Fixed Term Specialist in Emergency Department (12 months)

Job overview

We are delighted to invite applications for Specialist in Emergency Medicine at West Suffolk Hospital. This is an exciting opportunity to join a dynamic, forward-thinking team that is passionate about delivering high-quality, patient-centred emergency care. Working in a friendly and open district general hospital.

Are you passionate about Emergency Medicine? Do you bring strong core EM skills, alongside the ambition to develop subspecialty interests that can benefit our service or patient groups? If you have a special interest area you’d like to explore or grow, we are ready to support your development.

We warmly welcome informal visits or conversations about the role — please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Please See Full Job Description attached for details.

Fixed Term due to the post being converted to a consultant post in 1 year's time.

Interviews to be held on Friday, 23rd October 2026

Main duties of the job

• The clinical assessment, resuscitation and timely onward referral, admission or discharge of all types of patients attending the Emergency Department. To take ongoing responsibility for patients under their care.
• To provide professional and effective leadership and to be immediately available to give a Specialist opinion, guidance and advice on any patient seen in the Emergency Department when on clinical duty.
• To share responsibility with colleagues for the day-to-day management of the Emergency Department.
• To teach and train intermediate and junior medical staff, nursing staff, medical students and paramedical staff.
• Contribute to production, update and maintenance of departmental guidelines, protocols and procedures in line with evidence based best practice.
• Develop and maintain collaborative relationships with medical colleagues in other specialities and participate in regular clinical meetings and other postgraduate activities.
• Participate in the on-call rota on an equal basis with consultant colleagues to ensure that appropriate Emergency services are provided out of normal working hours.
• Take an appropriate share of responsibility for the professional supervision and development of trainee doctors within the speciality, to include appraisal.
• Develop and maintain good communications with General Practitioners and appropriate external agencies.
• To actively participate in both departmental and Trust matters concerning Clinical Governance and quality improvement (QI).
• To have responsibility for, and actively participate in, continuing professional development (CPD)

Please See Full Job Description attached for details

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The department is a 24/7 unit dealing with unselected patients of all ages. Patients referred from General Practitioners to Surgical and Medical specialties are seen and assessed by the relevant doctors in the Emergency Assessment Unit or ED.

Our department includes:

• A majors and resuscitation area
• A Rapid Assessment and Treatment (RAT) zone
• A dedicated additional majors unit with single cubicles for managing infectious patients
• A paediatric emergency area
• A minor injuries and illnesses unit We are committed to meeting national performance standards and continually strive to enhance the care and experience of every patient who walks through our doors.

The children requiring emergency care in the West Suffolk area are lucky to have a dedicated 24/7 children's area within the main emergency department. This area is mainly self-contained and has its own triage room, 6 trolley spaces (split into 2 bays) and its own waiting area, which is situated near to the ED x-ray and allows Children to been seen and treated with minimal contact with adult patients. The area also has its own dedicated facilities such as toilets, a kitchen area, sluice, drug prep area, and triage room.

Currently we have 3 consultant paediatricians working clinical PAs in ED to help support with the clinical education of the junior doctors and the treatment of patients. We currently have funding for three paediatric nurses per shift and are actively recruiting to fill some vacancies, as recently some staff nurses have progressed to more senior posts and to become trainee ENPs.

The paediatric nursing team includes a band 7 lead, band 6 nurses and experienced band 5 nurses, all of whom have extensive clinical experience in the assessment and treatment of children who require emergency care. The paediatric nurses are all EPALS provider trained, and the team also have one EPALS and one PILS instructor among them who work with the resuscitation team to deliver training across the trust.

Applicant requirements

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.