Consultant in Acute Medicine

Job description

Job responsibilities

The appointee will work alongside:

Dr Anna Blackburn GIM/Respiratory

Dr Alistair Green GIM/Endo

Dr Dominic Giles AIM

Dr Jean Patrick GIM/renal

Dr Calum Ross GIM /renal

Dr Alice Malpas GIM/Rheumatology

Dr Litza Vera AIM

Dr Alaa Elgishy AIM/Intensive Care Medicine

Acute Medicine

The appointee will join a dynamic team on the Emergency Admission and Discharge Unit for around 4 sessions a week. EADU has been significantly redeveloped recently to place more emphasis on ambulatory care and acute clinics. The award winning AmbU service uses point of care testing and early consultant review to achieve an average stay length of 110 minutes.

The EADU is a 34-bedded unit encompassing 2 high dependency (level 2) bays (totalling 8 patients), 4 level 1 bays and 4 side rooms. We manage most non-invasive ventilation at initiation and use ward-based OptiflowTM for many of our patients in these bays.

There is consultant presence on the EADU 08:00-20:00 7 days per week; including two consultants until 13:00 every day. The average number of medical admissions through this unit is around 40 per 24 hours.

The EADU services are the essential part of the emergency patients journey. The post-holder will have a key role in influencing patient pathways and flows throughout the Trust especially within the Division of Medicine.

EADU has two point-of-care ultrasound machine. We encourage the expansion of ultrasound applications in emergency medical care.

The unit is also a very important area for the teaching, training and assessment of Junior Doctors as well as an important area for the teaching and training of Medical Students and other staff.

We are very proud of our purpose-built Ambulatory Unit and take referrals from GPs and ED, directly streamed patients from ED and direct referrals from Paramedics. We see a large range of ambulatory patients in this unit; amounting to a further 40 patients per day. We manage our outpatient intravenous antibiotic service through this unit as well as the venous thromboembolism (VTE) service. We utilise point of care testing to fast-track patient care. The Ambulatory Unit has consultant presence 09:00-17:00 Monday to Friday. We are looking to extend this to the weekend as our numbers expand. The unit itself is open 08:00-20:00 7 days per week.

The Short Stay Medical Unit moved down to the Emergency Footprint in 2016. This 22-bedded unit encompasses 6 side rooms and has the capability to isolate cases of infectious diseases, most recently COVID-19 infections. The Acute Medical Team run the Short Stay Medical Unit and staff it at consultant level on a two-week rotation. There is consultant presence every morning 09:00-13:00 which facilitates a rapid diagnostic-treatment pathway. Our previous average length of stay in this unit was 2.9 days. The post-holder would be welcome to contribute to this rota on a 1 in 8 basis (i.e. 6 weeks per year). Currently, it is running as our COVID ward managing a broad range of acuity associated with the virus.

The post holder will also take part in the General Medical on-call rota with a current frequency of between 1 in 16 (weekend) and 1 in 18 (weekday). The on-call frequency will change with new appointments.

The James Paget University Hospital operates a Hospital at Night team, the aim of which is to provide a safe and supported framework to optimise patient care and junior doctor supervision. The Hospital at Night team relies on generic working of team members. This means that a team of doctors and nurses will have appropriate skills as a whole to manage most problems arising overnight. Hospital at Night covers five specialties: Medicine, Surgery, Urology, Orthopaedics, ENT and Obstetrics & Gynaecology. The EADU takes a central role in the Hospital at Night Programme.

Job Plan

The Job plan and detailed timetable, which will depend on both experience and interests of the candidate and the needs of the department, will be agreed with the Divisional Director on behalf of the Medical Director, within three months of the commencement date of the appointee. This will be signed by the Chief Executive and will be effective from the date signed by the Assistant Medical Director.

The job plan will then be reviewed annually, following an Appraisal Meeting. The document will be a prospective agreement that sets out a consultants duties, responsibilities and objectives for the coming year. It will cover all aspects of a consultants professional practice including clinical work, teaching, research, education and managerial responsibilities. It will provide a clear schedule of commitments, both internal and external. In addition, it will include personal objectives, including details of their link to wider service objectives and details of the support required by the consultant to fulfil the job plan and the objectives.

This is for a 10PA contract. The allocation of PA`s is reviewed and may be subject to adjustment when a further diary exercise is undertaken or if the service demands a review of the Job Plan. The SPA sessions, in addition to CPD time, audit, teaching and guideline development should include time for the appointee to familiarise themselves with the Trusts policies, procedures and guidelines and to undergo training at the UEA in order that they can become a recognised teacher. There is also a requirement that all Consultants attend appropriate training to meet the requirements of PMETB regarding provision of Clinical and Educational Supervision. A mentor will be appointed to support the consultant in adjusting to the new role and responsibilities.

The appointee will be given appropriate secretarial support and office space. New consultants can get a trust laptop to aid social distancing and home working.

Medical Student teaching

The appointee will be expected to contribute to undergraduate teaching. There is an expectation that the appointee will also participate in admission assessments for applicants to the medical school, lectures, seminars, examinations and small group problem based learning (PBL) teaching that occurs throughout the academic year. There will be an increase in Medical Student numbers over the next few years.

Any time contributed to Medical Student teaching by the appointee will need to be agreed by the existing physicians providing the Acute Medical Services and the Assistant Medical Director but in general this will be supported and encouraged

Person Specification

Education and Qualifications

Essential

• MBBS or equivalent
• Full GMC registration
• MRCP (UK) or Equivalent
• Hold a certificate or being within 6 months of completion of training or being on or eligible for the UK Specialist Register at the date of interview.

Desirable

• MD/PhD

Experience & Knowledge

Essential

• Wide experience in Acute Internal Medicine
• Ability to provide expert clinical opinion across a wide range of problems within General Medicine.
• Able to plan and develop a modern service in keeping with current trends

Desirable

• Subspecialist Interest to complement the Acute Medical team

Key skills

Essential

• Experience in teaching junior medical staff
• Conscientious and highly motivated with the ability to communicate clearly with colleagues and staff
• Leadership qualities

Other

Essential

• Full immunisation status in accordance with Occupational Health
• Satisfactory Criminal Records Bureau Disclosure and/or Certificate of Good Conduct (Police Check) from country of residence

Academic Achievements

Essential

• Ability to use research outcomes in clinical practice
• Experience of conducting clinical audit

Desirable

• Involvement in research projects and published papers

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

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

Employer details

Employer name

James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Address

James Paget University Hospital

Lowestoft Road

Gorleston

NR31 6LA

Employer's website

https://www.jpaget.nhs.uk/work-for-us/ (Opens in a new tab)