Consultant

Job responsibilities

Clinical Responsibilities

1) To provide the Palliative Medicine Consultant lead for the community of Telford & Wrekin alongside neuropalliative sessions.

2) The main clinical duties would include:

provision of Consultant outpatient clinics and domiciliary visits from the hospice base in Telford, with weekly team meetings/MDT (at Shrewsbury site)

providing supervision for the Clinical Nurse Specialist team including supporting case reviews and joint domiciliary visits

3) To oversee the care of patients admitted to the hospice for symptom control, rehabilitation & terminal care when providing cross-cover.

4) To liaise with GPs in the community and Consultants at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals where appropriate.

5) To be responsible for the maintenance of accurate and full medical records.

6) To give advice to other medical practitioners on clinical problems.

7) To supervise the resident doctors working at the hospice.

8) To support the work of community hospice nurses and provide advice where necessary.

9) To partake in the medical on-call rota.

10) To provide Consultant medical cover alongside the other consultants. This will include occasional inpatient cover on either site

b) Managerial and administrative responsibilities

The post holder will:

1) Be responsible for taking an active role in developing and maintaining Clinical Governance.

2) Be expected to participate in audit.

3) Promote the establishment and development of effective communication and information system within the hospice and into the community.

4) Attend weekly senior doctors meeting.

5) Participate in strategy development with other providers.

6) Participate in the formal and informal staff support system as appropriate.

7) Represent the hospice if required at appropriate meetings and committees.

c) Teaching

1) To contribute to the teaching programme already established within and outside the hospice, particularly for Specialist Trainees and Keele University medical students.

2) To develop guidelines and protocols in Palliative Medicine as appropriate.

3) To participate in meetings dealing with patient care and issues surrounding the effective multidisciplinary approach to patient care.

d) Income Generation and PR

To assist the income generation department when asked and appropriate in raising the profile of the service and to give talks on the work undertaken, when necessary.

e) Revalidation

The prescribed connection for this post is to Severn Hospice, which in turn is linked to SaTH, acting as an umbrella organisation. The Responsible Officer will therefore be the Medical Director of SaTH, and annual appraisals will be undertaken by one of his / her appointed delegates. In addition to the GMC requirements, there will be an annual appraisal with the Medical Director of the hospice (this will contribute to the overall annual appraisal)

5 TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE

While recognising that Consultants are independent clinical practitioners the successful candidate will have a responsibility for observing both the hospice and trust-wide policies.

The post holder will be employed by and will be accountable to the Chief Executive of Severn Hospice. Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust will be responsible for and will be the pay agent for pay and pension purposes only.

Salary is on the NHS Consultant Salary scale.

National terms and conditions apply except for sick pay, maternity pay and yearly cost of living increases which fall in line with Severn Hospice conditions of employment.

The post-holder will be entitled to six weeks annual leave plus statutory holidays and 10 working days approved study leave. The leave year runs from 1st January to 31st December. Arrangements for leave must be agreed beforehand with the Medical Director (Line Manager of the medical team).

The post-holder will be based at the Shrewsbury Hospice with office accommodation, and a minimum of 0.5 WTE secretarial support. Also provided is computer with internet access. Library facilities will be within the hospice and at the Post Graduate Medical Centre, Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

The post holder will have access to all the facilities of the hospice, including Clinical Supervision and counselling, support from the medical ward team, and other members of the multi-professional team.

Satisfactory medical clearance, which may include a medical examination with Severn Hospice Occupational Health Services, is a condition of employment.

The post-holder should be a car driver and owner with a current driving licence.

The post-holder may remain within the NHS superannuation scheme, if they so wish.

The hospice is committed to ongoing education and to the need for continued personal development. The post holder will be subject to an annual appraisal which will include an agreed Personal Development Plan incorporating CME and other requirements that would contribute to the revalidation process.

The hospice supports the requirements for Continuing Medical Education as laid down by the Royal College of Physicians / GMC and is committed to providing time and financial support for these activities.

Experience

Essential

• Wide experience in Palliative Medicine

Desirable

• Proven skills and experience in Acute Medicine/Oncology/General Practice

Organisational Skills

Essential

• Ability to organise work efficiently and effectively
• A demonstrated ability to work flexibly in a team to share the clinical load

Desirable

• Interested in developing innovative ways of delivering patient care

Teaching

Essential

• Experience in undergraduate and postgraduate training and other professional staff
• Commitment to teaching other doctors, medical students and nursing staff

Communication Skills

Essential

• Ability to communicate effectively and sensitively with patients, clinical, scientific, technical and managerial colleagues
• Able to work effectively in a multi-disciplinary team

Desirable

• Advanced course undertaken or taught

Research/Audit

Essential

• Basic skills in Clinical Audit
• Appreciation of benefits of Clinical Audit in improving clinical practice and the development of clinical guidelines.

Desirable

• Show an interest in developing own research agenda

Qualifications

Essential

• Full GMC Reigstration
• Entry on the specialist register or CCT/CESR, or within six months of completion of CCT at time of interview
• Possess a higher medical qualification (e.g. MRCP (UK) or (I), FRCA, FRCR or equivalent)

Skills and Knowledge

Essential

• Good interpersonal skills
• Can work on own initiative and recognise own limitations

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).