Consultant/Primary Care Clinician-Special InterestMultiSymptomDiagsrvc

Job overview

The Vague Symptoms/Weight Loss service is vital for the smooth running of our clinical pathways at West Suffolk Hospital. Patients referred to this service may be seeing unexplained symptoms such as weight loss - requiring rapid specialist treatment due to indications of cancer.  There are distinct criteria for patients to be referred, where they wouldn't necessarily fit into other specialty pathways.

The service will be managed collaboratively with an existing consultant and will bring exceptional leadership qualities.

Specialty Doctor pay scale: £63,696 - £102,689 pro rate per annum.

Consultants pay scale: £113,565 - £150,569 pro rata per annum.

Please See Full Job Description attached for details

Main duties of the job

• Maintenance of the highest clinical standards in the management of all patients under your care
• To work with the Multi Symptom Diagnostic clinicians, (Dr Sharpstone) to achieve and maintain access and waiting time targets for the service.
• To share with colleagues the responsibility for the management and development of the Vague Symptoms service.
• Teaching and training of intermediate, junior staff, nursing staff and medical students
• To actively participate in both departmental and Trust matters concerning Clinical Governance and audit.
• To have responsibility for ensuring active participation in continuing professional development (CPD).
• Post will be 1.5 PAs. This includes one session for clinic per week, alongside one session for admin/SPA relevant to the service.

Please See Full Job Description attached for details

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

As outlined in the description of the service this clinic is part of a wider ICS (Integrated care System) project which involves, working in collaboration with the ESNEFT Multidisciplinary Diagnostics Service (MDS). Within the West Suffolk Foundation Trust this service currently sits within Gastroenterology. There are plan for this to move to sit under the remit of The Trust’s Cancer Team, once all the management personnel have been employed here and within the ICS.

This opportunity has been created to help in the development of the WSH Multi Symptom Diagnostic Service, working in collaboration with the ESNEFT Multidisciplinary Diagnostics Service (MDS).

This service is for patients who have vague symptoms that may indicate a cancer diagnosis or other serious pathology. There are clinical pathways and criteria for patients to be referred into this clinic who don’t fit other pathways but may have features indicating underlying malignancy. These include unexplained weight loss, ‘gut feel’ for malignancy, raised inflammatory markers. This service will provide a model of prompt patient triage; coordinated access to diagnostic tests; second follow up appointment or telephone consultation resulting in rapid specialist referral or patient discharge. The post holder will work collaboratively with Dr Sharpstone in the running and management of this service. You will undertake new and follow up consultations of patients referred to the service in accordance with agreed guidance. This will be based at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.

It is envisaged that you would provide leadership in developing the service as well as the day-to-day clinical input supported by both expert nursing and administrative staff. You will be supported further by a team that reports to the ICS Cancer Board that provides the strategic oversight and steer according to the emerging national picture of rapid diagnostic services going forward.

Please See Full Job Description attached for details