Workforce, training and education
East of England

Training Locations

If you are considering applying or have received an offer but are unsure as to whether your rotation will meet your needs, please get in touch with Dr Alistair Mackett (alistair.mackett1@nhs.net), the Training Programme Director, and he will get back in touch as soon as possible to discuss how we make things workable for you.

We aim to offer a 4 year rotation at the outset if a trainee wishes. Alternatively, if a trainee prefers more flexibility, we can offer partial rotations at the beginning and discussion with the TPD later on when your chosen path becomes clearer.

Principles

  • Trainees commute to work should not be > 1 hour.
  • Trainees should not spend more than 2 years in any 1 site. 
  • Rotations should be as balanced as possible so that training covers all areas of the curriculum adequately.

The response of Trauma & Orthopaedic Departments to the first four weeks of  lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic – A trainee-led analysis of the East of  England - ScienceDirect

NB: East and North Herts NHS Trust is not on the diagram.

A brief summary of the hospitals with their training opportunities and links to their websites can be found in the blue drop down boxes below.

 

Basildon

Clinical Lead

Dr Shilpa Raje

Educational Lead

Dr Luke Hounsom

Learning Opportunities

  1. Monthly specialist movement disorder clinic at Brentwood Community Hospital (Dr Anjum Misbahuddin from Queens) and opportunity to attend the quarterly Essex Movement Disorders Group meeting
     
  2. Community and hospital based PD Nurse Specialists
     
  3. 2x Tilt sessions per week
     
  4. 2x Falls clinics per week
     
  5. 2x Consultant-led care home MDT sessions 2x Consultant led community rapid access clinics
     
  6. Close links with SEPT mean ad hoc memory clinic, psychiatry liaison and in-patient old age psychiatry experience can be gained on request by the trainee. Older patient in-patient unit on site.
     
  7. Community-based dementia crisis support team and community mental health
     
  8. 2x Consultant led ward rounds and 1x MDT in intermediate care site/rehabilitation facility per week which includes community step-up beds as well as acute trust step-down beds
     
  9. Geographically separate 9 bedded Frailty Unit with designated Consultant, junior doctor and Frailty Nurse co-ordinator providing in-reach to A&E and medical assessment 5 days per week (Interface Geriatrics)
     
  10. Stroke services include a 4 bedded HASU with 24/7 thrombolysis and 24 acute stroke beds plus an additional 28 stroke rehabilitation beds, daily rapid access TIA clinics and 3 times per week stroke follow up clinics
     
  11. Community continence nurse specialist sessions available to attend ad hoc
     
  12. Daily osteoporosis/bone health clinics with daily DEXA scanning

Hospice on site for in-patient and out-patient (Day Hospital) palliative care experience. Consultant led in-patient palliative care within the acute Trust as well as nurse led palliative care services and acute oncology services

Subspecialty opportunities

  Orthogeriatrics including falls and bone health

  Care of the emergency older surgical patient

   Frailty/Interface Geriatrics

   Intermediate care/Rehabilitation

   Community Geriatrics

Commuting Information

Travel Information

  • Nearest rail station is Basildon (36 minutes from Fenchurch street,London )
  • The hospital is a 15 minute walk from the station (uphill).
  • Buses 21 and 100, stop at Basildon Town Centre bus station, (across the road from the rail station). Both buses stop within the grounds of the hospital
  • Multi-story Car parking available. Staff parking charge approx. £30/month

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click Here to visit their website

Bedford

Description of Geriatric Service

Bedford is a DGH with ~300 beds. There are two core geriatric wards each with 26 patients. There are two teams, one for each ward. There are no outliers. The SpR role is to do 2 Spr led ward rounds a week and to support juniors and ward round when the consultant is not present and attend clinic.

There are three Geriatric clinics per week. One focusses on anaemia in the elderly whilst the other two focus on general Geriatric patients. This is a great way to not only gain clinic experience but also to sign off both GIM and geriatric competencies on the curriculum.

There is a board round everyday with 2 MDTs a week.

Other opportunities available are:

  1. Urodynamic clinics 
  2. Parkinson’s disease nurse led clinic 

Clinical Lead

Dr Kamal

Educational Lead

Dr Azhar

On call GIM commitment

1 in 11 rolling rota covering AMU for nights, longs day weekdays, long day weekends.

On call commitment for elderly care

No DME on call commitments

Strengths of the Post

  1. Great DME clinic experience
  2. Gain a lot of experience and autonomy on the ward whilst having consultants available to support you when/if needed.
  3. Geriatric consultants very keen on teaching and very supportive in terms of e-portfolio. Easy to get assessments done and achievable to get GIM curriculum assessments done through the clinics and on call commitments.
  4. Bedford is a DGH so one of the strengths is the GIM experience you gain. As the Spr, you cover nights, weekends and see ward referrals, you are also on the cardiac arrest team.
  5. Very friendly hospital to work in.

Learning Opportunities

 

  1. General Geriatric clinics, movement disorder clinics and urodynamic clinics available.
  2. Wide range of presentations on the acute take
  3. Weekly acute medicine teaching
  4. Weekly grand round

Subspecialty opportunities

Opportunities to gain subspecialty experience in the aforementioned areas of the curriculum.

Click Here to visit their website

 

Broomfield Hospital - Chelmsford

Description of Geriatric Service

Large department with 11 Geriatricians (including 1x full time community-based geriatrician) covering 124 inpatient older person’s beds. This includes a standalone Frailty Unit with ambulatory area and 4 inpatient wards. There is also a 25 bedded stroke unit providing 24/7 thrombolysis and 7 day TIA clinic

Clinical Lead

Yoganathan Suthahar

Educational Lead

Charlie Mukherjee

On call commitment for GIM

1 in 16 rolling rota covering acute unselected medical take, wards and speciality referrals (surgery, O&G, plastics). Includes long days, evening shifts, weekends and nights.

On call commitment for elderly care

No formal elderly care on call but SpR can join Frailty team providing in-reach to Emergency Department.

Strengths of Post

Working with a dynamic group of consultants with varied subspecialty interests. Ability to access wide range of curriculum items depending on training requirements.

Opportunities to be involved in various service development projects.

Close links to Barts and Anglia Ruskin medical schools with chance to be involved in regular ongoing medical student teaching.

