Job Introduction
Make a genuine impact where your expertise matters most.
We’re looking for an exceptional Psychiatrist to join our dedicated mental health team at HMP Chelmsford, where you’ll play a crucial role in delivering high‑quality, patient‑centred care within a unique and rewarding environment.
This is your opportunity to influence service development, work within a strong multi‑disciplinary team, and support some of the most vulnerable people in the criminal justice system.
Why join us at HCRG Care Group?
Working in a prison setting is challenging, but also highly impactful. You’ll work closely with healthcare colleagues across the prison, contributing to a service that prioritises safety, compassion, and outstanding clinical practice.
This role gives you the chance to shape mental health provision, mentor clinical staff, and provide expert assessment and treatment to patients with both stable and acute mental health needs.
What you’ll be doing:
As our Mental Health Psychiatrist, you will:
Clinical Excellence
- Conduct comprehensive medical assessments and deliver high‑quality clinical care and treatment.
- Formulate complex cases, addressing both psychiatric and medical needs.
- Prescribe and monitor medications, including those beyond typical psychiatric formularies, following NICE guidelines.
- Engage in multidisciplinary discussions to determine the most appropriate treatment settings for patients.
Leadership & Service Development
- Take an active role in the strategic development of the mental health service.
- Provide clinical supervision and leadership to senior mental health clinicians.
- Promote key service values including evidence-based practice, coordinated care, and effective risk management.
- Work with managerial and clinical leaders to continuously improve and evolve the service.
Collaborative Working
- Work as part of a highly skilled Multi‑Disciplinary Team, reviewing referrals, planning treatment, and conducting risk assessments.
- Attend and contribute to clinical MDT meetings, including discussions on high‑risk patients.
- Build strong relationships with prison staff, operational teams, and external partners to ensure integrated and cohesive care.
About You:
You are a compassionate, confident, and skilled psychiatrist who can work autonomously while also thriving as part of a team. You’re adaptable, resilient, and driven by a commitment to delivering excellent care.
Essential qualifications & experience
- GMC‑registered medical professional
- On the Specialist Register in General Adult Psychiatry or Forensic Psychiatry
- Approved Clinician (AC) status
- Approved under Section 12(2) of the Mental Health Act 1983
- Strong understanding of multi‑disciplinary and multi‑agency working
- Up‑to‑date knowledge in adult psychiatry and personality disorder
- Awareness of current mental health policy, legislation, and service provision
Package Description
As a Psychiatrist you will be part of our valued team in our HMP Chelmsford Service, receiving access to exclusive rewards and benefits including:
- £120,000 - £130,000 per annum (depending on experience) plus group pension
- 25 Days Annual Leave + Bank Holidays
- Company Policy Sick pay
- Enhanced Maternity Package
- Life Assurance
- Membership of My Reward Hub, giving you access to discounts on every day purchases like grocery shopping as well as cashback and voucher offers for treats for you and those special to you
- Access to your wages as you earn them to help cover life’s emergencies and avoid overdraft fees or high interest rates
- Online and face to face help with your mental and physical wellbeing – from healthy recipes and activity challenges through to post trauma support, legal, debt and life management help, as well career coaching and counselling
- Access to eLearning, bespoke career pathways and opportunities for continuing professional development through our ‘Outstanding’ learning and development team, The Learning Enterprise
- An open, just culture where you’re encouraged to have and implement ideas which can help us deliver our purpose: changing lives through transforming health and care – backed up by at least £100,000 of ringfenced innovation funding each year
- The pride of working for an organisation committed to the highest clinical and quality standards: with the majority of our rated services holding “good” or “outstanding” ratings from the Care Quality Commission
About the Company
We change lives by transforming health and care.
Established in 2006, we are one of the UK's leading independent providers of community health and care services, working with health and care commissioners and communities to transform services with a focus on experience, efficiency, and improved outcomes. We deliver and transform adult and children community health services, primary care services including urgent care, sexual health, dermatology and MSK services as well as adult social care and wellbeing services. Across England, we support communities of many millions and directly help more than half a million people each year - guided by our simple values: we care, we think, we do.
We're committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from a broad, diverse range of people who want to join our team. We’re a Disability Confident Committed company, so we work to provide facilities, work environment adjustments and technical solutions to be as inclusive of everyone.
While it doesn’t happen often, sometimes a role is very popular, and we’ll need to close it earlier than the date we’ve shown here. If you’re keen to join our team, we’d love to hear from you so please apply as soon as you can.
As you’d expect, safeguarding and protecting the children, young people and vulnerable adults that we work with is of the utmost importance so we have policies and procedures in place to promote safeguarding and safer working practices and everyone who joins the team is subject to a safer recruitment process, including the disclosure of criminal records and vetting checks.
Finally, we need to let you know that the company you’ll work for is part of HCRG Care Group Holdings Limited and by applying for this job we’ll need to process and hold information about you. If you would like to know a little more about how we use your information, please see our website's privacy policy.
