Consultant Psychiatrist - Assertive Outreach Team Oxford

Consultant Psychiatrist - Assertive Outreach Team Oxford

Are you ready to take the next step on your career and be our leading Consultant Psychiatrist for the newly established Assertive Outreach Team?

This is full time position based in Oxford where you will lead on delivering a specialised services to vulnerable adults with severe and enduring mental disorders following NHSE guidance to enhance intensive and assertive community mental health care.

Working alongside a newly formed team you'll be delivering a service to meet the needs of around 90 patients across Oxford city who have severe and complex psychosis, multiple comorbidities, high rates of hospital admission, present with significant risks and find it hard to engage with mental health services. Assertive engagement, evidence-based bio psycho social treatment plans, collating and sharing information with system partners, carers and families, risk formulation and safety planning will be at the heart of the service's therapeutic approach.

This is a unique opportunity to build a service that will make a lasting impact to mental health care and patient recovery outcomes. We're looking for applicants who have full GMC registration and are on the Specialist Register or within six months of CCT. You'll need to be eligible for Section 12 Approval/Approved Clinician status or willing to apply for this once in post.

If you're a ready for a challenge and want to work for one of the UK's leading mental health Trusts, we would be delighted to receive your application.

Main duties of the job

• Provide clinical leadership and medical input to the team in delivering responsive, effective and inclusive mental health community services to the designated catchment area.
• Provision of evidence-based bio-psychosocial interventions to promote recovery and social inclusion, including integrative working with external agencies to ensure community engagement.
• Responsibility for those patients seen by himself/herself, together with those patients seen by medical staff directly supervised by them.
• Provide expert assessments informed by evidence for referred individuals with severe and enduring mental health difficulties and complex needs.
• Have responsibility for the clinical governance of the team as one of the clinical leads for the team.
• Actively liaise with other mental health teams to ensure continuity of care and appropriate information sharing.
• Provide RC responsibility for outpatients under the provisions of the MHA.
• Communicate and liaise with patients, families, relatives, carers and any other agencies as appropriate.
• Play an active role in training for team members as well as in the programme and wider Trust, including teaching medical students, resident doctors and members of the MDT.

About us

Oxford Health is a great place to work and to be able to showcase the best of yourself when making an application please read the "candidate guide to making an application" and ensure your supporting statement is tailored to the role you are applying for and addresses any essential criteria.

As a Trust we provide physical, mental health and social care for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and Northeast Somerset. Our services are delivered at community bases, hospitals, clinics and people's homes, delivering care as close to home as possible. Our vision is that no matter who you are or where you are, you will tell us that you receive: "Outstanding care delivered by an outstanding team"

Our values are: "Caring, safe and excellent"

We offer a wide range of benefits designed to support your career and wellbeing. These include:

• Excellent opportunities for career progression
• Access to tailored individual and Trust wide learning and development
• 33 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, rising to 35 days with continuous service
• NHS Discount across a wide range of shops, restaurants and retailers
• Competitive pension scheme
• Lease car scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Mental Health First Aiders
• Staff accommodation (please note waiting lists apply)
• Staff networking and support groups hosted by our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion team

Job responsibilities

The Oxford City Assertive Outreach Team is being created specifically to engage and support people with severe mental illness who find it difficult to access or remain connected with traditional mental health services. We will deliver person-centred, recovery-focused care through persistent engagement, strong therapeutic relationships, and community-based interventions. Our practice is trauma-informed, strengths-based, and multidisciplinary, with a commitment to reducing health inequalities, promoting social inclusion, and enabling individuals to live meaningful lives in their communities.