Learning Opportunities

Weekly departmental teaching programme and medical grand round

Monthly Departmental Governance meeting

Weekly MDTs (community, colorectal 2WW, dementia intensive support)

Fortnightly stroke imaging meetings

Subspecialty opportunities

Frailty – dedicated Frailty Unit with ambulatory beds and ED in-reach. Ongoing service development. (Dr Mukherjee)

 

Orthogeriatrics – in-reach/shared care model on Orthopaedic wards (Dr Suthahar & Dr Ishaque)

 

Community Geriatrics – regular or ad hoc sessions with community geriatrician (Dr Sharma)

 

Movement disorders – weekly outpatient clinic and regular inpatient reviews. (Dr Qureshi & Dr Sweeting)

 

Oncogeriatrics – innovative >80s colorectal 2WW, vague symptoms and anaemia pathways (Dr Suthahar)

 

Old Age Psychiatry – weekly MDT with dementia support service and liaison at local mental health unit. Placement at local Crystal Centre can also be organised. (Dr Costello & Dr McDowell)

 

Palliative Care – Placement at local Farleigh Hospice can be organised as well as attachment with Rapid Assessment and Discharge team. (Dr Gupta & Dr Sweeting)

 

Stroke & Stroke Rehab – rotation on inpatient Stroke Unit can be organised as well as attachment for community stroke rehabilitation. (Dr Kirthivasan & Dr Sharma)

 

Surgical Liaison – in-reach/liaison model currently in place.

 

Continence – ad hoc urodynamics and incontinence clinics (Mr Fiadjoe and Continence CNS)

 

Tissue Viability – Broomfield Hospital is a tertiary centre for Burns and Plastics. Attachment and ad hoc sessions with Tissue Viability Nurses can be organised as well as ad hoc clinics with plastic surgeons.

 

Nutrition – ad hoc sessions with Nutrition CNS can be organised.

 

Mortality and medical examiner – ad hoc sessions (Dr Ewins or Dr Ishaque)

 

Linked Trusts and Commuting Information

Basildon

22 miles, approx. 30-40 mins by car

Southend

23 miles, approx. 40-45mins by car

Colchester

26 miles, approx. 30-40 mins by car

Addenbrookes

41 miles, approx. 1 hour – 1 hour 15mins by car

Cambridge University Hospital
Main Site

Addenbrooke’s Hospital - Hills Road CB2 0QQ

Description of Geriatric Service

Approximately 150 inpatients– almost all inpatients are ward-based. 4 “Core” Care of the Elderly Wards, 1 Acute Frailty Unit. Registrars will rotate base wards every 4 months to ensure access to subspeciality training.

There are dedicated wards for acute stroke, stroke rehab and ortho geriatric wards that are covered by separate teams.

Clinical Lead

Dr Lelane Van Der Poel

Educational Lead

Dr Alistair Mackett, TPD Geriatric Medicine

On call GIM commitment

Approximately 6-8 weeks a year of contribution to the Acute GIM take encompassing varying shift times including weekends. Consists of 3 fortnightly blocks.

On call commitment for elderly care

Approximately 1 in 6 weekends

Strengths of the Post

A great opportunity for learning – diverse population, acute frailty unit is great for GIM and “acute DME” experience, consultant supervision and lots of opportunity for assessments and teaching. Weekly teaching meetings.

Opportunity to be the “Referral Registrar of the Week” including interface Geriatrics holding the RADAR phone providing specialist advice to GPs.

Weekly Feeding Issues MDT

Has consistently had the best GMC survey feedback in the region in recent years

Wide variety of subspecialty opportunities – see below

Learning Opportunities

Numerous and varied

Subspecialty opportunities

Opportunities for sub-specialty experience with the following consultants:

Movement disorders – Dr Forsyth, Dr Mackett,

Falls and community work – Dr Wilson

Surgical Liaison – Dr D’Souza, Dr Biram, Dr Pampali

Syncope, tilt tables – Dr Hampton, Dr Wilson, Dr Mackett

Medical education – Dr Mackett, Dr Pampali

Orthogeriatrics – Dr Vindlacheruvu, Dr Chileshe

Audits and research –  Dr Keevil

Incontinence – Miss Biers

Psychiatry of Old Age – Dr Thompson, Dr Price

Palliative Care – Dr Cartwright, Dr Ben Clark

Diabetic Foot Clinic – Dr Coll

Stroke – Dr O’Brien, Dr Warburton, Prof Markus

Linked Trusts and Commuting Information

Cambridge is 60 miles north of London and is easily accessible by road from major ports and airports. The CUH campus is on the southern fringe of Cambridge, about six kilometres from the city centre. The hospital is easily accessible by public transport. The hospital has its own bus station and numerous buses, including the guided bus, connect the site with the rest of Cambridge and the surrounding area. The railway station is an easy walk or short bus ride away. Cambridge is famous as a cycling town. There is easy access to the campus by bicycle and many cycle racks at entrances and other points. There is also car parking available on site.

By car: The campus is located just off J11 of the M11. Major trunk roads to the area are the M11, A11, A10 and A14. The A14 also links to the A1 providing excellent access to the Midlands and north of England. Parking is free on the Trumpington Park and Ride (1.5 mile cycle to CUH along the guided busway) or for £2.80/day on site.

By train or bus: Regular trains from London and other towns and cities (<1 hour journey time from London King’s Cross station on the Great Northern service)

Other linked Trusts have longer commutes

Click Here to visit their website

Colchester

Description of Geriatric Service

4 core COTE Wards (25-31 beds each), and 1 stroke unit (33 beds) which is covered by a separate stroke team.

Orthogeriatric cover is also provided to 2 orthopaedic wards.

6 Consultants

3 SpR posts + half-time cover from the Rheum SpR

Outpatients: multiple general geriatric clinics per week, plus TIA clinics.

The consultants also do outreach clinics in Clacton and Harwich but trainees do not attend.

Clinical Lead

Dr N Aftab

Educational Lead

Dr A Pillai

On call GIM commitment

1 in 13 full shift rota including weekend take, weekend ward cover, and nights. There are no twilight shifts.

Responsibility is for the medical take, as well as covering medical inpatients and taking referrals from other inpatient specialties. Some of the weekends are as the “patient safety SpR” covering unwell patients on the wards.

GIM is busy with a large take for the size of hospital, and one SpR overnight. However, acute and general medical consultants, and ITU are supportive.

On call commitment for elderly care

No formal elderly care on call

Strengths of the Post

  • Recent creation of frailty unit which should provide training/QIP opportunities
  • Good chance for GIM experience as sole SpR on unselected take
  • Supportive consultants
  • Friendly hospital undergoing a lot of change so opportunities for QIPs

Learning Opportunities

  • Proactive palliative care team keen to arrange shadowing and hospice experience
  • Tissue viability team available for shadowing
  • Inpatient psychiatry on same hospital site with opportunities for attachment, as well as liaison psych.
  • Weekly departmental teaching, journal club and grand round

Subspecialty opportunities

  • Opportunities for TIA clinic experience
  • Consultant with interest in movement disorders
  • Orthogeriatric experience with weekly ward rounds and reviews by SpR/Consultant
  • Surgical liaison

Commuting Information:

1h 15 minutes to Cambridge by car, 2.5 hours by public transport.

30 minutes to Chelmsford by car, or 20 minutes by train.

30 minutes to Ipswich by car, or 20 minutes by train.

