Consultant Psychiatrist/Specialist Doctor

Employer Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Trustwide c/o Dorset Healthcare HQ Town Poole Salary £104,401 - £150,569 p.a pro rata for part time Salary period Yearly Closing 06/10/2026 23:59

Consultant/Specialist Dr

Job overview

Are you a Consultant Psychiatrist, Specialist Doctor or equivalent grade looking for your next opportunity?

At Dorset HealthCare we put our patients first and as our mental health services continue to grow across Dorset, we are looking for an experienced psychiatrist to join our team and help shape the future of mental health care.

If you are a compassionate team player with excellent communication skills and a commitment to delivering exceptional, patient-centred mental health care, we’d love to hear from you.

As an experienced psychiatrist, you will provide expert clinical leadership, support the delivery of high-quality mental health services, undertake comprehensive psychiatric assessments, contribute to diagnosis and treatment planning, and provide evidence-based care for individuals with mental health conditions.

We currently have a full-time opportunity within our Community Mental Health Team based in Bridport.

We welcome applications from GMC-registered doctors as well as experienced international psychiatrists. We offer a supported, streamlined route to GMC registration through GMC sponsorship.

Main duties of the job

As a senior member of our psychiatric team, you will:

• Provide expert psychiatric assessment, diagnosis & treatment
• Deliver safe, effective & compassionate patient-centred care
• Provide clinical leadership within multidisciplinary teams
• Support the development & improvement of mental health services
• Contribute to teaching, research & leadership opportunities

We are committed to helping our colleagues thrive and reach their full potential. In return for your expertise and dedication, we offer:

• £10,000 Recruitment & Retention payment, paid in monthly instalments during your first year of employment
• Relocation package of up to £10,000 for those moving to Dorset
• Flexible & family-friendly working opportunities
• Excellent professional development & career progression pathways
• Access to teaching, research & leadership development opportunities
• Supportive, inclusive teams & excellent clinical leadership
• Excellent relocation & pastoral support for international candidates
• Study leave & continuing professional development
• Generous NHS pension scheme & annual leave entitlement

Join Dorset HealthCare & be part of an organisation that values innovation, compassion & excellence while making a real difference to the lives of patients, families & communities across Dorset.

At Dorset HealthCare we’re on a mission to empower people to make the most of their lives through our outstanding, joined-up healthcare services. We’re a dynamic, forward-looking Trust, running 12 community hospitals, specialist inpatient facilities and a wide range of integrated community and mental health services for a population of almost 800,000 people.

We do things differently here – it’s one of the reasons the CQC rated us ‘outstanding’ in 2019. It’s also why 95% of patients across our services say they have a good or very good experience of our services and 89% of staff feel they can really make a difference. Whether you’re looking to work with us in one of our bustling market towns, vibrant urban locations, thriving seaside spots, or among the rolling hills of Dorset, there are lots of ways you can make a difference in our communities.

Our 7,000-strong workforce is at the heart of what we do and our success is a testament to our brilliant people. We're all about building a workplace for the future, we believe in equal opportunities and we celebrate diversity. We’re an inclusive workplace, where everyone is welcome, everyone can be authentic, and we are all encouraged to be the best version of ourselves.

Working with us you’ll be part of a strong team, challenge yourself, build a career, and teach us what we don’t know. And you’ll be working towards our vision to be better every day through excellence, compassion and expertise in all we do.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For the main duties and responsibilities for this role please read the attached job description and person specification. When completing your application please ensure your supporting statement reflects the criteria set out in these documents by showing how your experience and skills apply to this post.

We understand that AI can be a useful tool when completing your application. However, we are seeing an increasing over-reliance of AI tools, which can negatively affect your application as it reduces a candidate’s individuality, and makes it difficult for us to gain a clear and authentic understanding of your experience, skills, and in turn your suitability for the role.

All submissions must be truthful and if you do use AI, it should only be used to enhance your application and not create your supporting statement in its entirety. Your supporting statement should be in your own words and must accurately reflect your personal experience and achievements. Where we have concerns that AI has been used to generate content that misrepresents your experience and suitability for the role, we may withdraw your application.

As part of our vision to have a skilled, diverse and caring workforce, Dorset HealthCare offers support for people getting into work. We offer an employability service to support individuals with application writing, interview skills and other employment support. If you would like or know of anyone who would value this support, please do contact dhc.wideningparticipation@nhs.net

Person specification

Qualifications /Training

• General medical Qualification e.g., MBBS, or equivalent and hold a Licence to Practice.
• MRCPsych or recognised equivalent, e.g., membership of a psychiatry college in another country.
• Qualification or higher degree in medical education, clinical research or management.
• Must be in possession or within 6 months of possession of a CCT in Psychiatry or on Specialist Register in Psychiatry, or international equivalent.
• Experience of medicine outside psychiatry e.g., general practice, medicine.

Clinical Skills, Knowledge & Experience

• Excellent knowledge in specialty
• Evidence of effective multidisciplinary team involvement.
• Excellent clinical skills using bio-psycho- social perspective and wider medical knowledge.
• Able to meet duties under MHA and MCA
• Make decisions based on evidence and experience including contribution of others.
• Teaching Experience
• Wide range of specialist and sub- specialist experience relevant to post within the NHS or comparable service.

Management Skills

• Understand the importance of working with managers in the interest of goo patient care
• Able to manage priorities
• Evidence of management/Leadership skills training
• Previous management experience including that of other junior medical staff

Leadership Skills

• Understand principles of leadership and give examples of leadership in own practice.
• Able to provide clinical leadership to a multi-disciplinary team.

At Dorset HealthCare we want to offer all our staff the opportunity to work flexibly, putting health and wellbeing first, whilst continuing the delivery of excellent patient care. Flexible working looks different for everyone and we welcome applicants to discuss flexible working opportunities with the recruiting manager.

What working for us will provide:

• 27 days of annual leave, rising to 33 over ten years (for staff on Agenda for Change terms and conditions)
• Health and wellbeing services
• Flexible working options, including family-friendly hours
• Free training and one-to-one career coaching to reach your career goals
• Preceptorship programme for newly qualified nurses and AHPs
• Access to nine staff networks – have a voice and transform our Trust
• Relocation costs where applicable
• Salary sacrifice scheme opportunities – including childcare vouchers, car lease and cycle scheme, home technology equipment, and buying annual leave
• NHS discounts to save on your shopping, gym membership and more

Regrettably, we are not able to offer sponsorship for all our job roles. If you attempt to apply for a role that we do not offer sponsorship for, you will receive notification of this at the time of starting your application and you will not be able to proceed. At this point, we wish to thank you for your interest in working for us and apologise we cannot take your application any further.

Please note that from January 2021, to work in the UK candidates who are not UK or Republic of Ireland (RoI) nationals require sponsorship unless you have permission to work via another route. Further guidance can be found on the gov.uk website. It is vital that you provide full and accurate details of your current immigration status on the application form. Overseas applicants applying for entry clearance into the UK must present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided in continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

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.