Consultant in Cardiology WSI in General Internal Medicine

Consultant in Cardiology WSI in General Internal Medicine

We are seeking an innovative and progressive Consultant with an interest in General Internal Medicine (GIM) to join our Cardiology team. The appointee will cover the new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH) during on call and outpatient clinics at City Hospital Birmingham and/or Sandwell General Hospital. Applications are welcomed from candidates with CCT (or equivalent) who are on the General Medical Council's Specialist Register in Cardiology or who will be within six months of obtaining their CCT at the time of interview. Applicants must demonstrate that they are fully trained in general Cardiology, can manage Cardiology on calls and can perform GIM independently. This is a substantive post.

Main duties of the job

The appointee will provide first class Cardiology and GIM specialist opinions, encourage input into subspecialty areas such as imaging, and perform on calls for Cardiology wards and general cardiology 1 in 10 (with internal cover). They will cover clinics (general Cardiology & specialty), ward rounds, administration duties, and provide flexible ward cover, based primarily at MMUH for ward rounds and on calls. Imaging modality sessions will take place at MMUH, Sandwell General Hospital or Birmingham City Hospital. The Trust has reconfigured its services in preparation for the Right Care Right Here Programme, requiring outpatient work at at least one other site.

The appointee will share equal responsibility with existing Consultants for the proper functioning of the clinical service, working with clinical and managerial colleagues toward achieving and maintaining national maximum waiting times and developing clinical pathways.

Job responsibilities

Dr Vinoda Sharma is the current Specialty Lead for Cardiology; Dr Stavros Apostolakis is the Clinical Director for Admitted Care; Dr Chetan Varma is the Group Director for Medicine and Emergency Care. MMUH has Medical Admission Units adjacent to the Emergency Departments. The Trust runs a ward based system for general medical patients.

Cardiology day time duties: The cardiology consultants provide a seven day service for cardiology patients at MMUH. The appointee will participate in day time general cardiac duties as Cardiologist of the Week (COW) at MMUH on a 1 in 10 rota (8 am-6 pm weekdays), reviewing and managing Cardiology patients, and 8 am-2 pm on weekends of the COW week. On the MMUH AMU, there is a daily consultant ward round on the acute medical unit. Patients requiring prolonged specialist cardiac or catheter lab management are transferred to the Cardiology A2 ward. The post holder will also contribute to GIM on call weekend (1 in 8), SDEC (1 in 52) and GIM weekdays (1 in 20).

All cardiology managed patients are reviewed by the cardiology team with daily ward rounds on the cardiology wards, acute medical unit and ward referrals. All suspected acute coronary syndrome patients, those with significant arrhythmias and heart failure are seen. AMU Cardiology referrals are covered by Interventional Cardiologists who perform 1:8 cover Monday to Friday (08:00-12:30) and Saturday morning lists for acute ward patients.

Out patient Clinics at Sandwell and City Hospitals: At Sandwell Hospital, the outpatient department sits adjacent to the cardiology department with access to exercise testing, echocardiography and rhythm management facilities. At City Hospital, the Birmingham Treatment Centre provides adjacent outpatient facilities. The appointee will hold two cardiology clinics per week and may also perform outpatient work outside the hospital in line with the Right Care Right Here programme. Approximately 18,000 outpatient attendances per year occur in the cardiology department.

MMUH is equipped with Siemens Artis Icono Biplane catheter labs and a dedicated third cath lab for pacing and devices. Cath lab coordination uses the dedicated system. Cath labs run mixed lists of acute and elective patients. The Trust has a longstanding PCI programme and has provided coronary intervention with off site surgical support for over two decades. A primary angioplasty service for acute myocardial infarction has run 24 hours, seven days since 2005.

Bradycardia pacing has been carried out for over 30 years and biventricular pacing (CRT) and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation since 2006. A dedicated subcutaneous ICD service operates. Angiograms and pacing are supported using the Change ; images and reports are accessible across the Trust.

Well developed cardiac imaging services (CMR, echocardiography, stress echo and CTCA) are available at both City and Sandwell Hospitals, along with an established Heart Failure Service. The local CCG has funded nine new specialist nurse posts to develop an equitable service in West Birmingham. Research in heart failure is ongoing.

Cardiac diagnostics involve more than 12,000 TTEs annually, over 600 stress echocardiograms and 100 TOEs per year. Comprehensive nuclear cardiology is well established on the City site. Coronary CT and MRI services are expanding with Siemens scanners; participation in imaging services is welcomed from suitably qualified applicants.

The working week for a full time consultant consists of 10 programmed activities (PAs), plus 1.5 short programmed activities (SPAs). Clinical care is expected to include a minimum of 0.5 sub specialty session per week, emergency work, outpatient activities (minimum 2 clinics per week), multidisciplinary meetings, and related administration. Supporting professional duties include training, education, audit, clinical management and local governance.

Person Specification Qualifications

• Entry on the Specialist Register in Cardiology and General Internal Medicine (or entry expected within 6 months from interview)
• Higher Degree

Clinical Experience

• Clinical training and experience equivalent to that required for gaining CCT in Cardiology
• Interest in undertaking clinical research in line with the Trust strategy

Management and Administrative Experience

• Ability to organise and prioritise workload effectively

Clinical Effectiveness

• Experience of conducting clinical audit

Teaching and Training experience

• Ability to teach clinical skills to medical and nursing staff and other disciplines

Research, Innovation and Service Improvement Experience

• Ability to apply research outcomes to clinical problems
• Knowledge and experience of the application of information technology to cardiology
• Publications in relevant peer reviewed journals in the last five years
• Evidence of having undertaken original research

Other Requirements

• Full GMC Registration

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and a submission for Disclosure will be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.