1h to Southend by car, 2hrs by public transport

1h to Basildon by car, 1.5hrs by public transport

Further

Travel

Information

Train: Colchester is the nearest rail station, it is a 15min walk, or a few minute drive to the hospital. It is 55 minutes from London Liverpool street

Car Park: Staff parking available. This can be paid for per day or monthly depending on requirements. We are a short drive from junction

Cycling: Staffs Shower facilities are available within the children’s unit. Cycle parking and Lockers are available.

Bus: The bus services 8, 8a and 65 provide a 10-15 minute frequency service from the town centre and North Station to Colchester General Hospital, dropping off in Turner Road and picking up outside the hospital’s main entrance. There are many other bus services to the town centre from around and outside Colchester, which can be combined with the 8 and 65 to get to Colchester General Hospital.

Park & Ride: Since January 2017 Colchester Park and Ride buses heading from the site off Junction 28 of the A12 now serve the new stop along Northern Approach Road, outside the hospital.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click Here to visit their website

Hinchingbrooke Hospital - Huntingdon

Trust

Hinchingbrooke - North West Anglia - NHS Foundation Trust

DGH or Teaching?

DGH

Description of Geriatric Service

2 wards: Cherry – general geriatrics and orthogeriatrics (30 beds)

Apple – stroke rehabilitation and general geriatrics (25 beds)

Educational Lead

Dr Liz Ellis

On call GIM commitment

1 in 10 GIM rota

On call commitment for elderly care

No subspecialty specific on calls

Strengths of the Post

Friendly supportive environment in a small hospital. Lots of feedback from consultants, both in geriatrics and GIM.

Very manageable take size with lots of opportunities for general and acute medicine experience.

Registrars do not count towards ward staffing and so ward jobs should not interfere with clinic work.

Opportunities for audit/quality improvement work, particularly because the hospital is small and thus it is relatively easy to implement change.

Learning Opportunities

Orthogeriatrics, stroke rehabillitation, general geriatrics.

Flexibility to arrange other learning opportunities such as palliative care or with other medical specialities

Subspecialty opportunities

Orthogeriatrics including weekly bone health clinic

Stroke rehabilitation

Trainee comments

Friendly supportive environment both within geriatrics and within GIM.

Linked Trusts and Commuting Information

Huntingdon train station is a short walk away with direct trains to London Kings Cross (about 50 minutes) and Peterborough. Huntingdon is very accessible for those living near the A1 or Cambridge and if driving it is generally very easy to find a parking space.

Peterborough

Hinchingbrooke has now merged with Peterborough to become North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, but it is not expected that the registrar would cover both sites. Driving time Huntingdon to Peterborough is about half an hour.

Addenbrooke’s

The A14 is highly variable and currently undergoing major improvement. If traveling against the Cambridge bound traffic, it takes about 40 minutes to travel to Hinchingbrooke from Cambridge.

Click Here to visit their website

 

Ipswich

Clinical lead

Dr Dan Coates

Educational lead for SpRs

Dr Julie Brache

Description of Geriatric Services

Ipswich hospital is now part of East Suffolk North Essex Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) which includes Ipswich hospital, East Suffolk community services, Colchester hospital and North Essex community services. Trainees based at Ipswich will work in Ipswich hospital with the opportunity to do community geriatrics but will not be expected to work in Essex. Ipswich runs a general medical take system and has a needs based service with frail patients admitted to one of the 3 geriatric wards, we also have a dedicated stroke ward and orthogeriatric ward which is managed with T&O.

Registrars will be based on one of the geriatric wards and will rotate through the stroke ward. We are very fortunate that we can provide most aspects of subspecialty training and will be able to offer training in 4 of the new themed for service CiPs in the new curriculum (orthogeriatrics, community, movement disorders and stroke).

On call GIM commitments

Over a year approximately:

  • Approx. 9  blocks of nights (each block is 3 or 4 nights)
  • 5 day shift weekends – 2 or 3 on call shifts in row
  • 15 individual day on calls – 9am to 10pm​ 

On call commitment for elderly

Nil

Strengths of post

Training opportunities

We provide a wide experience in all aspects of geriatric medicine and tailor training to the individual’s interests and training needs when they start. 4 monthly rotations ensure exposure to all aspects of geriatrics.

Acute geriatrics

all our wards are dementia friendly designs, wards are as follows:

The Constable Suite – Grundisburgh and Haughley wards- 27 bedded wards for complex frail elderly.
Woodbridge ward – 27 bedded shorter stay complex frail patients

Kirton ward – 26 bedded stroke unit including hyperacute strokes, thrombolysis, 7 day TIA service (clinic). Opportunity for stroke clinic and teaching from therapy team.

Needham ward– 28 bedded Fragility Frailty Unit – jointly managed with T&O, supported by orthogeriatric junior and T&O juniors

 

Frailty Assessment Base (FAB) – our award winning Frailty unit provides same day Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment for admission avoidance and urgent CGA for prevention of deterioration and falls assessments. Staffed by a consultant, therapists, nurses, pharmacist and access to dietitian and social services/community services as needed. Close link with ED and Frailty Interface Team (senior nurses based in ED), staff shared with REACT admission avoidance service promoting true cross organisation working. Excellent clinic experience and opportunity to complete WBAs.

Tilt testing – weekly tilt lists and the opportunity to complete training requirements.

Community services

We have 3 whole time equivalent Interface geriatric posts. Experience and training is available in:

Community hospital inpatient management and MDT leadership at our 3 community hospitals: Blue Bird Lodge in Ipswich, Felixstowe Community Hospital and Aldeburgh Community Hospital.

Working with REACT – our admission avoidance service, the Care Home Liaison Team, opportunities to work with the community mental health and palliative care teams and osteoporosis teams.

Movement disorders

This service is covered by 4 of our consultants and 2 specialist nurses and provide the opportunity to train as a subspecialty interest

Stroke

There is the opportunity to spend 4 months on the stroke team, managing acute stroke, including thrombolysis, Hyperacute stroke unit, a strong MDT rehab service and neuroradiology specialist meetings.

Other Learning opportunities

Teaching

  • Monday lunchtime meeting – geriatrics
  • GIM teaching – a morning approx. 3 times a year
  • Grand round – Tuesday lunchtime
  • Audit meeting – monthly whole afternoon
  • M+M meeting – monthly Thursday
  • Opportunity to deliver teaching to medical students and foundation doctors

Managerial

  • Rota for geriatrics is completed by registrars supported by Dr Blows
  • Attend and contribute to weekly departmental business meetings
  • Opportunity to attend management meetings and divisional board if desired

Subspecialty opportunities

Acute Geriatrics

Community Geriatrics including rehabilitation

Movement disorders

Orthogeriatrics

Stroke

Tilt testing

Delirium

Frailty

Tissue viability

Nutrition

Psychogeriatrics

Surgical liaison

Palliative care

Trainee comments

Good place to be for geriatrics, lots of variety and opportunities in multiple areas of the curriculum (as seen above)

Excellent opportunities to experience a wide range of community facing services.

