Consultant in Acute Medicine with option of complimentary specialty

Job overview

We are seeking an enthusiastic physician to join our team of 16 Acute Physicians to participate in the on-going development and evolution of our Acute Medicine Unit (AMU) and to play a key role in the management of emergency ambulatory and in-patient medical admissions.

This post has been developed in order to be able to deliver a sustainable model of acute care. The London Quality Standards recognise the importance of a dedicated Acute Physician team leading acute care. This post presents an excellent opportunity for a clinician, with experience and considerable understanding of all aspects of acute medicine with or without a specialist interest, to join a team dynamic team of physicians committed to the delivery of the highest standard of patient care. This individual will be expected to contribute to the ongoing development of the clinical interface with both Primary Care and the Emergency Department at St George’s.

Main duties of the job

Scope of the Department:

The Acute Medicine Unit (AMU) at St George’s Hospital was established in 2000. Since then the unit has undergone several reconfigurations in order to modernise our ambulatory unit. The AMU comprises:

• -          The 51 bedded AMU, which includes a 15 bedded Acute Dependency Unit (ADU) with 5 dedicated Level 2 beds, which benefits from daily Consultant led ward rounds and intensive care consultant involvement. -          The Medical SDEC Unit also known as the Ambulatory Assessment Area (AAA) consists of 10 chairs, 6 trolleys and 4 clinic rooms. One of the trollies in a side room. We benefit from a dedicated ultrasound service on a daily basis within the unit and also rapid access (same day/next day) CT scanning slots. The unit is supported by a team of experienced advanced nurse practitioners/nurse practitioners, nurses and co-ordinator. The AAA team are working to develop further our Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) pathways. -          Amyand is a 28 bedded short stay ward for patients with a predicted length of stay of less than 5 days, which is run as part of the Acute Medicine Unit.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Acute Medicine rota will be based on a 14 WTE model, all of whom are dedicated acute physicians. We operate an “Acute Physicians of the day” model.  The post-night consultant period begins with non-resident on-call, followed by a post-night ward round commencing at 08:00, and then an MDT triage meeting and an afternoon ward round.  The on-call Physician starts at 08.30 and is then responsible for admissions until 21:00hrs. All referrals from primary care and SDEC are received by the on-call consultant and are triaged to ambulatory care or admission avoidance clinics, which run daily.  Referrals from the Emergency Department are taken by the on call SpR, with support from the consultant where required.  We currently operate a process model for patients from the Emergency Department in order to maximise productivity and in order to avoid admission where possible.  Our ambulatory care team consists of nurse practitioners, nurse co-ordinator, triage nurse, bay nurses alongside the on call team.

On day two of a patient’s stay, we attempt to preserve continuity with the on call consultant from the previous day being responsible for the ongoing care of the patients admitted in the prior 24 hours.