Locum Consultant Rheumatologist

Job overview

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.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will;

• Have continuing responsibility for the care of patients in his/her charge.
• Work closely with consultant colleagues in the Rheumatology care group to ensure proper functioning of the Care Group, appropriate co-ordination of clinical services and continuity of care for patients.
• Work as part of the clinical team to ensure that the waiting list targets are met.
• Take the lead in overseeing the governance activities of the Rheumatology Care Group.
• Continually update their education in Rheumatology and GiM and fulfill his/her CME and GMC revalidation requirements
• Take part in the training of undergraduate and postgraduate doctors and in the professional development of other staff groups in relation to Rheumatological clinical care.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1. Clinical service

The appointee will share responsibility for the supervision of general rheumatology inpatient referrals on a rotational basis at St George’s. 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 George’s 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.