Psychiatrists who are unpaid carers

There are some psychiatrists with complex caring responsibilities and they should be supported to remain at work and thrive.

Job planning should take into consideration the individual needs of psychiatrists with complex caring responsibilities. Flexibility is essential to support colleagues with these requirements to ensure that the job is doable and sustainable.

Consideration should be given to facilitating different ways of working that suit individual clinicians, including compressed hours, hybrid working that involves a mix of in-person work and virtual working as well as other innovative solutions that organisations may be able to support.

Not all psychiatrists with complex caring responsibilities may want or be able to avail themselves to less-than- fulltime time working, so it is important to consider how those willing and able to work full time may be accommodated to continue to provide high quality care to patients.

There should be explicit contingency plans in place to accommodate any unplanned leave so that the needs of the service are adequately managed and the psychiatrist does not experience stress or worry when they need to take time off work to prioritise the caring needs of a loved one.