Very friendly and welcoming department with opportunity to train in all areas. Good movement disorders clinic exposure. Recent increase to 2 SpRs on all on calls meaning more shifts but less busy.

Commuting information

From Norwich

Train: approx 40 mins by train to Ipswich, then 20 mins on bus from train station to hospital (no 66, 800)

 

Car – 1 ½ hours

 

 

Website:

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (esneft.nhs.uk)

 

James Paget University Hospitals - Great Yarmouth

Description of Geriatric Service

JPUH is in the process of developing care of the elderly services with the recruitment of at least three new consultants. Still there are plenty of opportunities to get good training in various aspects of Geriatric Medicine.

Acute Geriatrics patients are mainly based on 32 bedded Ward 12 with multidisciplinary teams trained for care of elderly patients. There is a newly established frailty assessment unit that provides comprehensive geriatric Assessment for frail elderly during normal working hours and works like a day unit.

There is well established orthogeriatrics services with daily ward rounds.

Fracture Liaison Service is going to be up and running soon

There is DEXA Scan service at site and opportunity to learn if interested

James Paget University Hospital provides 24 hours stroke thrombolysis service with well-established HASU where patients are assessed twice daily by the consultants including the weekends.

There are options available to get a week’s attachment in psychogeriatric, palliative care and get experience in tissue viability

Clinical Lead

Dr M. Zaidi

Educational Lead

Dr D. Makkuni

On call GIM commitment

1 in 10 on call commitment.

Wide variety of cases seen on the front door which enable the trainee to practically tick the entire GIM curriculum.

CCU experience during on call.

Opportunity to liaise with HDU/ITU in the care of the acutely ill patient.

Experience in ambulatory care sharing rota with other SpR

Dedicated team of experienced Acute and General physician with keen interest in teaching and training

On call commitment for elderly care

No formal on call commitment for elderly care

Strengths of the Post

Extremely friendly hospital and all consultants are very approachable Great opportunity to develop skills in orthogeriatrics with twice weekly led consultant ward round.

Excellent stroke unit which gives the trainee exposure to thrombolysis and experience on HASU.

Daily TIA clinics with daily access to CT and MRI head and CTCA.

Access to CT Perfusion scans in office hours when this is clinically indicated.

Opportunity to do the Psychiatric and Palliative care attachment for a week.

General Medical Clinics in which patients above the age 18 can be seen.

Very easy to get all SLEs done.

Well established Simulation training centre run by Dr Green who is the lead for simulation for East of England

Twice weekly pleural clinic (Chest tube insertion) run by consultant chest physician

Learning Opportunities

Weekly teaching for different medical specialities - everyone welcome to attend.

Weekly Grand Rounds.

Very easy to get study leave for external events even at short notice!

Subspecialty opportunities

Orthogeriatrics

Frailty

Stroke

Trainee comments

“I have been enjoying the post.  Everyone is very supportive and understanding.  Easy and relatively quick commute form Norwich.  Study leave for external events is actively encouraged and it has been one the easiest post to get study leave approved".

Commuting Information

From Norwich via A47 around 40 mins

 

Lister Hospital

 

Description of Geriatric Service

Lister Hospital consists of two main 30 bed wards with a 24-bed frailty/acute geriatrics unit

  • Two core geriatric team
  • Orthogeriatrics team
  • Frailty Team

Normally we have 4 SpRs on the rotation

Clinical Lead

Catherine Rippingale

Educational Lead

Catherine Bond

On call GIM commitment

  • First on Call SpR (Medical Take) in a 2-3-2 block over two weeks. This occurs once every 24 weeks.
  • 2nd on SpR (Twilight ward cover) in a 2-3-2 block over two weeks. This occurs once every 24 weeks
  • Ambulatory Care Service SpR in a 4-3 block over two weeks. This occurs once every 24 weeks
  • 2 sets of 2-3-2 nights /24 weeks (one as first SpR and one as 2nd on)
  • One weekend in 24 weeks as a long day SpR and one weekend in 24 weeks as a short day SpR (8.30am - 5.30pm)

On call commitment for elderly care

  • Nil

Strengths of the Post

  • Good variation between ward, on call and clinics
  • Specialist exposure opportunities available
  • Plentiful ambulatory care opportunities
  • Friendly teams

Learning Opportunities

  • Weekly geriatrics team teaching
  • Grand rounds
  • Supportive of study time for training days, courses, etc

Our trust can also provide support to our trainees by our dedicated team of palliative care specialist nurses and a consultant as well as Psychogeriatrics  RAID (Rapid assessment and Interface discharge) team.

The frailty service also provide community sessions including support from National Vanguard project, GP with special interest in frailty and frailty specialist nurses. The trust also has a dedicated dementia specialist team.

The frailty service also provides community sessions including input to the MDT for the community frailty clinic run by GPs with special interest in frailty and frailty specialist therapists. The trust also has a dedicated dementia specialist nurse.

POPS service has now commenced with plans to expand whole hospital CGA model in future

Subspecialty opportunities

  • Frailty Team
  • Falls clinics
  • Heart Failure clinics
  • Movement disorder clinics
  • Orthogeriatrics
  • Complex needs clinics

Trainee comments

  • Well supported both geriatrics and GIM
  • Note that some clinics are off site

Linked Trusts and Commuting Information

  • Parking is an issue, can be difficult to get a space after 8am (normal working day is 08:30-17:30)

Addenbrooke’s

Approx. 45 minutes commute

Watford

 Approx. 45 minutes commute

Bedford

 Approx. 40 minutes commute

Additional departmental information
 
Name Secretary and contact details Sub specialty Clinics
Dr Catherine Rippingale

Jo Hannah    joanne.hannah1@nhs.net

01438 28 4007

Orthogeriatrics & Bone health/ Falls / Surgical Liasion/ Dementia General Geriatric / Orthogeriatric & Bone health
Dr Emma Lines

Jo Hannah    joanne.hannah1@nhs.net

01438 28 4007

Orthogeriatrics & Bone health/ Falls / Surgical liasion General Geriatric / Orthogeriatric & Bone health
Dr Shahid Khan Veronica Pereira  veronicapereira@nhs.net  01438 28 5425 Cardiovascular / Heart failure / training and education General Geriatric / Heart failure /Complex need MDT 
Dr Deepak Jain liz Smith   lizsmith@nhs.net              01438 28 5838 Falls / training and education General Geriatric / Heart failure / Falls
Dr Adil Zargar

Liz Smith  

lizsmith@nhs.net             

01438 28 5838

Falls  Falls / Complex need MDT/Audit lead
Dr Catherine Bond

Audra Gow   audra.gow1@nhs.net

01438 28 5839

Frailty & Interface Geriatrician One stop fraity clinic / Virtual community MDT/frailty hotline
Dr Richard Press

Audra Gow   audra.gow1@nhs.net

01438 28 5839

Frailty 

Frailty & Interface Geriatrician One stop fraity clinic / Virtual community MDT/frailty hotline

Dr Claire Grout

Audra Gow   audra.gow1@nhs.net

01438 28 5839

Frailty

Frailty & Interface Geriatrician One stop fraity clinic / Virtual community MDT/frailty hotline

Dr Swapna Reddy

Audra Gow   audra.gow1@nhs.net

01438 28 5839

Frailty

Frailty & Interface Geriatrician One stop fraity clinic / Virtual community MDT/frailty hotline

Dr Lucy-Anne Frank

Audra Gow   audra.gow1@nhs.net

01438 28 5839

Frailty

Frailty & Interface Geriatrician One stop fraity clinic / Virtual community MDT/frailty hotline

Click Here to visit their website

 

joanne.hannah1@nhs.net

01438 28 5839

Luton

Description of Geriatric Service

DME: 64 beds - 4 bedded bays in 2 wards purpose built for frail elderly with good space. Each ward has 8 single bedded side rooms, variable outliers projected as 150 beds including rehab beds and delayed discharge ward. 

