Description

Second Opinion Appointed Doctor (SOAD) - Mental Health Care

Salary range: £98,000 - £103,000 FTE per annum – if part-time, please note this will be pro rata.
Contracted Hours: Full-time, 37 hours per week or Part-time (minimum 2 days per week).
Contract Type: 2x Fixed Term/Secondment opportunities, for 12 months.
Location: Home-based with travel as required.
Closing Date: Tuesday 1 September 2026 at 11.59pm.
 
Make a difference

Every role at CQC contributes to our mission. If you’re looking for a new role in our Mental Health Directorate that gives a true sense of meaning and purpose, then you’ve found it! As a Second Opinion Appointed Doctor (SOAD), you will use your clinical expertise and experience to protect the rights and wellbeing of patients detained under the Mental Health Act.

Picture this

You’ll step into situations where your independent opinion really matters, helping to ensure people receive treatment that is appropriate to their individual circumstances, medically necessary, and respectful of their views and wishes. Your decisions will directly safeguard patients against inappropriate treatment, inform treatment plans and improve outcomes for patients when it matters most.

- As a Second Opinion Appointed Doctor (SOAD) in the Mental Health Directorate, you will assess complex treatment plans and decide whether proposed care under the Mental Health Act is appropriate, balancing clinical need with patient rights.
- As a Second Opinion Appointed Doctor (SOAD) in the Mental Health Directorate, you will carry out independent second opinions through hospital visits or remote assessments, to ensure safe and lawful treatment decisions.

The role

You’ll play an important part in delivering our mission. In this role, you’ll:

- Carry out independent assessments: Review patient records, meet with patients privately where possible, and consider information from clinical teams to make balanced, evidence-based decisions.
- Make and record treatment decisions: Decide whether treatments are appropriate under the Mental Health Act and clearly document your reasoning to support safe and lawful care.
- Speak with patients: To understand and take account of their views and preferences about their treatment.
- Work collaboratively with professionals and colleagues: Speak with clinicians and other statutory consultees to gather insight and ensure your decision considers all relevant perspectives. Work with CQC colleagues to improve the SOAD Service and experience for detained patients.

Show us

We will be looking for specific skills, knowledge and experience in your application form:

- Clinical experience in psychiatry: Evidence of at least three years working as a consultant psychiatrist with recent hands-on clinical practice, including experience with detained patients.
- Applying the Mental Health Act in practice: Experience making or influencing treatment decisions in line with legal frameworks, showing how you balance patient rights with clinical need.
- Independent decision-making in complex cases: Examples of reviewing detailed clinical information and clearly justifying your decisions.
- Multi-disciplinary team working: Evidence of working and consulting with multi-disciplinary teams to improve patient care and services.

Bring your experience to a role in CQC that really makes a difference.

Compliance

To progress your application, you’ll need to provide evidence of your right to work in the UK. Without a valid right to work, you won’t be eligible for the role. We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role. Some roles may also be subject to a satisfactory DBS check.

Next steps

If you apply, you’ll need to create a profile and complete an online application form. Your application will be completely anonymous. Please see our information for applicants for more details on the process. We contact every applicant to let them know the outcome of their application, so you will hear from us whether or not you are shortlisted.

You can read the full details of the role in the Job Description.

If you’d like to have an informal chat about the role, you can contact Craig Jennings, MHA Operations Manager – SOAD Service: craig.jennings@cqc.org.uk. 

For general enquiries, please email recruitment@cqc.org.uk. 

The Benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits, including:

- Annual leave starting at 27 days per year, rising to 32.5 days with service, plus bank holidays (usually 8 days per year).
- Training and development opportunities.
- Wellbeing initiatives, such as gym discounts and meditation.
- NHS pension scheme, with around 14% employer contribution.
- Discount schemes (including eligibility for a Blue Light card, at a cost of £4.99 and valid for two years), reward vouchers, car leasing and more!

Please see our benefits page on our website for the full list.

Equity for all

We know job descriptions can feel intimidating. Research shows they can cause some people to doubt whether they’re a good fit. This happens more often to people from underrepresented groups (e.g. ethnic minority backgrounds). If this role interests you, we encourage you to apply. Your unique perspective, skills, and experience could be exactly what we need.

We want every candidate to feel supported and able to do their best. If you need adjustments to our process, we’ll work with you to remove any barriers. Visit our accessibility page for more on this. If you’d like to chat, please contact recruitment@cqc.org.uk. 

We promote a workplace where fairness, respect and inclusion are a priority. See our ED&I page for more about this.

We welcome applications from everyone, and colleagues can find support and community among our many employee networks. This includes people of any:

- Age
- Sex
- Gender identity or expression
- Sexual orientation
- Religion or belief
- Ethnicity
- Disability

A Note on AI

We know AI tools can be great for research and refining ideas, but we want to learn about you. If you use AI or Chatbots to help you with your application, keep these points in mind:

- AI can support research, structuring and refining your writing, but your application must reflect your real skills and experience.
- Spell-checking and condensing word counts are great ways to use AI effectively.
- Do not copy and paste AI generated answers. These will not help you stand out; remember, we want to hear about your skills and experience.
- Providing false and insincere examples goes against our core values of honesty and integrity and may lead to your application being withdrawn or termination of your employment.

Values and vision

We are guided by our core values, which shape our work and our culture.

Excellence – being a high-performing organisation.
Caring – treating everyone with dignity and respect.
Integrity – doing the right thing.
Teamwork – learning from each other to be the best we can.