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Please see full Job Description for full details

Clinical Responsibilities:

1. Outpatient clinics:

The departments provide an outpatient service based upon shared-care protocols and consultations provided directly by consultants or  clinical assistants and junior medical staff under direct supervision.  The clinics are held at the Royal Berkshire Hospital or in the spoke sites (Bracknell, West Berkshire Community Hospital or Townlands Hospital, Henley-on-Thames).

It is the policy of the Trust and the local CCGs to discharge patients from regular hospital follow up whenever this does not compromise patient safety or health. This policy is facilitated by the longstanding policy of close liaison between the RBFT and GPs in the Trust’s catchment area.  The appointee will be encouraged to develop a specialist clinic (if necessary with the assistance of a nurse specialist or of colleagues in other specialities).

2. Inpatients

The post holder will:

 Supervise assessment, investigation and treatment of specialty inpatients on the specialty or outliers wards together with the other departmental consultants. The Rheumatology/Diabetes & Endocrinology cover Castle ward (base ward) and Hunter/Lister wards (outlier wards). Provide support to rheumatology patients receiving day case treatment on the Battle Day Unit. Weekend cover for Castle Ward is provided by Rheumatology/Diabetes & Endocrinology Consultants on a 1 in 8 rota.

1. Maintain and develop existing and new team-working practices involving medical staff, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses, clinical psychologists and other Allied Health Professionals who form multidisciplinary team (MDT). The daily MDT board round meeting involving all team members is a cornerstone of the Unit’s teamwork. All members of the team on the ward present their involvement in patient management at this daily meeting. The post holder will, with the other consultant(s), participate in and take an integral role in encouraging, developing and supervising this activity.
2. With the other consultants provide specialist opinions and support to the in-patients of the other medical and surgical specialities across the Trust. This activity takes place predominantly but not exclusively in the months when the consultant is “on the ward”
3. Provide prospective cover for the other consultants for all their clinical activities other than outpatient clinics. Annual, professional and study leave is thus agreed with colleagues before being booked with prospective cover in mind. The consultants who cover the ward provide prospective cover for annual, study and professional leave on all the occasions and at all the times that they wish to take such leave. Systems for leave are in place within the department and the Trust that require that adequate cover is maintained. Only in exceptional circumstances and with the permission of the Clinical Director will the Trust allow more than half of the number of consultants to be simultaneously absent
4. Provide at least 8 weeks’ advance notice to the Trust of any curtailment or cancellation of outpatient clinics due to annual, study or professional leave.

Support for General Practitioners

The departments have developed particularly good links with local GPs over recent years; the postholder (along with the other consultant(s)) will:

1. Offer telephone and email advice to GPs whenever s/he can reasonably be expected to do so.
2. Contribute to the regular seminars hosted two or three times yearly for local general practitioners through seminars such as RheumACAN.
3. Provide advice on Advice and Guidance in a timely manner
4. With the other departmental consultants and under the umbrella of the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust take part in discussions with CCGs about service provision and development

Management Responsibilities:

The post holder will have active participation in the alternating monthly clinical governance meetings and business meetings within the department. The appointee will, with the other consultants share in the general management of the department. The appointee will be required to take on one of the departmental management roles such as audit, register, research and clinical governance. The appointee will also be educational or clinical supervisor to trainees.

The appointee will be offered a mentor or coach on appointment. The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust has a mentoring/coaching support programme for all new Consultant appointments.

There will be provision of office desk space and secretarial support for this post.

Training and supervision of junior medical staff

The departments have an active and well-received educational programme. The Trust has an excellent reputation for education, as measured by its PMETB report and regular responses from trainees and medical students.

There is rotation of junior staff within the services, including IMT, ACCS, GPVTS and FY doctors. The post holder will be expected to provide clinical supervision to some junior staff. There active teaching and training sessions for all members of the MDT especially the junior medical staff, including a journal club  that all Consultants are expected to be involved in.

The post holder will provide sufficient supervision of junior medical staff and other non-consultant medical staff to allow:

• safety for patients
• provision of satisfactory opinions and information for patients and their GPs
• satisfactory curriculum – based and experiential learning for trainees and assessment of trainees to General Medical Council, Royal College of Physicians and Regional Speciality Training Committee standards.