Consultant in Acute Medicine
- Employer
- Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Location
- Swindon, Wiltshire
- Salary
- £84,559 - £114,003 per annum
- Closing date
- 31 Jan 2022
View more
- Profession
- Specialist doctor, Acute internal medicine
- Grade
- Consultant
- Contract Type
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full Time
Competitive relocation package of up to £8000
There has never been a more exciting time to join our pioneering and expanding Acute Medicine department. Applications are invited for enthusiastic Acute Medicine Consultants to join our expanding team managing patients within our in-patient and ‘Same Day’ units.
The Great Western Hospital has recently been awarded £30 million to restructure and redesign its front door services, working alongside our Emergency Department colleagues. To support this, we are looking to recruit substantive Consultants in Acute Medicine, both full time and part time applications will be considered. The successful applicants will be able to partake in the redesign of services and pathways to assist with increasing our Same Day Emergency Care offering as well as flow through Acute Medicine.
There is an opportunity for the successful candidate to pursue a special interest within other medical specialties with a dedicated session offered as part of the role (1 PA).
Clinical Duties:
- Multidisciplinary team working is key component of the working within the Trust and involves regular MDT discussions with colleagues
- Providing evidence-based care for patients in a multidisciplinary setting.
- Continuing responsibility for the care of patients in your charge, including all administrative duties associated with patient care (with secretarial support)
- Development of sub specialty interests that fit in with Division needs and the strategic direction of the Trust.
- Responsibilities for carrying out teaching, examination and accreditation duties are required, and for contributing to undergraduate and post-graduate and continuing medical education activity.
- Provision of cover for Consultant colleagues’ periods of leave in accordance with arrangements agreed within Trust policy.
- Participation in clinical audit and in continuing medical education.
- Conducting suitable duties in cases of emergencies and unforeseen circumstances.
- The post holder will participate in an out of hours consultant rota, detailed within the job plan section
- Consultants allocated daily to each area as above
- Principle responsibility Post Take WR in all areas
- PTWR in Emergency Department for Medically referred patients
- Consultants rotate senior support – Physician of Day
The Acute Medical Unit is supported by services including ‘Front Door Team’ (Physio/OT), Frailty Team, Specialty HOT clinics and input from associated clinical specialties.
The department aims to help maintain a work / life balance. We offer an innovative and sustainable Consultant work pattern. This system balances out of hours work with ample and flexible compensatory time off factored into the job plan. The working week can be arranged for the successful applicant to have a non-working day each week. We can offer job plans of up to 12 PAs on a negotiable basis.
The Great Western Hospital is an attractive modern building set in beautiful surroundings on the outskirts of Swindon, just 5 minutes from J15 of the M4 motorway. Swindon has brilliant travel links and is less than 1 hour way from both London and Bristol. There is also an excellent recently refurbished nursery on the hospital site and majority of local primary schools are rated outstanding by Ofsted.
Great Western Hospital benefits from having an excellent relationship between management teams and clinical staff.
This role is a new / replacement role within the Acute Medical Unit (AMU) and the appointed candidate(s) will join an existing team of senior medical staff including Consultants & Associate Specialists. On joining the department, you will become part of a well-established, friendly team and will help us continue to drive forward improvements in the service that we provide to our patients. As a senior member of the team, you will become a key part in the delivery of training and supervision to our junior colleagues. As a Trust, we place high importance on staff wellbeing, you will be offered a wide variety of support to help you maintain your wellbeing and to help colleagues maintain theirs. The Trusts Health and Wellbeing team has won a National Award during 2020 for the work they have done locally.
The AMU includes the following areas with a capacity of 67 beds –
- Shalbourne - Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) – 14 Beds
- Linnet Ward MAU: Admissions Ward – 32 Beds
- Shalbourne Short Stay Unit (SSU) – 10 Beds
- Covid Assessment Unit (CAU) – 11 Beds
- Cherwell – Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) unit
- MAU – The Acute Medical Unit operates 24hrs a day, 7 days a week. The unit provides rapid assessment, investigation and treatment for patients who have been admitted by the Emergency Department and those referred by General Practitioners from the community. ‘Shalbourne MAU’ and Linnet Ward are currently geographically separated but Consultants are allocated to each area, with Shalbourne predominantly managing GP referrals and Linnet receiving the ED take.
- SSU – Manages patients directly from the take or transferred from around AMU. Patients are managed with an expected LOS of 72 hours or less. SSU is adjacent to Shalbourne – MAU.
