The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust
Surgery and Women and Children’s Services Directorate
Job Description
Middle Grade Doctor in Trauma & Orthopaedics
1. THE POST
This post is a fixed term post for 6 months.
The post has been established to contribute to the delivery of high quality of care for trauma and orthopaedic patients following the Trust’s requirement to meet the working time directive for junior doctors. There are four middle grade posts who will participate with the four SpRs in day and night time duties as well as out of hours and weekend duties.
The post-holder will take part in elective in-patient and day-case surgery, trauma surgery, outpatient clinics, and educational and administrative activities.
All middle grade doctors are expected to provide internal cover for colleagues for annual leave, though no doctor is expected to take leave when rostered for night duty. All middle grade doctors are expected to cover unexpected absence internally wherever possible. It is accepted that the holder of the post will also perform duties in occasional emergencies and unforeseen circumstances at the request of the appropriate consultant. Such additional commitments arising under this subsection will be exceptional and in particular the doctor should not be required to undertake work of this kind for prolonged periods or on a regular basis.
2. THE DEPARTMENT
We are a thriving and expanding department. Referrals are outstripping our resources and we have a long and growing wait for both outpatient and inpatient services.
The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery is a core service within the Surgical and Women’s and Children’s Services Directorate. It sees 18,600 outpatients annually.
Referrals to Orthopaedics have increased by 11.3% during the last year and the Trust will expect that the appointee will work collaboratively with colleagues to ensure that access time is minimised.
Two modern 28 bedded wards Thorogood and Coyle are provided for adult orthopaedic inpatients, and there is shared access to a 22 trolleyed day surgery unit. There is also Trevor; a shared 28 bedded 5-day ward. Children are cared for on the nearby paediatric ward.
The outpatient department is dedicated to orthopaedics. The consultant and secretarial offices are also located here together with a departmental seminar room.
We currently have 5 orthopaedic consultants. Sarah Muirhead-Allwood has a special interest in revision hip surgery and does not contribute to trauma management. The other consultants share the trauma and general orthopaedic workload as well as developing a special interest. David Sweetnam, Clinical Lead, has a special interest in lower limb surgery and Ian Bacarese Hamilton has a special interest in upper limb and joint replacement surgery. Panos Thomas has an interest in sport’s injuries and Constantin Schizas, who is currently on sabbatical, focuses on spinal surgery and general orthopaedics. We currently in the process of recruiting two additional full time consultants to increase our establishment to 7 consultants.
We provide a professional service comprised of accredited consultants supported by a full complement of juniors on approved training programmes. Emphasis is placed on senior management of trauma with daily trauma and audit meetings and a daily trauma list.
3. CURRENT STAFFING
Establishment
Staffing Number WTE
Consultant – Sarah Muirhead-Allwood 1 0.64
Consultant – Ian Bacarese Hamilton 1 0.91
Consultant – Panos Thomas 1 0.91
Consultant – David Sweetnam 1 1.0
Consultant – Constantin Schizas 1 1.0
Consultant – Locum 1 1.0
TOTAL 6 5.37
Higher Surgical Trainees (1:5 Rota)
Specialist Registrars 4 4.0
Middle Grade Doctors 4 4.0
TOTAL 8 8.0
Basic Surgical Trainees
SHOs 2 2.0
PRHOs 3 3.0
Clinical Fellow 2 2.0
TOTAL 7 7.0
Plaster Technician/Nurse 1 1.0
Secretary 6.0 6.0
The junior staff establishment comprises of 4 training grade registrars, 4 non-rotating similar post, 4 SHOs and 3 PRHOs. The specialist registrar training programme is linked to the Chelsea and Westminster/UCLH/RNOH rotation and the Royal Free Hospital, The Lister Hospital in Stevenage and the North Middlesex Hospital. This involves both the North East and North West Thames Regions. The non-rotating posts are funded by the Trust.
4. EDUCATION & TRAINING
The Whittington Hospital is a main University Hospital of the University of London. It provides undergraduate teaching in association with the Royal Free and University College London Medical School. There are 110 whole time equivalent under-graduates on site at any one time. The new joint medical school has at least 400 students per year with a new vertically integrated curriculum. The appointee will be expected to participate in teaching and supervision of junior staff at the Whittington.
Training
Formal Appraisal will be conducted annually
Induction sessions are organised by the department.
Clinical Management Guidelines are kept on the wards and in A&E and are regularly up-dated.
Access to PCs and secretarial support for middle grade staff is available within the department.
Study
Many lectures, seminars, workshops etc. take place in the Postgraduate Centre.
