Job Advert
Consultant in Old Age Liaison Psychiatry
st johns hospital
Reference - 215313
NHS Lothian is committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce and eliminating unlawful discrimination. The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best.
To this end, NHS Lothian welcomes applications from all sections of society.
Applicants must have full GMC Registration, a license to practise and eligible for inclusion in the GMC Specialist Register. Those trained in the UK should have evidence of higher specialist training leading to CCT or be within 6 months of confirmed entry from the date of interview. Portfolio Pathway (formerly known as CESR - Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration) route doctors are only eligible to apply for a substantive consultant post once it has been awarded. Non-UK applicants must demonstrate equivalent training.
Applications are welcome for the above Permanent, full time (40 hours per week) post based in St John’s Hospital.
This is a full time 10 session post working as part of the Older Adult Psychiatry team to provide liaison psychiatry to patients who are over 65 in medical and surgical wards at St John’s Hospital (6 sessions) and provide consultant psychiatrist cover to two HBCCC wards for dementia care (2 sessions).
The post is a 10 session post. This is a chance to be part of a well-established team at a time of positive development. 7 sessions will be old age psychiatric liaison work, covering inpatients across the medical and surgical wards at St John's Hospital. There are occasional referrals from the medical HBCCC ward at Tippethill Hospital, based around 8 miles away (one of our dementia HBCCC wards is also in this hospital). 2 sessions will be HBCCC and 1 SPA sessions.
We would be happy to consider applicants who would prefer to consider part time working. There will also be the possibility of revising the clinical work covered depending on service needs and the interests and skills of the successful applicant.
The postholder will be supported by a liaison team which includes 2 liaison nurses and a liaison psychiatrist in the general adult liaison team who has some sessions for older adults. There will be joint meetings with the general adult liaison staff and nurses. St John’s hospital is a small district general hospital, and we already have good links with the consultant geriatricians who are supportive to our service. There is opportunity in this role to develop the old age liaison service, with potential to design new policies, guidelines, or teaching for the general hospital.
The post holder will be expected to assess and manage mental health on the medical and surgical wards with the support of liaison nurses. They will be expected to attend some MDT meetings on the wards and liaise with families when appropriate. They will be expected to use the Mental Health Act, Adult with Incapacity Act and also support other specialties with complex capacity assessments.
There will also be 2 sessions to cover the HBCCC dementia wards in West Lothian. At present this provides care for around 22 patients. These wards are based off site – one in Craigmair building (based in Livingston) and another in Tippethill Hospital (based in between Armadale and Whitburn). The service currently provides fortnightly consultant input into these wards. There is GP cover in these wards as well as psychiatric nurses and OT. The post holder will be required to review patients, form management plans, use the Mental Health Act, attend ward rounds, attend family meetings, and contribute to discharge planning. Patients on these wards are usually assessed in ward 3 (the acute old age psychiatry ward) for several weeks before moving to the HBCCC wards.
There will be regular teaching available to the post holder, including psychiatric departmental teaching, medical departmental teaching, case conference a regional old age psychiatry teaching.
More detailed departmental and specialty information can be found in the job description available via email address / link below.
For an informal discussion please contact:
Dr Louise Mowatt, Consultant Psychiatrist/Clinical Director
01506 523771 louise.mowatt@nhs.scot
Dr Suzanne Roscrow, Consultant Psychiatrist in Old Age Psychiatry
01506 523759 suzanne.roscrow@nhs.scot
If viewing from an external site, please visit https://apply.jobs.scot.nhs.uk for a job pack detailing the minimum requirements for this post and details of how to apply.
We cannot accept CV’s as a form of application and only a completed online application form will be accepted. Personal information will not be sent with the application for short listing. The application form will be identified by the candidate number only to ensure that all applicants are treated equally.
Closing Date: 07/06/2025
***PLEASE NOTE: We cannot accept late applications so please ensure your application is submitted early***
Interview Date: 23/06/2025