Consultant Rheumatologist

The appointee will be expected to provide a clinical and administrative service in Rheumatology, including outpatient clinics, support of specialist nurses and a specialist registrar, Medical Treatment Unit (MTU), and seeing inpatient referrals. Patient related administrative work, such as prescriptions, helpline calls, screening outpatient referrals and responding to advice & guidance letters from primary care will also be part of the job role. The appointee will work closely with the other consultants in the team, and other clinical and non-clinical Rheumatology staff to provide a high standard of care to the Rheumatology patients and to give consultant opinion, guidance and advice on any patient referred to the department. The appointee will share the responsibility for the maintenance of evidence-based guidance to support care of the patients. The appointee will be encouraged to take an active role in any relevant Trust committees or sub-committees and any local or regional Rheumatology meetings. There will also be opportunities to get involved in research and clinical trials.

There are no on-call commitments for Rheumatology.

Interviews to be held on Thursday the 13th February 2025

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 the care of your team.
• Sharing with medical, nursing and administrative colleagues, responsibility for the day-to-day management of Rheumatic diseases.
• To share with colleagues the responsibility for the management of the Rheumatology Department.
• Provision of outpatient service in the general Rheumatology clinics and the joint consultant sub-specialty clinics (Early Arthritis, Severe Arthritis, Axial Spondyloarthritis, Injection and ultrasound clinics) at the West Suffolk Hospital and at other sites including Newmarket, Sudbury, Thetford, Botesdale, Haverhill and Stowmarket.
• Working flexibly to help the department deliver key targets with regards to outpatient activity.
• Teaching and training of junior staff, nursing staff and medical students.
• Providing Rheumatology consultations to in-patients at West Suffolk Hospital.
• To actively participate in both departmental and Trust matters concerning Clinical Governance and Audit (including the National Early Inflammatory Arthritis Audit).
• To have responsibility for ensuring active participation in continuing professional development (CPD)

About us

at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. By us. By our patients. By our community

We are a busy, friendly, rural NHS Trust providing high-quality care and compassion to more than a quarter of a million people across west Suffolk. We care for, treat and support people in hospital, at home and in various community settings.

The West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds provides acute and secondary care services (emergency department, maternity and neonatal services, day surgery unit, eye treatment centre, Macmillan unit and children's ward). It has 500+ beds and is a partner teaching hospital of the University of Cambridge.

Adult and paediatric community services, provided in collaboration with West Suffolk Alliance partners, include a range of nursing, therapy, specialist, and ongoing temporary care and rehabilitation, some at our Newmarket Community Hospital.

We do our utmost to achieve outstanding clinical outcomes for patients and our values of fairness, inclusivity, respect, safety and team work guide how we work and behave as a team.

With nearly 5,000 staff, from all over the world, we strive to make our organisation a great place to work. Whatever your role or ambition, we want to help you be the best you can be.

We promote a diverse and inclusive community where everyones voice counts and you can for whoever you are.

Join us. What will you for?

Job responsibilities

Please read the Job Description and Person Specification for full details

Across all of our service, we aim to offer structured care for patients using standard activity and outcome measures where available to drive treatment decisions. General guidance is agreed among the clinicians and modified as new evidence emerges.

As well as General Rheumatology clinics there are established subspecialty clinics dedicated to Early Arthritis, Axial Spondyloarthritis, injection/MSK ultrasound, and a joint Rheumatology/Respiratory clinic. Other clinics include a weekly emergency clinic booked no more than 10 days in advance, which allows rapid access for urgent problems for new or follow-up patients.

In addition, there are nurse clinics for DMARD counselling and follow up of RA, AS and Ps A patients, especially those on advance therapies, including biologics, of which there are over 600 patients within the department.

New patient waiting times are routinely the shortest in East Anglia. The main interest of the department is Early Inflammatory Arthritis with care focussed on rapid access, objective assessment of prognosis and disease activity. This is followed by early intensive treatment driven by objective outcome measures (treat to target). A dedicated clinic is held alternate weeks by every consultant. Patients meeting defined criteria are referred by a fast track system and seen within three weeks, with blood testing beforehand. Patients deemed to need DMARDS are counselled by the nurses and we initiate subcutaneous Methotrexate as first line treatment in RA. We share the care of patients between doctors and nurses following common guidance, which is adapted to meet the circumstances of each patient. Some nurse appointments may be over the telephone, allowing monitoring of drug tolerability and disease activity, but being more convenient for the patient.

Person Specification Education, Qualifications and Special Training

• Full GMC registration with a licence to practise
• MRCP or equivalent
• Entry on the GMC specialist register in Rheumatology or be eligible for entry (within six months of attaining Certificate of Completion of Training) at the time of interview
• MD or PhD

Knowledge & Skills

• Ability to take full and independent responsibility for clinical care of patients
• Ability to offer expert clinical opinion on a full spectrum of Rheumatological diseases
• Ability to contribute to the development of services
• To have a thorough knowledge and demonstrable understanding of "Good Medical Practice" from the GMC
• Subspecialty interest to complement colleagues in the department

Experience

• Completion of supervised training in an appropriate Rheumatology registrar training programme or equivalent to that required for gaining UK CCT
• Experience in management of Rheumatology in-patient and out-patient medicine
• Experience of leading a multidisciplinary team
• Experience of clinical governance and audit management
• Experience of service development

Teaching and Training

• Experience of supervising FY1s, FY2s, StRs and SpRs
• Experience of workplace-based assessment
• Experience of teaching students, junior doctors and other healthcare professionals
• Evidence of training as an educational supervisor

Management, Leadershipr and Clinical Governance

• Ability to advise on efficient and smooth running of the Rheumatology service
• Ability to organise and manage day to day service delivery e.g. out-patient priorities
• Ability and willingness to work within the Trust and NHS performance framework and targets
• Improve, monitor and sustain the highest achievable clinical standards
• Ability to lead a clinical team
• Ability to manage and lead strategic developments in service delivery
• Experience of audit management
• Evidence of active participation in continuing professional development
• Willingness to engage in the appraisal process

Research & Publications

• Ability to apply research outcomes to clinical problems
• Experience of undertaking research
• Publications in peer reviewed journals
• Willing to be PI/Sub-I in commercial and non commercial studies
• Evidence of GCP training

Personal Skills & Qualities

• Good personal communications skills including ability to communicate effectively with patients, relatives, GPs, nurses and other agencies
• The ability to work effectively within a team
• Ability to work flexibly and to alter timetable / clinic locations as required by the department
• Commitment to Continuing Professional Development and the requirements of Clinical Governance
• Ability to travel to peripheral clinics

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Depending on experiencepro rata per annum