Consultant Physician - Medicine for the Elderly and General Medicine

NHS TAYSIDE

PERTH & KINROSS HSCP

CONSULTANT PHYSICIAN - MEDICINE FOR THE ELDERLY

Applications are invited for a Consultant Physician to join the Medicine for the Elderly team in Perth and Kinross. This post gives the opportunity for the successful applicant to join an enthusiastic, friendly and growing team providing high quality hospital and community services. There are excellent links to our colleagues in the health and social care partnership allowing for the ongoing development and further integration of our health and social care services.

An exciting opportunity, as a replacement post, has arisen on the Perth Royal Infirmary (PRI) site in Medicine for the Elderly (MFE) and General Internal Medicine (GIM).  

The appointee will join the department of MFE in PRI.  The MFE service delivers care in PRI and the surrounding community of Perth and Kinross.  Areas of responsibility in PRI include our Acute Frailty Service in AMU, the Acute Frailty Unit (14 beds), an orthogeriatric medicine/acute ward (30 beds), an elderly rehabilitation ward (14 beds) and an acute geriatric medicine ward (16 beds). Community services include care for patients in our Community Hospitals in Crieff, Blairgowrie and Pitlochry and the integrated discharge and community teams. These all link in with our ambulatory care area of AMU where same day assessment and investigations can be performed.

We also have established outpatient services, including falls and movement disorder clinics in PRI. We work closely with our colleagues in Old Age Psychiatry, based at Murray Royal Hospital in Perth, and have strong liaison links on both sites. The liaison team will review people on a daily basis in PRI.

The expansion of MFE services in recent years has been supported by the appointment of specialty doctors, who form a strong part of our team and rotate through the different clinical areas, while the service continues to be consultant led.

MFE consultants are part of the medical receiving rota together with GIM colleagues at a frequency of 1:12. The acute take is split between the on-call consultant and a GIM physician of the week, who also looks after any patients remaining in the acute medical unit after the post-take day. The frailty team take over the frail elderly patients and a cardiologist will take patients on a daily basis. The weekend on call is at a frequency of 1:6 and provided by two consultants with daily Cardiology consultant ward rounds of CCU and ward patients. The average daily take is 24 patients. Participation in the GIM take would be desirable but is not essential for this role.

The appointee for the post will work with the existing MFE consultants to manage the patient caseload. The post will also offer opportunity for successful candidate to develop specialist interest and support service development in area of interest. Ideally an interest in surgical or orthopaedic emergency and elective care would be preferred, but any interests can be accommodated. Up to 3 core sessions would be made available for this, with minimum 0.5 PA for non direct clinical care service improvement, with additional extra programmed sessions also available. We are a flexible group of colleagues who have always managed our roles to allow for this.

The department also has strong links with the University of Dundee Medical School, and undergraduates are attached to PRI throughout their training. Several of the consultants have leadership roles with the medical school, and there are opportunities to play a significant role in delivering teaching on the site. PRI has also regularly received positive feedback from trainees at all levels of seniority, and from external reviews of training, which has contributed to a positive and productive working atmosphere.

The successful candidate must hold MRCP and be on the Specialist Register in Geriatric and General Medicine or be within six months of the anticipated award of CCT or CESR (CP) in Geriatric and General Medicine at the time of interview for the post.

The post is offered on the basis of 10 programmed activities in the first instance.   However, applications are also welcomed from candidates who may be interested in working less than full time.

For informal enquiries please contact: Dr Neil Henderson, Clinical Lead for Medicine for the Elderly by email neil.henderson2@nhs.scot or (switchboard) or email or Dr Donna Clark via switchboard or email donna.clark3@nhs.scot

Closing Date for Applications is 20/1/2025

Interviews will be held on  5^th, 6^th, 7^th & 10^th February 2025

NHS Scotland is committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce and eliminating unlawful discrimination. The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. To this end, NHS Scotland welcomes applications from all sections of society.