Consultant Rheumatologist

Job overview

We are seeking to appoint a substantive Consultant Rheumatologist. The appointee will work with Consultant colleagues to provide a comprehensive service for residents across West Sussex. The Rheumatology department is part of the MSK Directorate including Trauma and Orthopaedics and Pain Management. The post will be based predominantly at Worthing and Southlands Hospitals. However there will be some sessions at other Trust locations if and when required.

The post offers an excellent opportunity for you to develop as a Consultant and also contribute to service development.

Main duties of the job

• Outpatient clinics: assessment of all new patients at their first appointment; review of follow-up patients; discussion and review of follow-up patients seen by Speciality Doctors and clinical nurse specialists (CNS); joint injections and other procedures.
• Ward referrals and other DCC duties: specialist review of inpatients referred by other medical teams with rheumatic complaints; weekly combined radiology MDT.
• Administrative duties directly related to this: out-patient clinic letter dictation and signing; blood and imaging report signing; result letter dictation; GP referral letter grading; prescription of biologic drugs, parenteral osteoporosis and DMARD medication; medical report writing.
• Telephone and email advice: giving advice on the management of rheumatic diseases to GPs, allied health professionals, other specialists.
• Clinical audit: writing local audit proposals and reports; collecting clinical audit data; presenting results; participation in regional and national clinical audits (data collection).
• Clinical and educational supervision of CNSs and clinical assistants
• Involvement with the Trust Clinical Governance programme. There will be a commitment to supporting the education of medical students from Brighton (BSMS) in their placements, and the potential to develop managerial and research interests. There are strong links to the KSS Deanery and Brighton & Sussex Medical School.
• Rheumatology On-Call Commitment: None

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Outpatient clinics: assessment of all new patients at their first appointment; review of follow-up patients; discussion and review of follow-up patients seen by Speciality Doctors and clinical nurse specialists (CNS); joint injections and other procedures.

• Ward referrals and other DCC duties: specialist review of inpatients referred by other medical teams with rheumatic complaints; weekly combined radiology MDT.
• Administrative duties directly related to this: out-patient clinic letter dictation and signing; blood and imaging report signing; result letter dictation; GP referral letter grading; prescription of biologic drugs, parenteral osteoporosis and DMARD medication; medical report writing.
• Telephone and email advice: giving advice on the management of rheumatic diseases to GPs, allied health professionals, other specialists.
• Clinical audit: writing local audit proposals and reports; collecting clinical audit data; presenting results; participation in regional and national clinical audits (data collection).
• Clinical and educational supervision of CNSs and clinical assistants
• Involvement with the Trust Clinical Governance programme. There will be a commitment to supporting the education of medical students from Brighton (BSMS) in their placements, and the potential to develop managerial and research interests. There are strong links to the KSS Deanery and Brighton & Sussex Medical School.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.