The DME dept has 16 permanent Geriatric consultants and 4 locum consultants & 5 permanent Stroke consultants ( 5 of them are established MRCP examiners and 6 final MB examiners for UCLH)

Stroke: 40 beds include 8 stroke HDU beds

Clinical Lead

Clinical Director for DME - Dr Mohammed Didi

Clinical Director for Stroke Medicine – Dr Lakshmanan Sekaran

Educational Lead

Dr Susantha Wijayasiri

On calls 

Comprehensive geriatric Assessments during oncalls

Unselected on calls on a shift basis

Weekend on-calls only for Geriatric wards

Opportunities for on-call thrombolysis

Learning Opportunities

Daily lunch time teaching

Monday medical and DME educational meeting and patient safety meeting

Tuesday - Grand round includes Schwartz round every 3rd Tuesday

Wednesday – Radiology MDT

Thursday: every 1st Thursday Clinical governance , Every 2nd Thursday Mortality meeting, every 3rd Thursday DME Business meeting

Friday DME educational meeting

Research opportunities – to complete Consent training, GCP course and to become co-investigator in one of the ongoing clinical trials.

Opportunities to undertake QIA – dedicated time

Opportunities to shadow Managers and offer Trust wide improvement suggestions.

Opportunities to be part of teaching activities – teaching junior doctors, MRCP candidates, simulation course activities, observership to Final MB examinations & MRCP examinations, link up to University of Bedfordshire - pursue certificate/diploma/MSc in medical education

Subspecialty opportunities

CGA clinics,  PD clinics,  Falls & syncope clinics(including CSM & Tilt tests), frailty clinics, ambulatory clinics, TIA & Stroke clinics, Bone health clinics. 

Linked Trusts and Commuting Information

Travel Information

Train/Tube to Luton Railway Station, the Hospital is located a 10 minute car/taxi journey, 14–18 minute bus ride or 1 hour walk  away).

Bus:  Centre bus runs route number X31 between Luton Station/Town Centre and Flitwick, Toddington and Milton Keynes. It stops next to the hospital on Dunstable Road.

Car/Parking: Less than 5 minutes from M1 Junction 11. Staff car-parking is located at Faringdon Fields Car Park, off Calnwood Road and at the Breast Screening Car Park, off Lewsey Road. Both car parks are less than 5 minutes’ walk to the hospital. Current staff car-parking charge is £1.20 per day.

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals

Trust

Norwich and Norfolk

DGH or Teaching?

Teaching Hospital

Description of Geriatric Service

Roughly 200-250 inpatients under OPM (geriatrics). Dedicated movement disorders service, affiliated community hospitals.

Clinical Lead

Dr James Edwards

Educational Lead

Dr James Edwards

On call commitment for GIM

1 in 9 shifts on ‘Front Door’ clerking which offers lots of assessment and training opportunities. As for GIM, we contribute to a 1 in 14 nights working with 1-2 other Registrars covering either MAU or the wards.

On call commitment for elderly care

1 in 9 on calls evening shifts and weekends

Learning Opportunities

Teaching opportunities

Friday teaching slots - liaise with Sharon Foster (sharon.foster@nnuh.nhs.uk) or speak to the SpR is collating the rota.

Med student teaching: Contact Laura.Hancock@nnuh.nhs.uk or Lesley.Bowker@nnuh.nhs.uk

Audit

Speak to Chris Ratcliff (chris.ratcliff@nnuh.nhs.uk) or Dr Bailey (RebeccaM.Wiseman2@nnuh.nhs.uk) to get added to the agenda of the monthly clinical governance.

Lesson of the Week: Opportunity to write about a management or system point. Forward to Rebecca Wiseman or Chris Ratcliff for publication via email

Community Audit - you will be asked to do a community audit by the current PYA external assessor so do one ASAP. Vanessa Hansell is the service lead for CLT (vanessa.hansell@norfolk.gov.uk) (based in old NANIME) and is a good starting point for data. They can take a while to get data however so leave ample time.

Managerial

Large numbers of committees to sit on - ask around.

For example:

  • M+M committee (2/12ly  - Dr Schweigart/Dr Lee)
  • Safeguarding committee (2/12ly  - Dr James Edwards)
  • Acute Frailty Network (monthly) (Dr Sarah Bailey),
  • Ageing LSG Research Meetings (Dr Martyn Patel)
  • Hospital Clinical governance (monthly) (Dr Rebecca Wiseman )
  • Resus / DNAR Committee (Dr Susan Lee, Amanda Dalcassian)

Also Sam Higginson’s Viewpoint every month is informative / essential if you’re approaching consultant interview time

Subspecialty opportunities

Old-Age Psychiatry

Yasir : (Yasir.Hameed@nsft.nhs.uk):  Consultant Old-Age Psychiatrist based at Julian Hospital - does memory clinics and home visits, two clinics a week: get in early!

Edward Sobieraj: (edward.sobieraj@nnuh.nhs.uk): MHLN - very approachable, good first port of call for pure old age experience

Tanya Rimmer: (tanya.rimmer@nnuh.nhs.uk): Lead for Mental Health - good first contact for non-old age psych e.g. sectioning, depression, drug abuse

Ask Dr Clark (SARAH.CLARK@nnuh.nhs.uk) if you can get involved in Memory Matters reviews and the National Dementia audit.

Osteoporosis Clinics: Dr Gaffney (karl.gaffney@nnuh.nhs.uk)

Continence

Kingfisher Clinic 01603 272772 / 272669 or Karen Whitehouse (karen.whitehouse@nchc.nhs.uk)

Mr Speakman (chris.speakman@nnuh.nhs.uk) faecal incontinence investigations in the Norfolk Investigation Unit -

TVN

Lisa Sutherland (Lisa.Sutherland2@nnuh.nhs.uk): Lead TVN

Neola Palmer (Neola.Palmer@nnuh.nhs.uk). TVN

Diabetic Foot Rounds: Dr Dhatariya (ketan.dhatariya@nnuh.nhs.uk) consultant diabetologist: Currently Wednesday Mornings

Urology / Urogynae

Miss Doherty (ruth.doherty@nnuh.nhs.uk) (Consultant Urologists). Clinics Monday. Their secretary is currently angela.copping@nnuh.nhs.uk.

