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Job overview

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain's leading healthcare providers. