GP Cardiologist

Job overview

OUHFT seeks to recruit qualified GPs to be trained to deliver cardiology services as part of a unified team at one of a number of community locations in the region.

The roles are part time, and GP Cardiologists are asked to consider undertaking 1-2 sessions per week (with time off for annual leave, study leave and CPD). Full training will be provided, as will a shadowing programme at OUHFT.

This approach to community cardiology is highly innovative, and seeks to integrate primary and secondary care; to make care more accessible and closer to home; to improve patient experience; to improve outcomes and quality of care, particularly via the identification and holistic treatment of risk factors and co-morbid conditions – including mental health conditions – in patients with known or suspected heart disease.

Each clinic will be supported by a healthcare assistant and secretarial support, who will support you with administrative tasks and enhance the patient experience. Consultant cardiologists will act as mentors, and will be available for advice and help when you need it.

The GP will be a substantive employee of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and will have access to the resources of this tertiary centre cardiology service. It is anticipated that, when trained and where appropriate, GP Cardiologists will be able to refer patients directly for cardiac procedures, including advanced imaging, angiography, cardioversion, ablation and pacing.

Main duties of the job

Integration between primary and secondary care is widely acknowledged to bring advantages to patients and their families through, increased accessibility and improved patient experience; to health care economies through enhanced cost-effectiveness and better value; and to practitioners who may experience opportunities for enhanced professional satisfaction.

OUH seeks to appoint several GP-Cardiologists to develop our services to patients closer to home. Our approach to Community Cardiology is to recruit and train a of motivated, high-caliber general practitioners, who are committed to seeking high standards of patient care for those with known or suspected cardiovascular disease, and who are committed to enhancing both the patient experience of care, and the value created by the healthcare system.

The aims of the posts are

• To improve access to expert cardiovascular care
• To improve patient experience and provide care closer to home
• To enhance holistic patient assessment and treatment, particularly to improve the identification and treatment of co-morbid conditions, including mental health conditions
• To create value in the healthcare system by allocating resources effectively
• To strengthen primary care by enhancing interactions with secondary care and providing a wider variety of career paths for GPs.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The GP Cardiologist will be responsible for assessing, analysing and forming a diagnosis and management plan for patients with known or suspected cardiovascular disease attending the Community Cardiology Clinic.

Assessments will include a history, physical examination and interpretation of an ECG in almost all cases, and may include the integration of data from echocardiography, exercise testing, heart rhythm monitoring, and more specialized imaging, although a provisional report will be provided by the physiologist in all cases.

The GP-Cardiologist will make a diagnosis, and communicate this to the patient and carers / family, and will make recommendations concerning, for example, lifestyle modifications, medications, need for further investigations, and need and location for follow up (whether with own GP, in community cardiology, or in secondary care).

The GP Cardiologist will communicate the outcomes of the consultation to the GP and to secondary care, and will complete all necessary administration relating to the consultation and to the service, including requesting, reviewing and endorsing all results of investigations.

GP Cardiologists will be responsible for triaging all cardiology GP referrals. These may be triaged directly to the community cardiology service, or to specific services within OUH. Where the referral can be managed without a face-to-face consultation, the GP will write to the referring GP with advice.

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.