Mr Giarenis (Lead Urogynae Consultant). Clinic Wednesday AM. His secretary is currently ann.starkings@nnuh.nhs.uk)

Urodynamics Nurse Specialist: Jane Bunyan (jane.bunyan@nnuh.nhs.uk): Based in Norfolk Investigation Unit

Tilt tables

Chief Cardiac Physiologists: Angela A Ewing (angelaa.ewing@nnuh.nhs.uk)  and liaise with Dr Sarah Clark (sarah.clark@nnuh.nhs.uk)

Movement Disorders

Lots of clinics depending on space

Dr Niruban (alagaratnam.niruban@nnuh.nhs.uk)

Fiona Reading (fionah.reading@nnuh.nhs.uk) Lead PD Nurse

Community Practice

Dr Rallan (ruth.rallan@nnuh.nhs.uk) is split between NNUH and community so is a great source of community ward rounds, nursing home MDTs and home visits

The community units are covered by the following (currently):

Dereham Hospital - Alice Schweigart (alice.schweigart@nnuh.nhs.uk)

Ogden Court - Martyn Patel

 Palliative Care

Palliative Care course /PBL placement - usually well-advertised in advance but if needing information,  Dr Katie Carpenter: Consultant Palliative Care (Katie.carpenter@nnuh.nhs.uk) can help.

Other helpful contacts:

Dr Wilkins (Philip.wilkins@nnuh.nhs.uk) - consultant palliative care - interest in pain control

Julie Noble (julie.noble@nnuh.nhs.uk) - lead nurse specialist palliative care

Anna Farrar (anna.farrar@nnuh.nhs.uk) - specialist palliative care nurse - interest in breathlessness / clinics

 

Nutrition

Lead consultant is Prof Forbes (alastair.forbes@uea.ac.uk) but often more helpful to contact Ben Booth (ben.booth@nnuh.nhs.uk) or Donna Wainman (Donna.Wainman@nnuh.nhs.uk) one of the nutrition nurse specialists. Twice weekly ward rounds

Frailty

Front door weeks provide ample opportunity for frailty / general assessments but there is a daily frailty consultant and the daily triage rounds provide good opportunity for “consultant style experience”  if needed

Linked Trusts and Commuting Information

James Paget Hospital, Great Yarmouth

Approximately 45 minutes by car.

Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kings Lynn

Approximately 1 hour by car.

Ipswich General Hospital

Approximately 90 minutes by car.

West Suffolk Hospital

Approximately 70 minutes by car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click Here to visit their website.

Peterborough

Description of Geriatric Service

Number of beds, wards, arrangements for consults etc

There are 4 Geriatric wards in PCH including Stroke, and one Frailty assessment unit. There are about 32 beds in each of the Geriatric wards except on ward which is shared with the Endocrine specialty.The frailty unit is made up of about 12 beds.

Educational Lead

Dr Sunku Guptha

On call GIM commitment

1: 6. That is Sets of night shifts ever 2 to 3 weeks and a weekend day shifts every 2 to 3 months. Ideally 2 Medical registrars on call at night. Cover both GIM and Elderly care in ED Resus, MAU and the wards.

On call commitment for elderly care

As above.

Strengths of the Post

Good and feasible opportunity to do the sub – specialty placements and also DOPS. Nice and supportive consultants.

Learning Opportunities

Plenty and you will be overwhelmed! Weekly teachings stretching throughout the week and with opportunities to present at the General medical and clinical governance meetings. Easy to organise study leave except if you are on call.

Subspecialty opportunities

Opportunities are available for all sub specialties experience.

Trainee comments

"I am enjoying the training aspect of it. I have been able to gain experiences in different sub specialties with ease and maximum support. It is a very busy hospital though with frequent night on calls."

Linked Trusts and Commuting Information (generally linked to Hinchingbrooke and Addenbrooke's)

Hinchinbrooke

Hinchingbrooke is now merged with Peterborough and Stamford hospital known as North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust.

Click Here to visit their website

 

Princess Alexandra Hospital – Harlow

Description of Geriatric Service

2 general wards, end of life and dementia ward, frailty unit and fractured neck of femur unit.

Clinical Lead

Dr Kapila Gunasekera

Educational Lead

Dr Ainkaran Muthiah

On call GIM commitment

On call GIM 1:10 non-selected take

On call commitment for elderly care

No separate geriatric on call

Strengths of the Post

Very well supported by keen team of geriatricians

Learning Opportunities

Orthogeriatrics (Dr Jane Snook); Frailty (Dr Qasim Shah); Palliative care; Very good links to psychogeriatrics

Trainee comments

Trainees generally report good experience

Commuting Information

Travel by car or rail from London Liverpool Street - around 50 minutes approx

Click Here to visit their website

 

King's Lynn

Trust

Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust

DGH or Teaching?

DGH

Description of Geriatric Service

Frailty in-reach (AMU)

Rotational consultant

Rachel Burridge (Consultant Nurse in Frailty)

Rowan Davies (Physician Associate in Frailty)

Windsor ward (Acute frailty) 33 beds

Dr James Casson (CCT Geriatric medicine/GIM)

Dr Harriet Nash (CCT Geriatric medicine/GIM)

Dr Mathew Gilbert (CCT Geriatric medicine/GIM)

West Newton ward (Complex frailty/Dementia) 28 beds

Dr Katie Honney (CCT Geriatric medicine/GIM)

Dr Fiona Macmillan (CCT Geriatric medicine/GIM)

West Raynham ward (Stroke unit) 29 beds

Dr Raj Shekhar (CCT Geriatric medicine/Stroke/GIM)

Dr James Phillips (CCT Geriatric medicine /GIM)

Dr Umesh Rai (CCT Geriatric medicine/Stroke/GIM)

Dr Leslie Mtariswa (CCT Acute medicine/Stroke/GIM)

Gayton ward (Orthogeriatrics)

Dr Pradip Sarda (CCT Geriatric medicine/GIM)

Clinical Lead

Dr James Casson

Educational Lead

Dr James Casson

On call GIM commitment

Weekdays on call

AMU on call Monday-Friday 8.30-21.00 (1 in 21)

Ward cover on call Monday-Friday 17:00-21.00 (1 in 21)

H@N Monday-Thursday 20.30-9.00 (1 in 21)

Weekends on call

H@N Friday-Sunday 20.30-9.00 (1 in 21)

AMU on call Saturday-Sunday 8.30-21.00 (1 in 21)

Ward cover on call Saturday-Sunday 8.30-21.00 (1 in 21)

On call commitment for elderly care

As above.

Strengths of the Post

QEHKL has 5 consultant geriatricians who have come through the East of England training programme within the last 5 years.