6. ANNUAL AND STUDY LEAVE
Doctors in this post are entitled to leave in addition to Bank and Statutory Holidays and in accordance with that afforded to the SpR grade. Study leave for NHS staff is given in accordance with the Trust Study Leave Policy which may be obtained from the Human Resources department. Up to ten study days per annum are allowed.
7. RESEARCH
The appointee will be encouraged to participate in on-going programmes of research. He/she will be expected to participate in research into the provision of general surgical services.
8. HEALTH & SAFETY POLICY
Employees must be aware of the responsibilities placed on them under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, to ensure that the agreed safety procedures are carried out to maintain a safe environment for employees and visitors.
9. SECURITY
It is the responsibility of all employees to work within the security policies and procedures of The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust to protect the patients, staff and visitors and the property of the Trust. This duty applies to the specific work area of the individual and the Hospital in general. All staff are required to wear official identification badges.
10. DATA PROTECTION
This post has a confidential aspect. If you are required to obtain, process and/or use information held on a computer or word processor you should do it in a fair and lawful way. You should hold data only for the specific registered purpose and not use or disclose it in any way incompatible with such a purpose and ought to disclose data only to authorised persons or organisations as instructed. Breaches of confidence in relation to data will result in disciplinary action, which may involve dismissal.
11. NO SMOKING AND ALCOHOL
The Hospital has promoted a No Smoking Policy as part of its responsibility for the provision of health. You will be required to work within the framework of this policy. Smoking is not allowed in offices. Staff are not permitted to consume alcohol during the working day, including during breaks.
12. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
It is the aim of the Trust to ensure that no job applicant or employee receives less than favourable treatment on grounds of sex, race, colour, nationality or national origins or is not placed at a disadvantage by condition or requirements that cannot be shown to be justifiable. To this end the Trust has an equal opportunities policy and it is for each employee to contribute to its success.
13. PERSONAL CONDUCT
All staff are expected to treat other members of hospital staff with courtesy and respect. The hospital’s rules and policies, including the disciplinary procedure, apply to all staff without exception. The attention of consultant medical staff is drawn to the GMC document, ‘The Duties of a Doctor’. The Hospital will take this into account when considering the conduct of medical staff in relation to any incident.
Medical staff are expected to plan their annual and other leave well in advance so that their absence is not detrimental to the service. Medical staff are requested to give not less than 6 weeks notice of intention to take leave. Leave requests with less than 4 weeks notice must be made to the Director of Operations who will only grant such requests in exceptional circumstances.
14. COMPLAINTS, CONSENT AND INFORMATION TO PATIENTS
The hospital has a detailed complaints policy which all staff are expected to follow. The post holder should give all assistance to managers to provide full, frank and honest responses to complaints, including attending meetings with complainants.
15. CUSTOMER AWARENESS
The Whittington Hospital expects its employees to communicate with colleagues, patients and visitors in a polite and courteous manner at all times.
16. CLINICAL GOVERNANCE
All clinical staff are expected to maintain appropriate knowledge about the key elements of clinical governance.
17. OTHER GENERAL INFORMATION
This post is offered on a Trust Contract of employment and is subject to the Terms and Conditions of the Whittington Hospital NHS Trust and in particular to the Pay and Condition of Service relating to the Medical Staff group as set in the relevant Trust Handbooks. Copies of these may be seen in the Human Resources Department. The appointment is superannuable, unless you choose to opt out of the National Health Service Superannuation Scheme.
Short-listed candidates will be required to complete a Health Statement and the Trust may require an officer to pass a medical examination as a condition of appointment.
18. SHORTLISTED CANDIDATES will be invited to visit The Whittington informally to meet: -Mr Lester Wilson, Orthopaedic Consultant Surgeon and Clinical Lead for T&O and Mr Panos Thomas, Orthopaedic Consultant Surgeon and Surgical Tutor.
PERSON SPECIFICATION – MIDDLE GRADE DOCTOR (TRAUMA & ORTHOPAEDICS)
REQUIREMENTS / ESSENTIAL / DESIRABLEQualifications / GMC registration
MRCS or FRCS or equivalent
Professional experience / Minimum of 12 months experience in general surgery at SHO level or above
Minimum of 4 years orthopaedic experience
Ability / Knowledge and skills in the management of elective and emergency general orthopaedic patients
A.T.L.S. (provider) qualified
Ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team
Ability to communicate effectively with other staff, patients and their relatives
Audit / Interest in and knowledge of medical audit / Evidence of active audit experience
Education / Evidence of continuing personal medical education activity / Awareness of advances in medical education
Standards / High ethical/professional standards
Familiarity with standards laid out in GMCs “Good Medical Practice”
Teaching / Ability to deliver high quality teaching
Other / Willingness to accept that flexibility is required to meet the changing needs of the NHS / Word processing and presentation IT skills
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T&O middle grade JD march 03