Consultant in General Internal Medicine

Job description

Job responsibilities

Doctors working in general internal medicine (GIM) are responsible for diagnosing and treating a wide spectrum of clinical problems, ranging from the acute severely ill young person to elderly patients with multiple complex comorbidities. As part of the acute medical care workforce, GIM doctors have expertise in diagnostic reasoning, determining treatment plans for patients acutely attending hospital and referring to the appropriate specialist opinion.

However, illness does not always necessarily fall into the remit of a specific specialty especially as the ageing population have complex medical problems involving multiple symptoms. This is when patients are also cared for under the umbrella of general internal medicine, managing inpatients and outpatients with co-morbidities.

The current clinical team work across 3 General Internal Medicine wards, Hembury (28 beds), Burrator (22 beds) and Moorgate (17 beds). This team are vital in ensuring specialist care to GIM patients admitted to hospital. The team have a full complement of stable junior doctors and Specialist registrars.

Consultant team consists of:

Dr Roland Boey Clinical Lead or the service

Dr Geraldine Quintero-Platt Educational lead

Dr Renata Valdes De Leon Clinical Governance lead

Dr Marta Castaneda

Dr Khaled Diwan Locum Consultant

Dr Sumit Acharyya Locum Consultant

Dr Abdul Saleemi Locum Consultant

Dr Marcos Murillo Locum Consultant

3 x Specialist registrars

11 x junior doctors

3 x Physicians associate.

The job itself

The post holder will manage the non-elective general medical patients admitted from ED/MAU and internal ward transfers. Options to support other specialty interests will be supported.

Duties of the post

• Inpatient ward rounds.
• Clinical Governance.
• Supporting junior medical staff with training.
• Attending weekly GIM Meeting.
• Weekend MAU (Medical Assessment Unit) cover and weekend morning ward round on rota basis - 1 in 8.
• Contribution to Medical Outlier rota, shared between all Specialities within the Medical Care Group
• 2 PAs of Speciality activity are included in the job pan.

Clinical Governance The appointee is expected to be committed to the improvement of quality of clinical care and to participate in incident reporting, risk management and Clinical Unit Governance Meetings. The post holder will be responsible for supporting the bi-monthly MDT clinical governance meetings. We also have monthly morbidity and mortality meeting where members of the team present cases and adverse patient outcomes are discussed. Every Wednesday afternoon we hold our departmental meetings with all Consultants and Registrars where we discuss difficult cases. All of these meetings allow us to maintain a high standard of care.

Audit The appointee will be expected to actively participate in audit including all relevant audits set out in the Trusts Audit Plan. S/he will be expected to initiate and supervise audit projects related to GIM or to his/her particular sub-speciality interest.

Appraisal and revalidation The appointee is expected to compile an annual portfolio with evidence of continuing professional development in accordance with the Trusts appraisal process. He/she will be expected to participate in annual appraisal by the designated consultant and to produce a personal development plan that is aligned to priorities within their clinical service which will be shared with the Medicine Care Group Director. The appraisal process will also be part of the information used to revalidate Consultants by the GMC.

Mentorship

The appointee will also have access to a mentor within the department to support their development within the role.

Research Research is fundamental to patient safety. Research and development activities are an important use of supporting professional activities (SPA) time.

Continuous Professional Development / Continuous Medical Education Taking study leave is a necessary part of Continuing Medical Education/CPD. Application for study leave must be submitted six weeks prior to the dates requested. There is a study/professional leave entitlement of 30 days over any three year period. Study leave is agreed by the Service Line Director and should be linked to the individuals personal development plan. Evidence of CME participation will become part of the postholders portfolio. Visits to other hospitals / working with colleagues is encouraged as an important part of CPD. The post holder will also have access to a mentor.

Teaching The post holder will be expected to play a leading role in supporting undergraduate and postgraduate teaching on the ward. They will be required to support junior medical staff and other healthcare professionals within their Supporting Professional Activities as required by the Clinical Unit. This will include participating in bedside teaching as well as in our weekly Tuesday afternoon departmental teaching. If there is a specific interest or need the Peninsula Medical School will present opportunities for participation in undergraduate education. The Peninsula Medical School admitted its first students in 2002 and its first graduates qualified in 2007. The PMS was historically a joint venture between Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, but has since divided and we now form part of University of Plymouth Faculty of Health: Medicine, Dentistry and Human Sciences, of which Peninsula Medical School is dedicated to teaching of the next generation of doctors.

Facilities and support

The appointee will have access to the trusts clinical support services i.e. radiology, histology etc. The appointee will be situated in an office with GIM consultant colleagues and have access to the secretarial support and have their own PC and telephone.

Proposed timetable

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Sat/Sun

AM

WR (1PA)

WR(1PA)

WR(1PA)

WR(1PA)

WR(1PA)

PM

Admin (1PA)

Spec* (1PA)

SPA (0.5)

Spec* (1PA)

SPA (1.0)

MDT (0.5)

*Spec: Protected time for speciality interest

0.5 PA would be dedicated to weekend take in MAU and 0.5 PA to cover Medical outliers. Time in lieu can be taken within the rota for working weekends.

Additional MAU 5-10 shifts can be offered.

Person Specification

Education & Qualifications

Essential

• MRCP (UK) or equivalent
• On the GMC Specialist Register for general (internal) medicine or eligible for admission within six months of interview

Desirable

• Higher degree.
• Evidence of sub-specialty or other specific training

Skills & Experience

Essential

• Ability to make decisions at the level of a consultant

Desirable

• Able to develop a sub-specialty area of expertise within medicine

Research & Audit

Essential

• Publications in peer reviewed journals
• Experience of clinical trials
• Active involvement in clinical audit

Desirable

• MD or PhD
• Evidence of continuing research.
• Willingness to supervise post-graduate research.

Teaching

Essential

• Ability to teach clinical and practical skills.

Desirable

• Experience of undergraduate teaching

Communication

Essential

• Well-presented CV.
• Ability to communicate well with patients and staff, both orally and in writing.

Desirable

• Information technology skills

Interpersonal Skills

Essential

• Ability to form constructive and effective professional relationships with patients and staff.
• Ability to work in a team.
• Ability to delegate appropriately.

Desirable

• Leadership skills

Management

Essential

• Running a service and participation in management process. Evidence of leadership qualities and ability to develop the service.

Desirable

• Evidence of interest and ability in management

Practical Requirements

Essential

• Ability and willingness to works hours of the job on-call with any reasonable adjustment to take account of any local requirement or disability.

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).

Employer details

Employer name

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Address

General Internal Medicine

University Hospitals Plymouth

Plymouth

PL6 8DH

Employer's website

https://www.plymouthhospitals.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)