Job Description

This is an exciting opportunity to join our team of Acute Physicians at West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals.The post holder will share in the management responsibilities associated with the care of patients and the running of the 3 Units, supported by a dedicated team of resident doctors to provide the on-going clinical management and care to patients.All medical admissions referred by GPs or via ED are seen and assessed in the EAU/ AAU.Stroke and suspected MI patients are exceptions. Admitted patients requiring specialist input are reviewed on EAU/AAU by appropriate specialist teams and/or transferred to specialist wards as required.There is an emphasis on multidisciplinary working with the nursing and therapies staff across the Units to ensure our patients return home as soon as is appropriate and do not encounter unnecessary delay.Our Acute Physicians have three areas of work, all co-located on the Acute Medicine/ Emergency Medicine floor:The Ambulatory Care Unit (ACU) iThe ACU sees 40-50 patients per day, operating from 08:00 to 20:00, 7 days a week.The Emergency Assessment Unit (EAU) is a relatively new unit through which acute admissions for both medicine and surgery are admitted.The Acute Assessment Unit (AAU) is a short stay 60-bedded unit for medical patients requiring 24-72 hours of care.Main duties of the jobThe post holder will share in the management responsibilities associated with the care of patients and the running of the 3 Units, supported by a dedicated team of resident doctors to provide the on-going clinical management and care to patients.All medical admissions referred by GPs or via ED are seen and assessed in the EAU/ AAU.Stroke and suspected MI patients are exceptions. Admitted patients requiring specialist input are reviewed on EAU/AAU by appropriate specialist teams and/or transferred to specialist wards as required.There is an emphasis on multidisciplinary working with the nursing and therapies staff across the Units to ensure our patients return home as soon as is appropriate and do not encounter unnecessary delay.About usWith a new hospital planned for Watford and work underway to update theatres at St Albans City Hospital, this is an exciting time to join us.We are building on the success of our award-winning virtual hospital and re-imaging models of care, working ever more closely with partners and making the most of advances in digital healthcare.Staff wellbeing and development are a priority at our Trust, as is the role of innovation in improving clinical care, outcomes and patient experience.Our vision is Excellent patient care, together and our values are to be empowered, compassionate, professional and inclusive. They capture an important balance across what we must all do as individuals and to support others.At West Herts we offer a variety of flexible working options as we recognise the importance of a good work life balance and the ability to work flexibly. https://www.westhertshospitals.nhs.uk/flexibleworking/We kindly invite you to consider submitting an application.If you have a disability or long-term health condition and should you require support or guidance please contact westherts.recruitment@nhs.netIf you are a Service Leaver, Veteran, Military Reserve, Cadet Force Adult Volunteer, or partner/spouse of those serving please tick Member of the Armed Forces Community on the application form.If you do not hear back within 3 weeks of your application, please assume you have been unsuccessful on this occasion.Job description
Job responsibilitiesa) Providing a consultant level service in Acute Medicine at Watford General Hospital, with responsibility for the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of illness, and the proper functioning of the departmentb) Liaising with Consultants in the departments of Emergency Medicine, Care of the Elderly, and other Medical Specialties, as well as with the Trusts community partners to ensure that patients receive optimal management consistently across the Trustc) Out-of-hours responsibilities, including participation in consultant emergency general medical on-call rota and providing consultant leadership to acute beds and ambulatory care at Watford General Hospitald) Covering for colleagues' annual leave and other authorised absencese) Working in clinical and other domains within Acute Medicine if required including attendance at departmental educational and management meetingsf) Supervising and managing junior medical staffg) Carrying out teaching, examination and accreditation of junior staff and contributing to undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing medical education locally and nationallyh) Participating in medical audit, the Trusts Clinical Governance processes and in CPDi) Liaising with colleagues in other disciplines e.g., physiotherapy, pharmacy and radiology in the treatment and care of patientsj) Involving family members and carers in discussions about a patients care as appropriatek) Managerial tasks, including budgetary responsibilities where appropriatel) Undertaking additional professional responsibilities at local, regional or national levelsThe Medical Take is managed by the Acute Physician team in hours (08:00 to 17:00 on weekdays), with support from dedicated ANPs and junior doctors. On average an Acute Physician will post take 15-20 patients from 08:00-17:00. In addition to the Acute Physicians, consultant Cardiologists post take all acute cardiology admission on the Take.Evening (17:00 to 21:00) and on-call responsibility for the Medical Take during the week is undertaken by a rota of other medical specialty consultants. There is a separate Care of the Elderly post taking consultant Monday to Thursday 13:00 to 21:00 and Friday 13:00 to 17:00, who see all patients 80 years old and above.The Acute Physicians share a 1:20 weekend rota with other medical specialty consultants to post take and provide consultant cover in AAU/EAU 08:00 to 21:00 on weekends, with on-call from home overnight. Junior doctors in training of all grades are rostered to cover the medical take.The Acute Physicians take part in 2 separate out of hours and weekend rotas:1 With the other Acute Physicians, they provide 1:8 weekend and evening cover (until 20:00) to the Ambulatory Care Unit. The present arrangement is that each consultant works late on one evening Monday to Thursday every other week and is part of a 1:8 rota to cover Friday evenings and weekends.2 The Acute Physicians are also part of a 1:20 weekend rota with consultants from other medical specialties covering all new medical admissions on Saturdays and Sundays. They are on site from 08:00 to 21:00 and on-call from home overnight.An on-call availability supplement equivalent 3% of full-time basic salary is payable for participation in the on-call rota.Person Specification
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British Medical Journal