Job Advert
Consultant in Ageing and Health – 2 posts
FULL or PART TIME (10 PA, including up to 2 PA SPA for Full time)
Salary Scale - £96,963 - £128,841 per annum (pro rata if part time)
Looking for a new and exciting challenge? Then think about working in NHS Forth Valley in the heart of Scotland.
Department of Ageing and Health
The Department of Ageing and Health are looking for 2 colleagues to join a team of highly motivated Geriatricians who are passionate about the care of older people. Our service is undergoing an exciting period of change as we evolve to provide the people of Forth Valley a world class service that meets their needs.
The Department of Ageing & Health sits within the wider acute services directorate and is operationally responsible to Head of Acute Services.
Within Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Ageing and Health currently has 62 acute frailty assessment beds (Wards A22 and A32). In addition, there is the Stroke Unit (Ward B21) and a 29-bedded acute frailty and ortho-geriatric ward (ward A21).
The 23-bedded Acute Stroke Unit comprising of a Hyper-acute area where those receiving thrombolysis therapy are directly admitted. There are also arrangements in place to allow patients to access thrombectomy. There is an additional 8-bedded Rehabilitation Stroke Unit in the Bellfield Centre, Stirling Care Village. There is also a very successful Early Supported Discharge Team – our START team – to enable therapy to be delivered in peoples home and allow earlier discharges.
A Hospital at Home service has been developed running since 2020 as part of a holistic, whole system project with Primary Care and our Health and Social Care colleagues. It is currently able to provide acute care through 30 virtual beds to frail, older people within their own home or homely setting. There are links to colleagues providing assessment in Nursing Homes and Community Palliative Care. Our Hospital at Home Service also had really good links with our OPAT, Heart Failure and Respiratory teams
There are also four community hospitals (Stirling Care Village, Falkirk Community Hospital, Clackmannanshire Community Healthcare Centre and Bo’ness Hospital) with in the region of 209 beds. These are a combination of rehabilitation beds and Intermediate Care beds. We are also able to use this as a step up facility from Hospital at Home, if required.
The department successfully completed the first ‘Frailty at the Front Door’ collaborative supported by Healthcare Improvement Scotland. This work is supporting the ongoing transformation of our frailty at the front door service by looking at a whole systems approach to frailty. Within the frailty front door the department provides consultant review of emergency admissions that are admitted via the Acute Assessment Unit. The consultant staff provide continuous assessment within the admissions unit seeing patients primarily presenting with a Frailty Syndrome and are supported by the Frailty Intervention Nursing team and Fastrack AHP colleagues. The department is now also moving to establishing a new multidisciplinary acute frailty unit with an ambulatory frailty service furthering this work.
The department runs a number of outpatient based clinics. We hope to redesign these in the future to support a more locality based approach. For patients who require assessment within their own home there are strong links with the Hospital at Home team. The outpatient department also hosts our Falls clinic.
There is also Movement Disorder Team providing liaison to current inpatients along with an outpatient clinic service. This is supported by a number of specialist nursing colleagues and works closely with our Neurology colleagues to ensure the smooth transition of patient care dependent on need.
You can look forward to a warm welcome and strong support from colleagues. Our hospital is situated in the heart of Scotland, nestled against the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, and close to vibrant towns that are richly endowed with excellent cultural and sporting facilities, offering good transport links to Edinburgh and Glasgow.
To apply for this post, please visit the job posting on the NHS Scotland Job Train website. Applicants should have full GMC registration and a licence to practise. Applicants will be in possession of the CCT in Geriatric/General Medicine or equivalent, registered with the General Medical Council and on the Specialist Register or be within 6 months of the anticipated award of a CCT at the time of interview or have a certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR). Applicants are required to have evidence of recent continued academic and professional development. Excellent, communication, listening and organisational skills are essential.
Informal enquiries should be directed to Dr Thomas French, Clinical Director for Ageing and Health on telephone number 01324 567641
Closing date: Tuesday 12th November 2024
Interview date: Wednesday 11th December 2024
Please quote reference number 198368 on all correspondence.