Specialty Doctor in PICU/ECT Service

This full-time specialty doctor post provides an opportunity to join a dynamic and friendly team with ambitions to achieve excellence in their work on the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), Harvest Ward situated on the Bodmin Hospital site in Cornwall.

The unit is an 8 bedded mixed sex unit. Harvest Ward as a ‘PICU’ provides intensive, secure short-term care for patients detained under the Mental Health Act who present in the acute phase with serious mental health conditions featuring disturbed behaviour and risks to themselves or others which has rendered them unsuitable for management on an ‘open’ general adult psychiatric ward. The unit covers the whole of the County.

The PICU consultant has responsibility for patients in Harvest Ward and their leave cover is provided by other senior medical staff based on the Bodmin Hospital site. Leave cover for this post is provided by the on-site Bodmin Hospital Specialist Trainee on-call.

Our patients come from a variety of referral agencies including inpatient and community General Adult settings, other PICUs and Prison. The team is multidisciplinary, comprising at its core a full-time consultant psychiatrist, a further specialty doctor psychiatrist (this post), a psychologist, nursing staff, health care assistants, an occupational therapist and administrative support. The ward also enjoys excellent support from our hospital pharmacy team.

The post holder will be expected to assess new admissions arriving on their work days and to contribute to the review of existing patients gathering history and examining mental states. They will also be expected to have a mind to patients’ physical health issues carrying out physical examinations and liaising with primary care and other health agencies where appropriate to ensure quality and consistent care.

The post holder will attend weekly multidisciplinary team meetings where they will be asked to keep medical notes and where their clinical contributions will be welcomed and encouraged.

As time and experience allows, there will be the opportunity to prepare tribunal reports and occasionally other medical reports and to attend related hearings. From time to time there may be opportunity to our assessment team visiting regional prisons to contribute to the assessment of referrals to Harvest Ward from within the prison system.

There are no designated outpatient clinics as this post is ward based. The post holder will not carry a personal case load.

Cornwall is a rural and maritime county in the Southwest region of England. It has a distinctive peninsular form with a long, indented coastline often featuring rugged cliffs and sandy beaches. The sea forms the northern, southern and western boundaries, with the River Tamar forming the eastern border with Devon.

The County has a population of 570,300 (2021 census). The population of the County changes significantly during the summer months with more than 4 million tourists visiting Cornwall each year so that at peak-season in August, the total population is increased by more than 50%.

Cornwall County consists of a new unitary authority for Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly. NHS Kernow CCG is the clinical commissioning group for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CFT) is the principal provider of mental health, learning disability and universal children’s services to people living in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

The Trust is one of the largest local employers in Cornwall. The Trust was formed as a specialist provider in April 2002 following reorganisation of local NHS Trusts. It was licensed as a Foundation Trust in March 2010 and acquired community children’s services in April 2011 and Tier 4 inpatient CAMHS services in 2019.

Harvest Ward is an 8 bedded mixed sex unit providing intensive, secure short-term care for patients with serious mental disorders who are presenting as acutely disturbed and who are detained under the Mental Health Act on account of risks posed to themselves or others.

The patients come from a variety of referral agencies including inpatient and community General Adult setting, other PICUs and Prison. The team is multidisciplinary, comprising at its core a full time consultant psychiatrist, a further specialty doctor psychiatrist (this post), nursing staff, health care assistants, an occupational therapist, administrative support also including psychologist and pharmacist time. There is support for the consideration of complimentary therapies where appropriate.

The PICU consultant has responsibility for patients in Harvest Ward. Leave cover for the PICU consultant is shared by the consultant and associate specialist based on the Low Secure Unit which is situated on the same site. The unit covers the whole of the County.