- SDEC - Operates Monday to Friday between 8.00am and 8.00pm. We have a dedicated team of ACPs and Junior Doctors supervised by a Consultant Acute Physician and Associate Specialist, which aims to assess, investigate and treat patients referred from the Emergency Department or from General Practice. There are future plans to transform this service in line with the department expansion and substantive staffing.
- CAU – This unit was created at the start of the Pandemic and its use and capacity has flexed dependent on demand. We expect it to continue operation into early 2022 but its function will then be reviewed with plans to incorporate some of its bed capacity into MAU and the remaining area becoming a Medical Take receiving area for “1st Assessment/Triage”.
Medical and nursing staff rotate across of areas of AMU and there is commitment to team working and staff support. The team is supported by a well-established ‘Front Door Team’ (Physio and Occupational Therapists), Secretarial/Admin Team, Informatics Team and we work closely with other department, particularly the Emergency Department. AMU has gone through some structural ad geographical changes throughout the Pandemic and we now have an adaptive, dynamic service that we are looking to develop further.
We see our juniors as future colleagues and there are a large number of trainees that rotate through our busy AMU. We take pride in helping them to grow in confidence and competence. The unit has a dedicated consultant providing excellent mentoring for all our trainees on a Wednesday.
We are currently planning for an Integrated Front Door and part of the ‘Way Forward Programme’ utilising Government funding to develop ‘Front Door’ services. The AMU will be getting new purpose built facilities to expand our MAU and SDEC facilities in conjunction with closer physical and operational links with the Emergency Department.
Within the wider Unscheduled Care Division there are services for Geriatric Medicine, Neurology, Stroke Medicine, Cardiology, Respiratory Medicine, Gastroenterology, Endocrinology and Emergency Medicine.
Currently consultants in Acute Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, Respiratory Medicine and Diabetes and Endocrinology take part in the general medicine on call rota.
We are currently predominantly located in Brunel Treatment Centre (Ground floor) within the Great Western Hospital, which has excellent travel links (including good onsite parking), with many cities within easy range. The Trust is located on the edge of Swindon with access to a variety of outstanding areas to live which include both urban or village areas with short commutes to the site.
Management and Leadership Responsibilities:
All staff in each Division are managerially accountable through their Lead Clinician to the Associate Medical Director, who has overall responsibility for the services within the Division. Consultants are key members of the Division and are accountable and responsible for leading changes to service that will improve the patient experience.
- To support the Clinical Lead in policy and strategy development as a senior member of the Division Management Team.
- To contribute to the leadership and development of Services under the direction of the Clinical Lead and Associate Medical Director and in line with the Trust’s business plans.
- The post holder will ensure effective communication and involvement of staff across the Division including support to the Divisional Director to achieve their objectives.
- Work in partnership with colleagues in other Divisions within the Trust.
- As part of the Division Management Team, assist in the cost effective utilisation of resources, including pay and non-pay items such as equipment and drugs, within budgets.
- Work within the Trust’s framework for Clinical Governance and Risk, including the development of clinical policies and adherence to standing orders, standing financial instructions and financial procedures.
- Undertake direct supervision of junior colleagues and participate in departmental/trust wide teaching programmes.
- Undertake investigations and report writing for incidents and participate in clinical risk management
- Appointed candidates will embody the STAR values and use the principles of the NHS Constitution for England to guide decisions.
Clinical Governance and Audit
All consultants are expected to participate in clinical effectiveness activities. They are expected to maintain and foster improvements in the quality and standards of clinical services. Consultants lead the safeguarding of high standards of care by participating in the creation of environment in which excellence in clinical care will flourish.
Consultants are expected to support the Clinical/Medical Leadership teams within their division to achieve the following:
- Production of a Division annual clinical governance plan.
- Production of a Division quality strategy.
- Production of a Division quarterly report to the Trust’s Clinical Governance and Risk Committee.
- Ensuring targets within the plan are met, including:
- Adoption of evidence based practice including compliance with government guidance, e.g. NICE
- Establishment and implementation of a Division clinical audit programme
- Completion of risk assessments as required and compliance with the Trust’s risk management policies and strategies including controls assurance standards
- Encouraging research and development
- Ensuring, through the Divisional Director, in association with the Division of Workforce and Education, that Division staff meet the education and training targets agreed within the Trust’s annual plan.
- Ensuring through the Divisional Director that complaints management is timely and effective including implementing action plans relating to individual complaints.
- Contributing to work force planning to ensure timely availability of appropriate clinical skills to maintain excellence in patient care.
To discuss the post and arrange an informal visit, please contact Dr Timea Novak on t.novak@nhs.net or 01793 605271 or Dr Stephen Haig, Associate Medical Director s.haig@nhs.net on 01793 605274.
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