Specialist Doctor in Stroke Medicine

Job responsibilities

This post is offered on a full time (10 PA) basis although less than full time applications will be considered.

Duties will be based primarily on our Wakefield (Pinderfields) site although all our medical staff are involved in delivering care to patients on all our sites.

The main duties of the post will include:

To provide high quality care to all patients admitted to the stroke service at MYTT

Keep patients (and/or their carers if appropriate) informed about their condition and involve them in the decision making of their treatment

Urgent and Emergency Care duties including out-of-hours on-call; schedules will take due account of the provisions of working time regulations and safe working

On-call duties are currently shared with 7 other colleagues on a 1:8 basis both weekdays and weekends. Out of hours on call is provided through telemedicine connecting directly to the

Supervising trainees working within the department

Administrative duties, for which appropriate Consultant office space and secretarial support and IT facilities are provided

Supporting Professional Activities in accordance with the Trust Framework, with at least a minimum of 1 SPA included in the core 10PA timetable. Additional SPA or DCC time may be commissioned in line with the skills of the successful candidate and changing requirements of the service.

o Examples may include formal teaching responsibilities or departmental leadership roles

The Stroke Service

MYTT is an Acute Stroke Centre providing HASU care for an area including Wakefield district, north Kirklees, large parts of Barnsley and parts of south Leeds. We provide acute and rehabilitation stroke care for all those patients except those from Barnsley - these patients are repatriated to local care at the end of their HASU stay unless discharged home. All acute services are at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield; the stroke rehabilitation unit is at nearby Dewsbury and District Hospital (DDH).

There are currently 7 consultant posts supporting the service with registrar support at Pinderfields and a team of rotating junior doctors.

Depending on working patterns other arrangements for time off in lieu may be agreed.

Stroke Assessment Hub (the Hub): We admit over 1200 confirmed stroke patients a year plus an additional 400-600 stroke mimics. We operate a direct from ambulance admission pathway, taking all patient straight to CT then to the Hub for treatment or further assessment. That service is support by 2 Band 6 or higher Stroke Assessment Nurses 24 hours per day to support thrombolysis, emergency BP control, and consideration for mechanical thrombectomy at the Comprehensive Stroke Centre at LTHT. Mechanical thrombectomy service is not currently available 24/7. The site provides CTA and CTP within current thrombectomy provisions and has the capability of round the clock CTA when pathways require it.

Patients are assessed by consultants in the Hub during working hours for consideration of thrombolysis/thrombectomy and out of hours by the juniors from acute team with support by telemedicine from the stroke physician on call. Strokes are admitted to the adjacent HASU and mimics to the adjacent ASU to be diagnosed and managed by the stroke team in conjunction with other inpatient services.

HASU: we have a 12-bedded HASU with centralised physiological monitoring, experienced stroke nurses and 7 day access to physiotherapy and OT assessments. We have access to all necessary investigations, though there are limitations on out of hours MRI (This is limited to 8 AM 8 PM, 7 days of the week) and weekend carotid US.

ASU: this is co-located with the HASU on a 39-bedded ward. We provide daily ward rounds (2 consultants) in line with 5 days review for stable patients with a full team handover at the start of each day and dedicated consultant handover to the nurse coordinator at the end of each ward round.

Stroke Rehabilitation Unit: this 16-bedded unit is co-located with the Neurological Rehabilitation Centre at DDH and we provide 2 consultant session each week to support this

TIA service: due to pandemic restrictions this is mostly non-face-to-face with the option to bring patients to the Hub for examination where necessary; we have access to MRI and carotid US, usually same day. The service is currently consultant-led with admin support. There is plan to bring it back face to face as before the pandemic.

