Consultant - Rheumatology

Job Overview

We are seeking a dedicated and enthusiastic Consultant General Physician with a special interest in Rheumatology to join our dynamic team. This is a full-time post comprising 11 Programmed Activities (PAs), with responsibilities shared between General Internal Medicine and Rheumatology. Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest acute trusts in the south of England, renowned for its high-quality patient care and commitment to excellence.

The post holder will have continuing responsibility for the care of patients in their charge, including inpatient and outpatient commitments. The post will involve work across Ward 6 (36 medical beds) and Ward 16 (up to 16 patients, with designated male and female areas). As part the medical directorate, the post holder will collaborate with a variety of specialties to ensure the highest standards of patient care.

This role offers a unique opportunity to contribute to the ongoing development and success of the rheumatology and general medical services at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, with the support of a strong multidisciplinary team and access to continuous professional development.

Main duties of the job

Key Responsibilities

Provide comprehensive care in both General Medicine and Rheumatology, managing outpatient clinics both on and off-site.

• Undertake administrative duties associated with patient care, the operation of the rheumatology department, and the wider directorate.
• Play an important role in the ongoing development of the service and contribute to the hospital management initiatives. There are numerous opportunities to engage in management committees, research and development, and other hospital activities
• Participate in the general medical on-call rota (1 in 8 weekends and 1 in 16 weekdays).
• Provide high-quality, patient-centred care across both general medical and rheumatology services.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to deliver comprehensive care plans.
• Contribute to the continued development of rheumatology services, including outpatient clinics and inpatient consultations.
  
  

Working for our organisation

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust is committed to being an inclusive and disability confident employer and has been awarded the Gold for the Armed Forces Employment Recognition Scheme. We provide first class development opportunities for all staff and have a wide range of professional, management and leadership, and clinical skills training available.

Here at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, we know how important it is to have a healthy work life balance; this benefits not only individuals but the patients we care for too.

We encourage applications from people who wish to work on a flexible basis, recognising that flexibility may mean a range of different working patterns and hours, we do our utmost to work with our staff to meet their needs and the needs of our service and its users.

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Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

A formal Job Plan will be established between the post holder and the Chief of Service. This agreement will be reviewed at least annually, following the consultant's Appraisal Meeting. The Job Plan is designed to be a prospective agreement, detailing the consultant’s duties, responsibilities, and objectives for the upcoming year. The plan will encompass all key aspects of the consultant’s professional practice, including but not limited to Clinical duties, teaching and educational activities, research initiatives and managerial responsibilities.

The Job Plan will provide a clear schedule of commitments, both internal (within the organization) and external, ensuring there is a transparent overview of the consultant’s workload.

Please refer to the attached Job description for further details.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• MRCP (UK)
• CCT / CESR in Rheumatology and General Internal Medicine
  
  

Desirable criteria

• MD/PhD
• Other post-graduate degree
  
  

Specific Competencies

Essential criteria

• Able to evaluate own clinical practice
• Able to demonstrate innovative thinking
• Ability to organise and develop service provision
• Ability to work effectively in a multi-disciplinary team
• Good written and oral communication skills
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Leadership of professional bodies or committees
• Evidence of written communication in publications
  
  

Professional/ Specalist/ Functional Experience

Essential criteria

• Delivery of outpatient rheumatological care, including proficiency in joint injection
• Rheumatology clinics and general medical clinics
• Participation in unselected medical take and delivery of care to acute medical inpatients
• Ability to make decisions at the level of a consultant and to lead a team of trainees
• Experience of teaching medical students and trainees
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Extended sub-specialist training
• At least 1 year of training in a specialist (e.g. vasculitis) unit
  
  

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) has an outstanding reputation and a proud record of achievement. As a well performing, well led and ambitious Foundation Trust, we have exciting times ahead of us. We have an ongoing commitment to improving the health and care services for the 900,000 people we serve across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and south Buckinghamshire.

We are proud of the ambitions laid out in our strategy, Our Future FHFT, including our vision to be a leader in health & wellbeing, delivering excellence for our communities.

We continue to invest in our services and facilities, including a £10 million upgrade to the hospital maternity unit as well as £49m major new Emergency Assessment Centre on our Wexham Park site. The opening of a brand new £100m state of the art hospital which replaced the existing hospital facility at Heatherwood and are planning to invest further in diagnostics and inpatient capacity at Frimley Park.

We have also made significant investment in our quality improvement and digital programmes to support our vision and we will ensure that we achieve our aim of providing the highest quality healthcare to our patients. Our new EPR – Epic – went live in June and we are already beginning to reap the benefits of this ambitious investment.

Our three core values, and the behaviours that support them, guide everything we do and set out what we expect of our staff in the way they treat patients, visitors, service users and each other, Committed to Excellence, Working Together and Facing the Future.

Apply online now