Consultant Cardiologist - Heart Function and Devices

Job overview

Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust is looking for a skilled non-interventional consultant in Cardiology post specialising in heart failure and devices. As a Consultant Cardiologist at Royal Cornwall Hospitals, you will play a vital role in delivering excellent patient care for Cardiology patients in Cornwall.

This post is principally designed to support delivery of non-interventional Cardiology services, specifically Heart Function and Devices. Applicants should have a broad training in all aspects of Cardiology. The candidate will be expected to take part in the General Cardiology service on the wards and in out-patients. The on-call rota is covered separately by 7 Interventional Cardiologists. There is no separate General Cardiology on-call and no general medical commitment.

Main duties of the job

Devices

The Cardiology department undertake approximately 500 devices a year in the one of the two cardiac cath labs in the Trust with about 200 a year being complex devices. We now also offer conduction system pacing with further plans to introduce leadless pacing in the near future. We also implant high voltage devices including subcutaneous ICD with a regular weekly general anaesthetic list for pacing. The majority of these devices are undertaken in our new cath lab which was commissioned in 2025.

Heart Function

The current Heart Function specialists work closely with the heart function clinical nurse specialists within Cardiology including regular MDTs and clinics. There are also strong working relationships and collaboration with the community heart function nursing teams who are part of Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The post is advertised as full time with a 10 PA job plan. Candidates pursuing a part-time post or job-share may also be considered. A generic job plan is attached; the content of the final job plan will be dictated by the clinical skills the successful applicant brings. The post holder will share the in-patient management of Cardiology patients with the twelve existing consultants.

Inpatients are managed on CIU and AMU wards and the CCU, although there are also a limited number of outlying patients. The Cardiologists are responsible for the clinical management of all patients on the CCU and CIU and cardiology patients on AMU.

CCU COW starts on Monday and finishes on Friday.

During this week, you will have responsibility for the clinical management of patients on CCU and CIU all day on Mondays and in the mornings for the rest of the week, with cath lab sessions and/or outpatient clinics in the afternoon.

AMU COW starts on Monday and finishes on Sunday.

There is no overnight general cardiology on call rota for non interventional cardiologists.

Your responsibilities during this week will include:

• carrying out a daily morning ward round on AMU
• reviewing inpatient Cardiology referrals from the acute medical unit and on outlying wards
• holding the ‘COW phone’
• responding to urgent referrals from the Emergency Department (ED)
• provision of clinical cover for the patients on CIU & CCU during the afternoon on Tuesday-Friday
• provide urgent clinical support and advice to our Cardiac Physiologists, Chest Pain Specialist Nurses, and Heart Function Specialist Nurses.

Weekend duties will usually follow CCU/AMU COW weeks. Successful non-interventional candidates will have a 1 in 7 commitment to deliver ward rounds on Saturday and Sunday between 09:00 and 15:00. After this COW week, there are 3 compensatory days off with no commitment to any clinical or administrative duties.

There will be separate rotas for:

• vetting and provision of Advice & Guidance to GPs via Electronic Referral System.
• provision of routine clinical support and advice to Heart Function Specialist Nurses.