Consultant Psychiatrist - Community Mental Health - BridgwaterNHS

Job summary

We are seeking a permanent, full time (10 PAs per week) Consultant to join our team of four community consultants and an ACP, covering the Bridgwater area.

This role is within the Community Mental health service for working age adults. The community psychiatrists work together as a team, offering general support, cross cover arrangements for leave and have offices grouped together. The responsible doctor for patient care is determined by GP alignment.

This post provides senior psychiatric input to a small number of GP practices in and around Bridgwater.

The GP population catchment area for Bridgwater CMHT is 120,000 which is within Royal College recommendations. The average number of new referrals to the whole CMHS was 950 in 2025 and a percentage of these are seen by doctors, either singly or jointly with another team member.

Main duties of the job

The clinical work will involve the assessment and psychiatric treatment of patients either directly, or through the supervision of other team members.

Caseload will include patients with SMI, complex cases with medical comorbidities, diagnostic assessments, joint worked cases, cases with specific medication supervision requirements, ADHD with significant comorbidity.

To offer clinical leadership to the CMHT and to act as an advisor to the team, particularly with respect to patients whose mental health needs are complex and / or carry high risk.

The post-holder can opt to join the senior out-of-hours on-call rota subject to availability. This is a 1 in 11 rota operating 5pm to 9am on weekdays; at weekends the rota operates from 9am on Saturday morning to 9am on Monday morning. This rota provides senior medical cover including Responsible Clinician duties to all the in-patient wards in the Trust.

The senior on-call rota also involves MHA assessments in the two Hospital Place of Safety suites (located in Yeovil and Taunton), the general and community hospitals, police custody centres and in the community. However, most of the work is in the Place of safety suites and ED. Assessments in the Hospital Place of Safety are not routinely undertaken at night for patients arriving after 1am (at the discretion of the nurse in charge).

Job description

Routine and urgent referrals from GPs and other sources are dealt with through a single point of access. Referrals are processed through a streaming meeting, and more complex cases may come to an MDT meeting. Referrals for doctors can be reviewed individually by the doctor to ensure good practice. Medical staff take a proportion of referrals as clinically indicated either for joint assessment with a team member or more usually as individual outpatient assessments.

Draft Job Plan would include:

Four outpatient clinics per week

Domiciliary visits/Urgent assessments (0-3 per week)

Attending one weekly CMHT MDT meeting

There is an established once weekly liaison meeting with the Inpatient team

Mental Health Act Assessments, including section 136 assessments at the place of safety, Rydon. (approximately 0.5 PA per week)

Additional work is generated by Mental Health Act (MHA) assessments. The postholder will act as the primary Trust Section 12 doctor for all MHA assessments in office hours arising from their catchment area. They will also be expected to participate in MHA assessments for patients at Bridgwater Custody Centre in mutually agreed arrangements with consultant colleagues. The consultant can claim a fee for these assessments. It is rare than pre-planned appointment would have to be altered due to MHAAs.

There are 4 Community Mental Health Hubs across the county for service users:

South Somerset, based at Magnolia/ Holly Court on the Summerland's Hospital Site

Taunton and Minehead with a base a Foundation House on the Wellsprings site and a secondary base at Minehead Community Hospital

Somerset Coast, based at Glanville House in Bridgwater

Mendip, based at the Bridge on the Priory Park site in Wells.

Each hub has a matching Home Treatment Team, CAMHS and service for Older Persons Mental Health.

There are a variety of specialist community services including:

Eating Disorders services in east and west of county

Community forensic service with forensic link workers attached to each adult CMHS hub

Community rehabilitation team for patients with SMI which links with inpatient rehabilitation service and CMHTs

First episode psychosis services (called STEP)

Medical psychotherapy

Peri-natal, east and west, and maternal Mental health services

Adult ADHD assessment service for adults not previously diagnosed with ADHD or requiring re-titration of medication (can be referred from CMHT or GP)

ASD assessment service (also GP or CMHT can refer)

The post-holder is expected to work closely with the inpatient teams, home treatment and CMHS teams, to ensure smooth transition at admission to and discharge from the acute hospital wards.

The home treatment team has a first response component which operates for 24 hours which are located within the hub. The AMHP service and urgent care hubs, who manage admissions, are in Foundation house on the Taunton hub.

The Adult inpatients wards are located alongside the Taunton and South Somerset community hubs. These 4 acute wards and 1 PICU (in Taunton) have designated medical staff. In-patient rehabilitation (Willow Ward) and low secure services (Ash Ward) are based at Broadway Park, Bridgwater.

About us

At Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, we're committed to supporting our employees with a range of benefits designed to enhance your professional and personal life. We offer:

• Flexible working options to help you balance work and life
• NHS pension scheme for long-term financial security
• Generous annual leave allowance to recharge and relax
• A strong focus on career development to help you grow and achieve your potential

Additionally, you'll gain access to our Blue Light Card, unlocking exclusive discounts on shopping, dining, and leisure activities, as well as NHS-specific perks to support you both inside and outside of work.

We are proud to foster a diverse, skilled, and inclusive workforce, and we encourage applications from all backgrounds.

Why Somerset? Somerset offers the perfect blend of idyllic countryside, outstanding areas of natural beauty, and breathtaking coastlines, with vibrant cities like Bristol, Bath, and Exeter just a short drive away - and only two hours to London.

The region is home to excellent educational facilities, and with affordable housing compared to other parts of the country, it's a great place to build both your career and your future.

Somerset truly has it all - the peaceful countryside and cosmopolitan city life, with something for everyone to enjoy.