Job responsibilities
The primary role of the post holder is to provide clinical care for patients on the ID ward at St Thomas Hospital.
This is an exciting role to support an inpatient ID service. You will work alongside and be supported by an F1, an ID ST3+ and an ID/GIM consultant to provide continuing care for patients with a mixture of infectious diseases and general medical conditions. The conditions in those under our care include (but are not limited to) malaria, TB (including multi-drug resistant TB), CNS infections, pyelonephritis, cellulitis, and tropical infections as well as a range of general medical issues. Please note that the mix on the ward may change with varying incidence of other infections in the community (e.g. influenza, COVID-19, mpox).
We are also an airborne High Consequence Infectious Diseases Centre (HCID) with capacity for several adult patients on our ward. The post holder would have opportunities to undertake PPE and HCID SIM training and would be expected to support this service in the case of an admission.
We are an unusual infectious diseases unit in our very close working with microbiology, virology and infection prevention and control. As such, although you will primarily care for in-patients, you will be provided with opportunities to attend microbiology/virology teaching and work with the laboratory. This provides an improved understanding of the microbiological basis of infections.
You would be expected to attend the weekly academic infection meetings as well as the weekly clinical case meeting. We have a biweekly ID virtual round to discuss cases from both the ward and consult sides of the team. You may be expected to present patients for discussion at the clinical meetings.
This post would be attractive to someone on an F3 year who is interested in infectious diseases/microbiology/virology and/or research and/or medicine as a career. Whilst it would be an excellent basis for someone who plans to apply for core infection training it would also suit those planning to provide acute medical care of infections in other settings including the tropics. It would also suit someone returning to medicine after a career break or wanting to gain further infection-focused experience.
Educational Programme:
The post holder may attend and contribute to educational activities e.g. departmental meetings, staff training, multidisciplinary meetings, journal clubs etc.
The post holder will be expected to attend and contribute to educational activities within the Infection service at GSTT e.g. departmental meetings, staff training, multidisciplinary meetings, journal clubs etc.
Mentoring arrangements:
The mentoring needs of the post holder in respect of their clinical training will be co-ordinated by Dr Anna Goodman. Further mentorship and supervision will be undertaken, as appropriate.
Appraisal:
All medical and dental staff are required to undertake appraisal. You will be allocated an education supervisor, clinical supervisor and responsible officer.
Training of junior staff:
The post holder may contribute to the training and direction of junior staff allocated to him/her under aegis of the training plan that the post holder has agreed with their supervising consultant.
Clinical Governance:
All medical and dental staff are expected to take part in clinical governance activity, including clinical audit, clinical guideline and protocol development and clinical risk management. They will be expected to produce evidence of their contribution in these areas and their audit of their own clinical work as part of their appraisal.
Mutual Obligation to Monitor Hours:
There is a contractual obligation on employers to monitor working hours through robust local monitoring arrangements supported by national guidance, and on individual doctors to co-operate with those monitoring arrangements.
European Working Time Directive (EWTD):
All posts and working patterns are under constant review in line with EWTD guidelines
Additional Information:
The post holder is required to follow Trust policies and procedures which are regularly updated including but not limited to:
Confidentiality / Data Protection / Freedom of Information:
Post holders must maintain the confidentiality of information about patients, staff and other health service business in accordance with the Data Protection Act of 1998. Post holders must not, without prior permission, disclose any information regarding patients or staff. If any member of staff has communicated any such information to an unauthorised person those staff will be liable to dismissal. Moreover, the Data Protection Act 1998 also renders an individual liable for prosecution in the event of unauthorised disclosure of information.
Following the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2005, post holders must apply the Trusts FOI procedure if they receive a written request for information.
Equal Opportunities:
Post holders must at all times fulfil their responsibilities with regard to the Trusts Equal Opportunities Policy and equality laws.
Flexible Working:
As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends. This is an on-site position as this is required for the service delivery.
Health and Safety:
All post holders have a responsibility, under the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) and subsequently published regulations, to ensure that the Trusts health and safety policies and procedures are complied with to maintain a safe working environment for patients, visitors and employees.
Infection Control:
All post holders have a personal obligation to act to reduce healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs). They must attend mandatory training in Infection Control and be compliant with all measures required by the Trust to reduce HCAIs. All post holders must comply with Trust infection screening and immunisation policies as well as be familiar with the Trusts Infection Control Policies, including those that apply to their duties, such as Hand Decontamination Policy, Personal Protective Equipment Policy, safe procedures for using aseptic techniques and safe disposal of sharps.
Information Governance:
All staff must comply with information governance requirements. These includes statutoryresponsibilities (such ascompliance with the Data Protection Act),following nationalguidance (such as theNHS Confidentiality Code of Practice) andcompliance with local policies and procedures (such as the Trust's Confidentiality policy). Staff are responsible for any personal information (belonging to staff or patients) that they access and must ensure it is stored, processed and forwarded in a secure and appropriate manner.
Other:
The list of duties and responsibilities given above is not an exhaustive list and you may be asked to undertake other duties in line with the overall purpose and nature of the post as may be required from time to time.
This job description reflects core activities of a post at a particular time. The trust expects that all staff will recognise this and adopt a flexible approach to work.
All staff are expected to contribute to the smooth running of their clinical service as required; in particular, to comply with the policies and procedures, Standing Orders and Financial Regulations of the trust.
