Job Description

Consultant in Geriatrics & Acute Frailty Medicine - Shape the Future of Frailty Care!



Join our pioneering Care of the Elderly team at West Suffolk Hospital, where innovation meets compassionate care. This is an opportunity to lead transformative change in frailty care both regionally and nationally

What We Offer:

Inpatient Geriatrics Ward:

Oversee care on our 32-bed ward and develop the ward to have outstanding care for our frail populations

Acute Frailty Service:

Conduct specialist assessments in ED, AAU, and SDEC (Monday-Friday, 9 AM-7 PM)

Community Impact:

Collaborate with the Virtual Ward and community teams

Weekend Rounds:

Participate in a 1 in 7 rotation (Saturday-Sunday, 8:30 AM-12:30 PM)



Why Join Us?



Frailty care is a top priority for our trust. Under new leadership, we are pioneering eFrailty Alerts, electronic clinical frailty scores, and patient-led pathways. By empowering patients, families, and healthcare professionals through education and innovation we are shifting away from traditional hospital-based care. Our approach fosters patient ownership of health, reduces ED waiting times, and delivers high-quality, person-centred frailty care. You will be working in Bury St Edmunds, a charming town in the heart of Suffolk with excellent transport links to Cambridge and London. You will be part of an expanding team, supported by Advanced Care Practitioners, Clinical Nurse Specialists, and other medical professionals



Interviews to be held on Thursday 14th August 2025

Key Responsibilities Include:

Conducting outpatient clinics in General Geriatric and Frailty Clinics.



Collaborating with Community teams to provide holistic, patient-centered care.



Participating in weekly MDT meetings to enhance service integrationReviewing older inpatients under other specialties.



Ward rounds on G4 and providing consultant support for Ward G4.



Supporting acute frailty and SDEC assessment, as well as active case management.



Taking part in a 1 in 7 weekend post-take ward round rotation.



Please See Full attached for details



#BeKnown at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. By us. By our patients. By our community



We are a busy, friendly, rural NHS Trust providing high-quality care and compassion to more than a quarter of a million people across west Suffolk. We care for, treat and support people in hospital, at home and in various community settings.



The West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds provides acute and secondary care services (emergency department, maternity and neonatal services, day surgery unit, eye treatment centre, Macmillan unit and children's ward). It has 500+ beds and is a partner teaching hospital of the University of Cambridge.



Adult and paediatric community services, provided in collaboration with West Suffolk Alliance partners, include a range of nursing, therapy, specialist, and ongoing temporary care and rehabilitation, some at our Newmarket Community Hospital.



We do our utmost to achieve outstanding clinical outcomes for patients and our values of fairness, inclusivity, respect, safety and team work guide how we work and behave as a team.



With nearly 5,000 staff, from all over the world, we strive to make our organisation a great place to work. Whatever your role or ambition, we want to help you be the best you can be.



We promote a diverse and inclusive community where everyone's voice counts and you can #BeKnown for whoever you are.



Join us. What will you #BeKnown for?



The Geriatric Department



We are a team of geriatricians looking to expand our services further across the hospital and into the community to enable more older people to benefit from specialist geriatric assessment. We provide acute in-patient services on an elderly care ward, ortho-geriatric services, medical and surgical liaison services, front door assessment and out-patient clinics at the West Suffolk Hospital site. In addition, we provide a falls clinic at a community hospital in Sudbury and oversee care of intermediate care beds in the community hospital at Newmarket and in a nursing home in Bury St Edmunds.



Our priorities for the next 2 years include the establishment of an acute frailty assessment unit to take direct admissions from the community, establishing falls and frailty clinics in peripheral sites, developing models of closer working with community matrons and advanced clinical practitioners in frailty to enable patients to receive comprehensive geriatric assessment closer to home, establishment of a virtual ward and using new technology to provide remote assessment of patients in care homes.



This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of frailty care beyond traditional inpatient settings. Our Geriatricians work across hospital and community settings--or a combination of both-- playing a vital role in admission avoidance strategies for frail and elderly patients.



Please See Full attached for details