This is a post for a Consultant in Rheumatology, to be based in the Department of Rheumatology at St George's Hospital, Tooting, and the Nelson Health Centre, West Wimbledon, London.
The Rheumatology Department at St George's is a large, dynamic and expanding department. It provides care for local residents, referred from Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and is the sole provider of tertiary referral services for South West Thames as well as the Hub for regional NHSE Adult Specialised Rheumatology services. The departments' workload rises annually.
The clinical medical staff comprise 7 NHS Consultants (Dr. A. Kaul, Professor P. Kiely, Dr K. Moss and Dr V. Sandhu, Dr. Khaldoun Chaabo and Dr.Tazeen Ahmed, Dr Tim Jones), one academic (Professor. Nidhi Sofat) and two South London Rheumatology Specialist Trainees, one shared with Acute Medicine. The AHP staff comprises of one part time Rheumatology Clinical Nurse Specialist, one Fracture Liaison Nurse Practitioner, one Lupus Clinical Nurse Specialist, two Physician Associates, one Biologics Nurse and 3 Osteoporosis technicians.
The post holder will:
1. Clinical service
The appointee will share responsibility for the supervision of general rheumatology inpatient referrals on a rotational basis at St Georges. This is scheduled through an on-call rota 1:8 9-5 Monday to Friday. The development of specialist clinical interests in the field of early inflammatory arthritis complimentary to those of other members of the department is encouraged. One of the clinics at The Nelson will be for specialist services, including osteoporosis which comprises one clinic per week, although this could be expanded depending on the skill set and interests of the successful applicant.
2. Clinical Governance
It is expected that the post holder will take a leading role in the Clinical Governance activities of the department. This will include oversight and coordination of all governance activities in the department including the successful delivery of national audits, including the RA HQIP audit, enrolment of patients into the BSRBR and individual projects undertaken by the Specialist Trainees. The appointee will be expected to lead the process of practice change as a consequence of governance findings and new guidelines through regular governance meetings.
3. Clinical teaching
The appointee will be expected to take an active role in the supervision, training and appraisal of the Specialist Trainees who are attached to the Department. In addition, the post holder will be expected to contribute to the undergraduate teaching programme and the professional development and training of allied health professionals attached to the Department, including the nursing staff, physiotherapists and occupational therapists.
4. Research
The post holder will be expected to participate in the intellectual life of the Rheumatology Care Group and the Medical School through participation in departmental clinical and research meetings and in the Hospital Grand Rounds. The post holder will be supported if he/she wishes to develop a clinical research programme. There is ample opportunity to develop his/her research interests with potential collaborators in the Medical School and Trust. Strong links exist between Rheumatology and the departments of Haematology, Histopathology, Immunology, Radiology and Renal Medicine, and further collaboration within the Trust and Medical School would be encouraged. The St Georges Healthcare NHS Trust Charitable Foundation favours applications for financial support for research proposals from newly appointed consultants. The Dean of Research and Development will be happy to advise short-listed individuals on facilities for research and on potential collaborators in the School and Trust.
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.
St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust