to/skills in multidisciplinary working.
• Commitment to working with patients and carers in ongoing services development
• Commitment to continuing professional development

Desirable

• Management, performance and leadership courses or training
• Management and leadership experience

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).