Consultant in Older Peoples Services (Community Frailty)

Job summary

An opportunity has arisen to join our Community Frailty team in Northeast Essex as a less than full -time (LTFT) or full-time consultant. This will consist of 9 or 10 Programmed Activities (PA's) per week. Successful applicant(s) may be entirely in the community or work 50:50 between acute and community.

Main duties of the job

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced clinician to lead the continued development of integrated frailty services across Northeast Essex, working seamlessly across acute, community and virtual care settings.

The successful candidate will possess specialist accreditation in Geriatric Medicine and demonstrate significant expertise in the assessment and management of older people living with frailty. They will have a clear understanding of the evidence supporting Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA), proactive frailty management and admission avoidance, recognising that unnecessary hospital admission can lead to deconditioning, hospital-acquired complications and poorer outcomes for this vulnerable patient group.

We are looking for a consultant who is confident in managing clinical risk within the community and has the experience and judgement to support patients safely at home wherever appropriate. They will be comfortable making complex clinical decisions in partnership with multidisciplinary colleagues and will champion a culture that supports treatment in the patient's usual place of residence whenever it is clinically safe to do so.

About us

At ESNEFT we provide hospital and community health services to more than one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients' own homes.As one of the largest NHS organisations in England, we employ over 12,000 staff and are committed to providing excellent opportunities for learning, development and career progression. Flexible working options will be considered for all roles where service needs allows.Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

Our philosophy is that Time Matters. We concentrate on improving the things we do and removing those which cause delays for our staff and patients.

We have invested in our commitment to Time Matters with the implementation of Epic electronic patient record. This will transform the way we work.

If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge, then we want to hear from you.

Find out about living and working here - www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkPu7HphU8A

Job responsibilities

The post-holder will:

• Work with colleagues to provide a consultant-led service with the highest standard of care;
• Work with the multi-professional team to develop care pathways and clinical guidelines;
• Develop and maintain good working practices with wards, out-patients and the Emergency Department (ED);
• Collaborate and promote close working links with colleagues, other departments and primary care;
• Offer educational, clinical support and leadership to community and acute colleagues.
• Ensure appropriate information is made available to staff to measure clinical performance and enable meaningful benchmarks to be established and evaluated within your area of responsibility;
• Ensure there is a robust process for reviewing the quality of services provided, explaining the causes of success and failure and ensure the highest standards are maintained;
• Provide a role model of professional leadership, which underpins the corporate values and behaviours agreed by the organisation, ensuring these are understood and demonstrated by the medical workforce within your area and take remedial action where poor behaviour are demonstrated;
• Ensure that junior doctors training confirms to college requirements; and
• Participate in the appraisal of medical staff within the department in line with the Trusts agree policy

Clinical

• Fulfil the role of a community Geriatrician working to manage patients with a range of frailty syndromes and fully utilise our community frailty services.
• Work closely with the other consultants in Older Peoples Services to share in the care of patients in all aspects of care including acute care and rehabilitation;
• Liaise with consultants within the department on the development and implementation of protocols and guidelines for the management of elderly patients and the development of clinical audit;
• Provide a consultant advisory service to colleagues in other specialties in the trust as well as those in the mental health trust;

Person specification

Essential

Essential

• Full registration with the General Medical Council
• Entry onto the Specialist Register or a UK SpR within 6 months of CCT date at interview
• MRCP or equivalent
• Good practical clinical skills
• Experience of teaching postgraduate, undergraduate and Support Service professionals
• Ability to offer expert clinical opinion on a full range of acute medical emergencies, rehabilitation and intermediate care
• At least 4 years at SpR level (or equivalent)
• Experience in the management of frailty syndromes and contributions to admission avoidance
• Experience working in community settings and knowledge of services available in the community
• Ability to build, lead and work as part of multi-disciplinary team
• Excellent verbal, listening and written communication skills, along with excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to deal with difficult situations
• Ability to organise and prioritise work effectively and to be involved in the organisation of the department
• Must be able to travel to meet requirements of post
• Undertaken basic training in management skills

Desirable

• Post graduate degree e.g. MD, PhD, MSc
• Entry onto the Specialist Register in G(I)M & Geriatric Medicine
• Evidence of work submitted for Peer review
• Ability to apply research outcomes to clinical problems
• Attendance at teaching course
• Understanding of the principles of alternatives to hospital admission and a knowledge of successful models of care in the community
• Attendance at management course