Specialty Doctor in Eating Disorders ARFID Pathway

Job summary
The East London Community Eating Disorders Service for Children and Young People (CEDS-CYP) is a dynamic and exciting multidisciplinary team including Therapies (family therapy, clinical psychology, assistant psychology), Medical (psychiatry and paediatrics), Nursing (mental health and paediatric nursing), Dietetics, Support Workers and Administrative and Operational staff. Our team covers the East London boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Newham and City & Hackney and operates a Hub and Spoke model, working closely with local acute Trusts, particularly Paediatrics.

The ARFID Pathway is a dedicated, community-based specialist pathway within CEDS-CYP for children and young people aged 8-18 with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) or suspected ARFID. It delivers early, evidence-based, multidisciplinary assessment, consultation and brief intervention (a structured, time-limited 6-8 session model incorporating FBT-ARFID and CBT-AR approaches), supported by MDT formulation. The pathway addresses the gap between paediatric and mental health services, reduces fragmentation of care and prevents avoidable escalation to acute hospital or Tier 4 services. It provides equitable access for complex presentations, including children and young people with neurodevelopmental conditions, sensory sensitivities and physical health comorbidities.

Main duties of the job
The Specialty Doctor will be an important part of the ARFID Pathway within CEDS-CYP. This is an interesting and exciting job offering regular joint and collaborative working with other members of the team to assess and treat children and young people with ARFID and their families. The post holder will provide high-quality, evidence-based mental and physical health assessments and contribute to treatment, including medical monitoring where required. This will include professional and practice development to ensure high-quality, client-centred care.

The post holder will work closely with the Consultant Paediatrician for the pathway and the wider CEDS-CYP consultant psychiatry team, as well as dietetic, nursing and psychology colleagues, and will gain valuable liaison skills through working with community and acute paediatric teams. The post holder will also participate in the CEDS-CYP duty rota, as agreed with the supervising consultant.

There is also the opportunity to be involved in audit, service evaluation, QI projects and research according to personal developmental goals. If interested, there is the opportunity to take on a therapy case under supervision, for example in systemic family therapy, family-based treatment or CBT.

About us
ELFT as an Employer
The Trust employs 6,000 people in a variety of full-time and part-time posts. The Trust is committed to making the Trust an excellent place to work and in order to improve quality of life for all we serve; the Trust has four strategic aims:

• Improving population health outcomes
• Improving the experience of care
• Improving staff experience
• Improving value - to increase our productivity, reduce waste and cut out variation in clinical practice.

Our Focus on Quality
Quality of care is the Trust's top priority. It is at the forefront of all that we do and is firmly embodied in our mission to provide the highest quality mental health and community care in England by 2020.

Being the very best requires continual improvement - always seeking to do things better. Sometimes it involves fundamental change in the way things are done, with everyone working together sharing the same passion and commitment. Our strategy takes a whole-organization approach to quality improvement, and is built on experience and best practice from healthcare organizations and systems across the globe.

Details
Date posted: 23 October 2026
Pay scheme: Hospital medical and dental staff
Grade: Specialty Doctor
Salary: Depending on experience per annum
Contract: Fixed term
Duration: 6 months
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 363-MR-SS-8372004
Job locations: Emmanuel Miller Centre, 11 Gill Street, London, E14 8HQ, United Kingdom

Job description
Job responsibilities
These posts are based in East London. A timetable of commitments will be agreed with the supervising consultant and will include mental health, physical health and therapeutic aspects to the role.

The post holder will be accountable to the ARFID Pathway Lead and the Clinical Team Leads for EL CEDS-CYP, and will be formally supervised by a Consultant Psychiatrist within CEDS-CYP [named supervisor to be confirmed]. Supervision will be offered once a week for an hour, the time to be agreed at the start of the placement. Further informal supervision, teaching and support is available from the wider CEDS-CYP consultant psychiatry and paediatric team as needed.

The central base for this post is Emanuel Miller Centre, Tower Hamlets

Person Specification
Education
Essential

• MB.BS, MBChB or equivalent
• Full registration with the GMC

Desirable

• Section 12 Approval
• MRCPsych

Experience
Essential

• Four years of full-time postgraduate training (or equivalent gained on a part-time/ flexible basis), with at least two years being in speciality training programme in a relevant speciality/ fixed term speciality trainee in relevant speciality or;
• Equivalent experience and competencies
• Experience of working with children and adolescents
• Working in different clinical settings
• Working with people with serious and enduring mental illness

Desirable

• Experience of working with young people with mental health problems of an acute and severe nature
• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team
• Experience of eating disorders

Knowledge
Essential

• Child and adolescent mental health disorders and their management
• Mental Health Legislation
• Outcomes measurements
• Experience of pharmacological treatments
• Risk assessment and risk management
• Understanding and knowledge of the role voluntary organisations
• Healthcare Governance

Skills
Essential

• Excellent communication skills, verbal, non-verbal and written
• Develop effective working relationships
• Function autonomously as well as being a team player
• Assessing, formulating and prioritising patients' needs
• Apply research and theory to practice

Desirable

• Evidence based service development
• Skills and a range of therapeutic interventions and psycho-social treatment options

Other
Essential

• Ability to cope effectively under pressure and in stressful situations
• Courteous and respectful of patients, families and carers
• Assertive, independent, flexible
• Capable of multi-disciplinary and inter-agency working

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship
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).

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details
Employer name: East London NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Emmanuel Miller Centre, 11 Gill Street, London, E14 8HQ, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.elft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Associate Clinical Director, Dr Sophia Ulhaq, sophia.ulhaq@nhs.net, 02082155270

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