Job overview

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust is an integrated organisation providing acute health care services from Torbay Hospital, community health services and adult social care. The Trust runs Torbay Hospital as well as five community hospitals, stretching from Dawlish to Brixham. We also provide health and social care to the local population. We have around 500,000 face-to-face contacts with patients in their homes and communities each year and see over 78,000 people in our A&E department annually. We serve a resident population of approximately 286,000 people, plus about 100,000 visitors at any one time during the summer holiday season.

We employ approximately 6,500 staff including frontline health and social care staff, such as nurses, occupational therapists, social workers, consultants, and physiotherapists who work in your home and from a range of different premises across Torbay and South Devon such as community hospitals and clinics. We also have over 800 volunteers who make a difference each and every day to the people we care for. Our purpose is to provide safe, high-quality care and social care at the right time and in the right place to support the people of Torbay and South Devon to live their lives to the full.

Main duties of the job

Clinical duties will be shared across the Consultant Team and will include all responsibilities normally expected in any Rheumatology Department in the UK.

·         The successful candidate will be required to provide high quality consultant delivered care to patients including through outpatient clinics, ward consults and advice and guidance to patients and primary care.

·         You will be involved with the supervision of junior medical and nursing staff, ensuring the highest standards of clinical care are provided to all patients attending the hospital.

·         You will need to be proactive in ensuring that all patients receive rapid assessment, treatment and clinical decision making, whilst ensuring our standard to deliver safe, quality patient care is delivered and sustained.

·         Rheumatology is an outpatient-focused service. There are no dedicated inpatient beds and no on-call requirement, although the team provides support to inpatients via referrals from the admitting consultant.

Working for our organisation

We are a team of 5.5 WTE Consultant Rheumatologists supported by a team of specialist nurses, physiotherapists, podiatrists and hand therapists.

We provide a hub and spoke service including:

·         Patient initiated access, patient helpline and administrative duties undertaken from our hub on the Torbay Hospital Site

·         Outpatient services provided at Torbay hospital and at various community hospitals including, Newton Abbot, Paignton, Totnes, Dawlish and Teignmouth.

·         Day case infusions of Biologic therapies, Cyclophosphamide, IV Methylprednisolone are undertaken at Newton Abbot Hospital

·         Bone density scanning and the Osteoporosis management is a nurse led service based between Paignton and Torbay Hospital.

·         Research is undertaken at Torbay Hospital and the team run several commercial and non-commercial, portfolio and non-portfolio studies.

·         The successful candidate will be required to provide high quality consultant delivered care to patients including clinical leadership and supervision of junior medical staff, ensuring the highest standards of clinical care are provided to all patients attending the hospital.

·         They will be proactive in ensuring that all patients receive rapid assessment, treatment and clinical decision making, whilst ensuring our standard to deliver safe quality and performance are delivered and sustained.