We are delighted to welcome applications for a Consultant in  Intensive Care Medicine to join the expanding East Kent Critical Care team at the East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust.

If you join our expanding department, you’ll discover a rewarding role with great scope for professional development, research and teaching, plus a fantastic lifestyle.  Our Trust is investing heavily in our Critical Care Units over the next 12 months, and we would love you to be a part of this.

Why choose us?

When you make the move to East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust, your only regret will be that you didn’t do it sooner.  We are a community of great people providing great healthcare, improving health and lives.  Here, you can be confident of making a difference to our patients, our incredible healthcare teams and our dedicated medical students and doctors in training.  

It was recently announced that a new medical school, the first in the county, will be opening in two years.  The school, which will offer 100 medical school places per year, is a game-changing opportunity and one which the two universities and Kent and Medway trusts have been working towards and hoping for over several years.  Successful applicants with an interest in medical education will be supported in taking up an honorary senior lecturer post at the medical school – subject to agreement by KMMS.

It isn’t just within work that you will experience great things.  There are many areas of unspoilt countryside, expanses of outstanding natural beauty and quiet, secluded beaches all within a few miles of each of our hospital sites.  Kent also has an excellent reputation for both public and private schools.

Both London and the Continent are on your doorstep, with easy access to the capital, and to the Channel Ports and Channel Tunnel.  

Your opportunity.

As a GMC registered Consultant, you’ll play a vital role in a progressive and forward thinking East Kent Critical Care team. The successful applicant will be based at the William Harvey Hospital and will provide critical care on-call at that site, however depending on the requirements across the Trust it may become necessary to provide sessions on either of the Trust’s other critical care units at Canterbury or Margate.

The Intensive Care Unit at the William Harvey Hospital is one of the three units providing critical care to patients in East Kent Hospital University Foundation Trust the others being at Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital, Margate (9beds), and the Kent and Canterbury Hospital (8 beds).  The Ashford site has 16 funded critical care beds which can accommodate level 2 and level 3 patients in a flexible manner.  We admit approximately 1000 patients a year, of which two thirds are medical and the remainder from surgical specialties.  Planned surgical admissions account for approximately 15% of the total. There are two junior doctors on-call for critical care 24 hours per day.

Our ITU boasts some exciting special interests. There’s a strong focus on critical care ultrasonography, with state of the art equipment supporting focused echocardiography and bedside ultrasonography.  Our consultants include accredited CUSIC and FICE mentors, plus two FICE supervisors.  We also have an interest in advanced ventilation modes such as APRV and Intellivent ASV, and run regular advanced ventilation workshops.  Outreach and a Critical Care Rehabilitation service are well established, and we are well supported by a full complement of allied health professionals.

The successful applicant will provide consultant-delivered care on the critical care unit, support the Critical Care Outreach Team on general wards, and participate in the on-call rota for critical care.  When not covering the critical care unit, if the successful applicant is an anaesthetist, they will provide consultant anaesthetic sessions in theatres for a variety of surgical disciplines, including colorectal, gynaecological oncology,  orthopaedics,  ENT,  maxillofacial surgery,  ophthalmology,  trauma and general surgery.  As the successful candidate, you will be encouraged to contribute to the development and delivery of all aspects of the service. Applications are also welcomed from sole intensivists or intensivists with joint accreditation in acute medicine or emergency medicine.

With a strong learning culture and accreditation for intermediate training in intensive care medicine, the Unit is well respected for training and teaching.  You will make a valued contribution to teaching and supervision of trainees, and take part in collaborative simulation sessions in the Trust’s band new simulation site.  

In addition, we are one of the most research active acute Trusts in the Kent, Surrey and Sussex region, with over 120 NIHR CRN Portfolio studies open to recruitment across more than 20 specialty areas, with at least 15 new industry funded/sponsored studies opening each year. All newly appointed Consultants are encouraged to take on the role of Principal Investigator and considerable training and support is available.

So, if you’re seeking a fresh opportunity in an excellent location with great career building potential, you’re looking in the right place.