There are two general adult psychiatry higher training rotations within the North West School of Psychiatry: “North West/NW” covering Greater Manchester and Lancashire and “Mersey” covering Cheshire and Merseyside.

Across both rotations, dual training programmes are available with General Adult alongside:

All Post Graduate Drs In Training (PGDIT’s) are supported in developing competencies in management and medical education through funded Postgraduate Certificate modules run through Edge Hill University. Study leave is also offered for high quality training events.

The Training Programme Directors allocate placements based upon training needs and are responsive to PGDIT’s needs when geographical or less-than-full-time training considerations are required due to other life commitments.

For further details about each side of the training scheme, please see below.

Mersey

Training Programme Director: Dr Nanda Dayalan, nanda.dayalan@merseycare.nhs.uk

The Mersey rotation currently provides 27 training posts in general adult psychiatry.

The rotation offers a broad range of training posts, with core Community Mental Health Teams and Acute Care placements, and opportunities to undertake specialist placements in Liaison Psychiatry, Addictions Psychiatry, Rehabilitation Psychiatry (all enabling endorsements at CCT), Neuropsychiatry, Perinatal Mental Health and Early Intervention in Psychosis over 3 years.

There are opportunities to undertake special interest sessions in a broad range of areas in addition to the above including Forensic Psychiatry, Liaison and Diversion, Learning Disability, Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Adult ADHD, Eating Disorders and Management Project experience.

The rotation has well developed opportunities and structures to support trainees to achieve higher training Psychotherapy competencies.

There is a higher training day programme run by Post Graduate Dr’s In Training (PGDIT’s) occurring ten times per year.

The rotation has strong links with University of Liverpool for involvement with medical students, exams and becoming honorary lecturers.

There are active research departments in each Trust, providing opportunities to develop skills and competencies in research.

The posts are based over a relatively compact geographical area, with the highest concentration in Liverpool, extending to Southport in the North, Chester in the South and Warrington in the East. The rotation is based across three NHS Mental Health Foundation Trusts: Mersey Care, North West Boroughs Health and Cheshire & Wirral Partnership. The rotation covers a broad range of urban and rural communities

Mersey region is excellent for people seeking a family friendly base or wanting to enjoy life in a vibrant North West city.

North West

Training Programme Directors:

Dr Catrin Evans: catrin.evans@gmmh.nhs.uk

Dr Tarun Khanna: tarun.khanna@lscft.nhs.uk

The Greater Manchester General Adult Psychiatry Rotation offers 53 posts including Dual Completion of Certificate of Training (CCT) in Psychotherapy/GA, Older People/GA and Forensic/GA.

With specialty training posts in four large Foundation Trusts, there is a wealth of experiences on offer, including Liaison Psychiatry, Addictions Psychiatry, Rehabilitation Psychiatry (all enabling endorsements after a year), Neuropsychiatry, Perinatal Mental Health and Early Intervention. There are opportunities for more specialised training, including in specialist psychotherapy centres.

The scheme and trainers have close links with the University of Manchester to support trainees’ research experience, including the opportunity to join National Research Projects. We have dedicated trainee research representatives to help trainees identify their research interests.

The Specialist Training Committee has strong Specialty Trainee representative membership to ensure trainees are involved in the development of the scheme and training offered, including the opportunity to organise the ten annual training days. Links with the Mersey Scheme are also strong, with close collaborative working across the region to ensure the needs of trainees are best met.

The scheme covers a large geographical area, from North Cheshire to Lancashire with the majority of posts around Greater Manchester, providing a wealth of experiences from inner city to rural settings. Trainees are always involved in choosing where they are placed, depending on educational, service and developmental needs.