Job Description

The successful candidate will provide outpatient clinics at the PRH and RSCH. The rheumatology department at RSCH has recently been relocated to the new, state of the art Louisa Martindale building (LMB).



Specialist clinics within the department are provided in Connective Tissue Disease, Vasculitis, Osteoporosis, Early Inflammatory Arthritis, Sero-negative Inflammatory Arthritis, Adolescent and combined Ophthalmology clinics. This job encourages an interest on Connective Tissue Disease and vasculitis.



Day to day care of Rheumatology outpatients & liaising with associated medical teams with regards to the rheumatological care of inpatients.



Full-time working and participation in a 1:5 daytime rota for inpatient ward referrals, advice and guidance emails and referrals triage.



Teaching and training of Resident Doctors from KSS Deanery and medical students from BSMS.



At UHSussex, diversity is our strength, and we want you to feel included to help us always deliver Excellent Care Everywhere, as shown in our Outstanding for Caring CQC rating. Your uniqueness and experiences will be part of our creative and innovative community where everyone is encouraged to succeed. We have a range of staff networks to help break down barriers, and can offer a buddy to help new members settle in. We're proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 3) and a Veteran Aware Trust.



This is a 10PA newly created consultant post to facilitate service demands and has been created to support consultant rheumatology services across the department, particularly CTD/vasculitis, being designed to allow the successful candidate scope to develop a specialist interest.



Clinical supervision of a rheumatology SpR, clinical supervision of nursing staff and rheumatology pharmacist and teaching of medical students is also expected. Clinical research is provided at the Clinical Investigation and Research Unit (CIRU) on the RSCH site. There are several on-going clinical trials to which the successful candidate could contribute. Dedicated time for these activities is given in the job plan.



The successful candidate would be expected to do 4 clinics per week. General outpatient templates are standardised to a maximum of 3 new patients and 6 follow up patients OR 10 follow up patients with 30 minutes allocated for a new patient and 20 minutes for follow up patients. For specialist CTD clinics there are 40 minutes allocated for a new patient and 20 minutes for follow up patients.



There are currently no designated inpatient beds for Rheumatology. Patients admitted remain under the acute admitting physician but with daily input from the Rheumatology SpR and consultant of the day. A 1:5 consultant rota for daytime Rheumatology on call/ward referrals is currently in place for which 1PA/week is allocated.



Clinical supervision of specialist registrars & advanced practitioners and teaching of medical students is expected.



Triaging of referrals, response to advice and guidance via emails and via ERS online portal, homecare drug prescribing and communication with patients, GPs and other specialists is distributed amongst consultant colleagues and included in job planning, accordingly.



Attendance at departmental and governance meetings and engagement with departmental audit and service improvement plans are expected within the SPA allocation of the post.



We have a strong link with the medical school and there will be a teaching commitment to the 4th year medical student musculoskeletal module and other opportunities to help with Student Selected Components, and 4th year "Individual Research Projects".



The successful candidate may want to participate in further Medical School teaching programmes after discussion with the department and as part of the job planning exercise with opportunity to apply for an Honorary Senior Lecturer role.



The clinical investigation research unit (CIRU) has state of the art equipment and staff who can co-ordinate and conduct clinical trials. The post holder will be expected to clinically assess patients who have been entered into clinical trials.



The post holder will be expected to engage with the managerial responsibilities of the department. An active role in departmental clinical governance and attendance at governance meetings will be expected.



The Trust actively recruits and trains appraisers and this could be incorporated into the job plan if the successful candidate has an interest.



The post holder will maintain his/her own personal development through



Maintaining a high level of specialist knowledge in Rheumatology and extend his/her professional management knowledge and skills



Fulfilling the relevant commitment to continuing medical education



Actively participating in clinical audit



Encouraging research within the speciality



The opportunity to develop a subspecialty interest



Please see the job description and person specification attached to the advert for further details of the post.



Interviews are tentatively planned to take place on DATE and applicants will be informed of any changes accordingly.