Consultant Rheumatologist

Job description

Job responsibilities

The consultants have a rota which includes a Hot Week which is prospectively covered. During that week, the consultant has responsibility for: -

1) Leading the weekly rheumatology ward round in Derriford Hospital when ward referrals are seen with the junior medical staff.

2) Staffing the Acute GCA Clinic. This is primarily to improve management of patients with giant cell arteritis but other acute/urgent rheumatology referrals are seen at the request of the acute GP service and/or the MAU teams. Three new patient appointments are available at these clinics. In practice we have an open clinic on our booking system for these patients to be booked in when convenient for the consultant when on Hot Week.

3) Triaging referrals via DRSS (Devon Referral and Support Services).This has been a well- received activity as it helps to prioritise referrals, re-direct those that are more appropriate to be seen in other departments and facilitates the provision of advice to GPs regarding patient management that can result in a rheumatology clinic appointment not being required. Since the consultants have been involved in this activity referrals needing appointments have decreased by 10%.

The department is also currently trialling an Advice and Guidance system with a Primary Care Network with a view to offer this to all PCNs in our catchment area in due course.

1.5 Supporting Programmed Activities (Generic SPA) cover the work all consultants would be expected to complete regardless of specialty. This includes job planning; appraisal; personal study; mortality and morbidity meetings; personal and professional administration.

There is currently a Category B on-call commitment with this post whilst COVID-19 is prevalent. This may be stopped in due course.

All new appointments will be based upon a 10 PA activity plan. All new job plans will be offered with 8.5 DCC, 1.5 generic SPA. A job plan review meeting will be conducted within 6 months of appointment, which will give the Service Line Manager and / or Service Line Clinical Director the opportunity to consider the needs of the department and the aspirations of the individual in agreeing the non-generic SPA. We would anticipate this non generic SPA to be negotiated for Service Development (eg: osteoporosis, paediatric and adolescent rheumatology), Clinical Management (osteoporosis/paediatric and adolescent rheumatology) and/or Research.

Travel time is calculated from the RAC Website rounded up to the nearest 15 minutes. The travel time is the journey actually done and not from the workplace to the venue. If the activity is the only thing done that day then the normal travel time from work should be deducted.

The exemplar timetable below shows the weekly commitments of the post due to current variability of clinic facilities. There will be a commitment to peripheral clinics which are shared with all other rheumatology consultants. Peripheral clinics occur in Liskeard, Tavistock, Kingsbridge, and Launceston, and Direct Clinical Care (DCC) travel will be included in the job planning process.

In practice, overall for a fulltime consultant, you will be expected to do around 4 to 5 clinics per week including the Hot Week clinics. The Job plan has been approved by the Royal College of Physicians.

10 PA Job Plan this includes

Type (DCC/SPA)

PA

Monday

AM

Clinical administration

DCC

1

PM

OP Clinic

DCC

1

Tuesday

AM

Ward Round (2hrs) or Acute Clinic (2hrs) (monthly rota with other consultants 1 in 7) or Referral Triaging (35 weeks a year x 30 mins)

Departmental Clinical Meetings (consultant, journal club, clinical governance)

MDT meeting

Xray meeting

DCC

DCC

Generic SPA

DCC

DCC

0.14

0.14

0.25

0.25

0.25

PM

OP Clinic Early Inflammatory Arthritis clinics (as part of cons rota 1 in 3.5)

DCC

0.28

Wednesday

AM

Clinical administration

Nurse Specialist supervision

DCC

SPA

0.75

0.25

PM

OP Clinic

DCC

1

Thursday

AM

OP Clinic

DCC

1

PM

Grand Round

Self-directed study and CME

Ad hoc meetings, non-patient related emails/correspondence

Generic SPA

1

Friday

AM

OP Clinic

DCC

1

PM

Research (NIHR/Commercial study portfolio)

SPA

0.17

Additional

Travel to peripheral clinics

OP Clinic (to be worked flexibly)

Generic SPA

DCC

DCC

Generic SPA

0.15

1

0. 25

Total DCC

8

Total SPA

2

Total PAs

10

*The sessions on this timetable should be considered illustrative only. The actual timetable will be agreed with the Service Line Director. Up to two additional PAs may be arranged by negotiation.

ON CALL

NB - B Category on-call was re-introduced with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is will be reviewed over the coming year.

Person Specification

Education, qualifications & special training

Essential

• To hold MRCP (UK) or equivalent qualification and to be on the GMC Specialist Register in Rheumatology (or eligible for registration within 6 months of interview) via Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) Or Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR)

Desirable

• Other postgraduate qualifications (eg MSc, MD or PhD).

Particular skills and experience

Essential

• Experience in managing routine and complex rheumatological presentations in both in and outpatient settings

Desirable

• Evidence of development of specialist interest/providing specialist clinics.

Research & clinical audit

Essential

• An understanding of and experience in undertaking audit in clinical practice.

Desirable

• Evidence of continuing research interests with publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Teaching

Essential

• Ability, commitment and experience in teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Desirable

• A teaching qualification, evidence of supervision of projects.

Management

Essential

• Evidence of running rheumatology clinics, and participation in the management process.

Desirable

• Formal management training/qualification

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

Derriford Hospital

Plymouth

PL6 8DH

Employer's website

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