Qualifications

Essential

• Medical Degree from recognised medical school
• MRCP or equivalent

Desirable

• Prizes or Awards Achieved
• Audit or Case Presentations at a local, regional and national level
• Higher degree or qualifications such as a Masters

Professional Registration

Essential

• Please state full GMC number.
• Full Registration and a Licence to Practice with the General Medical Council OR be eligible for the same and have this prior to commencement

Professional values and behaviours, skills and knowledge- underpinning Trust values

Essential

• Practices within the professional values and behaviours expected of all doctors as set out in GMC Good Medical Practice and the Generic Professional Capabilities Framework including current licence to practice from the GMC Demonstrates the underpinning subject-specific competences i.e. knowledge, skills and behaviours relevant to the role setting and scope
• Clinically evaluates and manages a patient, formulating a prioritised differential diagnosis, initiating an appropriate management plan, and reviewing and adjusting this depending on the outcomes of treatment
• Manages the difficulties of dealing with patients with complexity and uncertainty in the care of patients; employing expertise and clinical decision-making skills of a senior and independent/ autonomous practitioner.
• Critically reflects on own competence , understands own limits, and seeks help when required
• Communicates effectively and is able to share decision-making with patients, relatives and carers; treats patients as individuals, promoting a person-centred approach to their care, including self-management.
• Respects patients dignity , ensures confidentiality and appropriate communication where potentially difficult or where barriers exist e.g. using interpreter and making adjustments for patients with communication difficulties
• Demonstrates key generic clinical skills around the areas of concern; ensuring humane interventions, prescribing medicine safely and using medical devices safely.
• Adheres to professional requirements, participating in annual appraisal, job planning and reviews of performance and progression.
• Awareness of legal responsibilities relevant to the role, such as around mental capacity and deprivation of liberty data protection, equality and diversity.
• Applies basic principles of public health; including population health, promoting health and wellbeing, nutrition, exercise, vaccination and illness prevention.

Desirable

• Has personal insight into own strengths and weaknesses.
• Evidence of multidisciplinary team working
• Understanding and personal fit with Trust Values and Behaviours
• Demonstrates awareness of the current UK Healthcare system and the need to develop services in line with current policy

Patient Safety and Quality Improvement

Essential

• Takes prompt action where there is an issue with safety or quality of patient care, raises and escalates concerns, through clinical governance systems, where necessary.
• Applies basic human factors principles and practice at individual, team, organisation and system levels.
• Collaborates with multidisciplinary and inter-professional teams to manage risk and issues across organisations and settings, with respect for and recognition of the roles of other health professionals.
• Advocates for, and contributes to, organisational learning.
• Seeks feedback and involvement from individuals, families, carers, communities and colleagues in safety and quality service improvement reviews.
• Leads new practice and service redesign in response to feedback, evaluation and need, promoting best practice.
• Evaluates and audits own and others clinical practice ad acts on the findings.
• Reflects on personal behaviour and practice, responding to learning opportunities.
• Implements quality improvement methods and repeats quality improvement cycles to refine practice; designing projects and evaluating their impact.
• Critically appraises and synthesises the outcomes of audit, inquiries, critical incidents, or complaints and implements appropriate changes.
• Engages with relevant stakeholders to develop and implement robust governance systems and systematic documentation processes.
• Disclosure + Barring Service (DBS) clearance

Desirable

• Has personal insight into own strengths and weaknesses.
• Evidence of multidisciplinary team working
• Understanding and personal fit with Trust Values and Behaviours
• Demonstrates awareness of the current UK Healthcare system and the need to develop services in line with current policy

Meet the entry criteria for the grade

Essential

• Shall have completed a minimum of 12 years medical work (either continuous period or in aggregate) since obtaining a primary medical qualification of which a minimum of six years should have been in a relevant specialty in the Specialty Doctor and/or closed SAS grades. Equivalent years experience in a relevant specialty from other medical grades including from overseas will also be accepted.

Leadership and Team Working

Essential

• Awareness of their leadership as a clinician and demonstrates appropriate leadership behaviour; managing situations that are unfamiliar, complex or unpredictable and seeking to build collaboration with, and confidence in, others.
• Demonstrates understanding of a range of leadership principles, approaches and techniques so can adapt leadership behaviours to improve engagement and outcomes appreciates own leadership style and its impact on others.
• Develops effective relationship across teams and contributes to work and success of these teams- promotes and participates in both multidisciplinary and inter-professional team working.
• Critically reflects on decision-making processes and explains those decisions to others in an honest and transparent way.
• Critically appraises performance of self, colleagues or peers and systems to enhance performance and support development.
• Demonstrates ability to challenge others, escalating concerns when necessary.
• Develops practice in response to changing population health need, engaging in horizon scanning for future developments.

Desirable

• Computer literate
• Specific educational interests and evidence of educational ideas or project work.

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).