Core Operating Principles - Oxford City Assertive Outreach Team:

• Person-Centred and Recovery-Focused Practice: We work alongside individuals to identify and achieve their personal goals, strengths, and aspirations. Recovery is defined by the person, not by services, and interventions are tailored to individual needs, preferences, and circumstances.
• Assertive Engagement: We proactively engage people who experience severe mental illness and who have difficulty maintaining contact with conventional services. Engagement is persistent, respectful, flexible, and based on building trusting therapeutic relationships over time.
• Community-Based Care: Care is mostly delivered in community settings where people live, work, and socialise. Staff meet people in environments that are comfortable and accessible to them, reducing barriers to engagement.
• Trauma-Informed Practice: We recognise the prevalence and impact of trauma and seek to create emotionally and physically safe interactions. Staff work collaboratively to avoid re-traumatisation and aim to promote empowerment, choice, and trust.
• Relational Practice: Therapeutic relationships are the primary vehicle for change. We prioritise consistency, reliability, compassion, and authenticity in all contacts with service users, carers and partner agencies.
• Shared Decision-Making: People are supported to make informed decisions about their care and treatment wherever possible. Care planning is collaborative and respects autonomy, rights, and individual preferences. People under treatment are enabled through our patient reported outcome measures systems to give systematic feedback regarding their care.
• Strengths-Based Approach: We focus on people’s capabilities, resilience, and community resources rather than solely on symptoms, deficits, or risks. We support individuals to build independence and social inclusion.
• Whole-Person Care: Mental health needs are addressed alongside physical health, housing, employment, finances, substance use, learning disabilities/autism, anti-social behaviours, social networks, and other determinants of wellbeing. We recognise that recovery requires more than symptom management.
• Risk Management Through Engagement: Risk is best understood and managed through meaningful relationships, regular contact, and collaborative planning and formulation. We balance positive risk-taking with the need to promote safety for our service users and members of the public.
• Multi-Disciplinary Team working: The team brings together diverse professional expertise to provide coordinated, holistic care. Decisions are informed by multiple perspectives and shared responsibility.
• Health Equity and Inclusion: We actively address barriers related to ethnicity, culture, language, disability, gender, sexuality, age, homelessness, and social disadvantage. Services are delivered in a way that promotes fairness and accessibility.
• Partnership Working: We work closely with primary care, acute services, social care, housing providers, voluntary organisations, criminal justice agencies, carers, and families to support recovery and continuity of care.
• Evidence-Based Practice: Interventions are informed by current evidence, national guidance, and continuous quality improvement. Staff are encouraged to develop specialist skills and contribute to service innovation.
• Flexible and Responsive Care: Support is adapted to changing needs and circumstances. The team responds rapidly to periods of increased vulnerability while maintaining continuity during periods of stability.
• Co-Production: People with lived experience, carers and community partners contribute to the design, delivery and evaluation of the service. Their expertise is valued equally alongside professional knowledge.

We offer rewarding career development with protected SPA time as part of your job plan, encouraging you to take leadership courses to enhance your skills. We also offer a relocation allowance of up to £8,000 for external applicants (subject to eligibility criteria).

Qualifications

• Fully registered with the General Medical Council
• Eligible for inclusion in the GMC Specialist Register (or Specialist Registrar within 6 months of gaining CCT at time of interview).
• Membership or Fellowship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists or equivalent qualification (in accordance with Royal College of Psychiatrists guidelines)
• Eligible for Section 12 Approval (Mental Health Act)/ Approved Clinician or willing to apply for such approval once in post.
• A higher degree such as MD or PhD
• Additional clinical qualifications

Knowledge and Experience

• Experience of clinical work in specialty at SpR, SAS/Specialist grade or consultant level within the last 3 years
• Excellent working knowledge and experience of the application of the Mental Health Act
• Appreciation and understanding of ethnic minority issues and a commitment to developing culturally sensitive practices
• Understanding of social factors relevant to psychiatry
• Experience of service development and introducing new services in mental health
• Experience of working at consultant level in an Assertive Outreach Team

Teaching

• Experience in teaching resident doctors
• Good teaching and communication skills
• Experience of teaching medical undergraduates and postgraduates
• Experience of teaching non-medical mental health professionals

Research and Audit

• Experience of research work and/or ability to interpret research findings and apply them to clinical practice.
• Experience of grant-funded project work

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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.

£113,565 to £150,569 a yearper annum | pro rata

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