The department had the highest overall satisfaction rating (91.17%) for Geriatric medicine within the deanery in the 2017 and 2018 GMC National Training Survey.

Regional study days are pre-booked into rota and do not require study leave application.

Learning Opportunities

QEHKL has excellent opportunities in both Geriatrics and General Internal Medicine. We have recently developed a comprehensive training curriculum for geriatric medicine with the input from previous trainees at the trust. 

Subspecialty opportunities

Frailty

QEHKL is part of the acute frailty network. We have a dedicated acute frailty unit with direct admissions of appropriate frail patients from ED and other acute areas. We provide daily in-reach to the acute medical unit for all frail patients >75 years old.

Movement disorders

We have visiting neurologists from Addenbrooke’s who are happy for trainees to join their weekly movement disorder clinics. We also support flexible professional leave for those that wish to visit specialist centres for an attachment.

Falls and syncope

There is a falls and bone health clinic with Dr Sarda. Dr Casson, Dr Honney, Dr Nash and Dr Gilbert also run weekly frailty clinics which trainees are encouraged to join. We support professional leave to attend tilt table testing at other trusts.

Orthogeriatrics

We have a dedicated orthogeriatric service led by Dr Sarda on Gayton ward. Trainees can be involved in pre-operative assessment and leading MDT meetings. There are also opportunities to join rheumatology led osteoporosis clinics.

Continence

We have previously funded trainees to attend a dedicated national continence conference.  There is an urodynamics clinic that trainees are encouraged to attend. We also support sessions with specialist nurses in the community continence clinics.

Dementia and Psychogeriatric services

Dr Honney is the dementia lead for the trust. Trainees can attend the specialist memory clinic run by consultant psychiatrist Dr Mohammad Mazharuddin at Chatterton House.

Attachments can be arranged with the liason old age psychiatry service.

Community and interface

There are weekly ward rounds and MDTs at two local community hospitals (Swaffham community hospital covered by Dr Casson and North Cambs hospital covered by Dr Honney.)

There is a ‘silver phone’ held by consultants daily for communication with local GPs, paramedics and community matrons and access to a rapid access frailty clinic.

Stroke

West Raynham stroke unit has an A rating from the RCP. There are opportunities to be involved in all aspects of stroke care, acute thrombolysis, TIA clinics and the vascular MDT at Addenbrooke’s.

Palliative care

We encourage attachments with a local Hospice, Tapping house and our specialist palliative care team. Dr Nash has 2 sessions a week dedicated to palliative care which trainees are encourage to join.

Nutrition

There is a weekly gastroenterology led MDT nutrition ward round reviewing complex feeding decisions, PEG and TPN. This has had excellent feedback from previous trainees.

Tissue viability

There is a 2 day attachment with specialist tissue viability nurses, podiatry clinic and visiting plastic surgeons arranged in house.

Trainee comments

“This rotation has everything a Trainee can dream of starting from supportive Consultants and Supervisors , ample opportunities for clinics, Quality improvement projects , community services and personal/professional development days. There are multiple scopes of getting procedural competencies signed off as Consultants are flexible with daily work schedule . Highly recommended.”- Dr. Asif Mahmood ST4

Linked Trusts and Commuting Information (information from google maps)

General Travel Information

Train: King’s Lynn Railway Station is served by regular services to London King’s Cross via Cambridge (but note it is not possible to travel by train on Sundays due to current timetable)

Walk: The hospital is a 30-40 minute walk from the centre of town near the railway station.

Cycling: ID-badge secured partially covered cycle parking available. 10-20 minute cycle from railway station.

Buses: See ‘Stagecoach in Norfolk’ website for route planner. FirstGroup X1 serves King’s Lynn bus station from Peterborough and Norwich/Great Yarmouth.

Driving: Large open air park; very reasonable charges and salary sacrifice scheme available for staff parking.

Norfolk and Norwich

 41 miles (56 minutes)

James Paget Hospital, Great Yarmouth

 55 miles (1 hour 29 minutes)

West Suffolk Hospital

 38 miles (1 hour 12 minutes)

 

Southend University Hospital

 

Description of Geriatric Service

Our core work is the 12 bedded ambulatory frailty assessment unit and two DME wards (a 34 bed and 24 bed). The frailty assessment unit has continuous senior presence and the two base wards have two consultants per ward.   Registrars will rotate base wards every 4 months to ensure access to subspecialty training.

Clinical Lead

Dr Leila Bafadhel and Dr John Whitear

Educational Lead

Dr Myuran Kaneshamoorthy

On call commitment for elderly care

No elderly care specific on call

On call commitment for GIM

GIM on-call is a 3 month rolling rota during which time you do 1 week of weekday nights, 1 set of weekend nights, 1 set of twilights,  1 set of evening ward cover and 1 set of weekend Lead SpR day shifts.

Day shifts have a long day SpR who is mainly responsible for A&E/GP referrals. There is a Twilight Clerking SpR which starts at 4pm and a Ward SpR who starts at 5pm to help the wards out of hours.

There is a friendly and helpful group of Consultants who will do their best to give you some time if you ask for it. A&E referrals at Southend are usually taken by the IMT.

Learning Opportunities

Curriculum Training

Trainees can expect to attend regular continence clinics aligned to a Consultant Urologist, old age psychiatry regular clinics aligned to a Consultant Psychiatrist and Stroke Clinics aligned to a Consultant Stroke Physician. They also can regularly attend Neurology clinic aligned to a Consultant Neurologist.

We also expect trainees to undertake a two week Palliative care attachment, a two week stroke care and Community Geriatrics for two weeks aligned to senior rehabilitation allied health professionals.

The trainees can organise sessions with TVN and SALT on an ad hoc basis.

 

Teaching Opportunities

Weekly Grand Round

Weekly Hot Cases

Weekly Departmental Teaching

Weekly Journal Club

University links to Barts Hospital in London and Anglia Ruskin Medical School.

Subspecialty opportunities

  1. Falls – Tilt Table, Falls Clinic
  2. Community Geriatrics
  3. Stroke
  4. Dementia – Memory Clinics
  5. Perioperative Medicine -  Joint pre-operative Assessment Clinics and Surgical Referrals (Including NELA reviews)
  6. Urinary Incontinence
  7. Old Age Psychiatry
  8. Palliative Care

Trainee Comments

“DME training is now very well supported with daily opportunities to attend curriculum activities as well as 2 week secondments to Palliative Care, Community care and Stroke Medicine. Lead Consultants very supportive of trainees. Training days are now very easy to get SL for. Very friendly department with adequate junior staffing on the wards.

In terms of commuting: There is hospital accommodation at Balmoral Road which is about 20 minute walk to the hospital or 5 minute drive. There is a shuttle bus that takes residents to work in the morning and back again some time shortly after 5pm but there are only one or two trips each way at slightly awkward times. Otherwise there is parking in the multi-storey car park but permits are difficult to get so contact them a good few months in advance of starting. Once you have a permit you can park in there for about £1 per day. Otherwise there is free roadside parking 5 minutes’ walk from the hospital (availability is variable). A number of local buses run to the hospital some of which stop at nearby stations. There are several stations locally but they are not really in walking distance to the hospital so require bus or taxi.”

-Previous ST4 Registrar

Linked Trusts and Commuting Information

Basildon

Approximately 30 minutes by car

Chelmsford

Approximately 40-45 minutes by car

Harlow

Approximately 90 minutes - 2 hours by car

Colchester

Approximately 1 hour by car, 2 hours by train

 

Please Click Here to visit their website.

 

Watford

West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust                

  • Watford General Hospital: Main “hot” site for the trust with A&E, emergency and elective inpatients.  Rebuild planned in the next few years 
  • St Albans City Hospital/Hemel Hempstead Hospital: “Cold” sites with some outpatient clinics, rehab ward 

  

  • A large and varied department with 14 FTE consultants with different subspeciality interests, and offering multiple learning opportunities including: 
  • Stroke – Dr Adesina, Dr Bhandari, Dr Haji-Coll

     

    • A renowned Hyperacute and Acute stroke unit with 24 hour/day thrombolysis (out of hours via telemedicine). 
    • Daily TIA/stroke prevention clinics 

  

  • Dementia/delirium – Dr Cooray

     

    • “Dual Frailty Ward” – Bluebell Ward, with joint input from a consultant geriatrician and consultant psychiatrist 
    • Delirium Recovery Pathway – an award-winning pathway developed to improve people’s function and cognition at home rather than in hospital. 
    • Access to the hospital MHLT team, with a specialist older adults’ psychiatric consultant. 

  

  • Orthogeriatrics, bone health and falls – Dr Thangaraj 
    • Perioperative medicine 
    • Falls assessments 
    • Falls and bone health clinics 
    • Orthogeriatrics team for patients with hip fractures, and other appropriate elderly patients 

  

  • Frailty/front door geriatrics – Dr Cooray

     

    • New frailty unit, offering comprehensive geriatric assessments to frail elderly patients presenting in crisis (via A&E) 
    • Development of community working to prevent crises and A&E attendances 

  

  • Parkinsons/Movement disorders – Dr Rizvi

     

    • Clinics twice weekly 
    • Parkinson’s specialist nurse and consultant input for inpatients 

  

  • Continence

     

    • Twice weekly nurse led clinics 
  •   
  • General geriatrics wards – Dr Debrah, Dr Alam, Dr Mir, Dr Ranjith, Dr Ekanayake, Dr Martinez 

  

  • Clinic experience

     

    • Rapid access 
    • Specialist clinics as mentioned above 

Clinical Lead:      Dr Michael Haji-Coll 

On call (GIM) commitment: 

  • Watford is a busy DGH with a 24 hour take of 60-100 patients. 
  • Two medical registrars at night, one during the day. 
  • Good support from consultants with continuous reviews of admissions. 
  • Stroke thrombolysis 24 hours (via telemedicine out of hours) 
  • 24 hour NIV consultant support. 
  • CCU with on call cardiology consultant/liaison with tertiary centres. 
  • Good links with HDU/ITU. 
  • Wide variety of cases seen. 

  

Geriatric on call commitment: 

  • Separate COE post take-ward rounds. 
  • Referrals rota for specialist input on general medical, and other speciality wards. 

  

Learning opportunities 

  • Weekly COE education sessions, with encouragement to participate and present. 
  • Monthly Clinical governance sessions 
  • Encouragement to participate in QIP and audit 
  • Weekly grand round 

  

Strengths of post 

  • Multiple subspeciality opportunities 
  • Friendly, encouraging department 
  • Ability to attend other speciality clinics (eg pleural clinics, rheumatology clinics, elective cardioversion clinic for DOPS etc) 
  • Encouragement from consultants to develop with Dr Cooray meeting regularly with trainees for portfolio review 
  • Award winning stroke service. 
  •   

Commuting information 

  • M1 Junction 5, easily commutable from London. 
  • Significantly better road link since a new road has been built accessing the hospital. 
  • Metropolitan line station 20 minute walk from WGH. 
  • Overground station 15 minute walk from WGH. 
  • Watford  Junction station 20 minute walk, with good transport links countrywide. 
  • Buses stop outside the hospital (numbers 10, 320 and 324). 
  • Next to Watford Football Club. 
  • 15 minute walk from Watford Town Centre. 

 

West Suffolk Hospital - Bury St Edmunds

Description of Geriatric Service

G8 integrated stroke unit: 32 beds for hyperacute, acute and rehab stroke patients. Beds are split between 3 consultants. SpR role to support juniors, WR when consultant not present, on call for thrombolysis when SAS doctor away and stroke follow up and TIA clinics weekly.

G4 care of the elderly/general medicine: 12 beds which form the “Acute Frailty Unit” and 10 beds for long and short stay general medical patients - usually under care of the elderly. SpR Role to support juniors, WR when consultants not available and undertaking CGA on the frailty unit.

F3 orthogeriatrics: Dr Suresh is the orthogeriatric lead. He does a WR on F3 twice a week and the G4 SpR will review all new admissions and offer their support to the F3 juniors daily. Dr Suresh has a weekly clinic which is a mix of bone health and general CoE.

Clinical Lead

 Dr Suresh Monaraj/Dr Abdul Azim

Educational Lead

Dr Abdul Azim

On call GIM commitment

1 in 13 rolling rota (condensed into 1 in 9 with blank weeks) covering AMU for nights, longs day weekdays, long day weekends and short day weekends.

On call commitment for elderly care

No formal on call for elderly care

Strengths of the Post

One of the friendliest hospitals in the region!

Excellent experience in Stroke medicine.

Easy to get WBA done

Easy to tackle GIM curriculum

Learning Opportunities

Neurologist with interest in movement disorders keen to help with clinic attachments

There is a urogynae clinic weekly that you can arrange to attend

There are weekly journal clubs and grand round teaching

CCU experience with GIM on calls

Subspecialty opportunities

Stroke and orthogeriatrics covered by core attachments

Good links with palliative medicine with a hospice on site

Trainee comments

The unselected medical take is probably the least onerous in the region. During the long days there is at least one and usually several consultants in AMU for support advice and feedback. The handover in the morning is a good opportunity to learn from the admissions of the night before, without needing to stay late into the day for the PTWR!

Linked Trusts and Commuting Information

Addenbrooke’s

 34 miles/40 minutes

Ipswich

 24 miles/ 45 minutes

 

Basing yourself in Cambridge for these 3 hospitals makes sense

Norwich

 35 miles/1 hour

King’s Lynn

 38 miles/1 hour 15 minutes

 

Basing yourself in Norwich for these 3 hospitals makes sense

Please Click Here to visit their website

Wednesday, 21 November, 2018
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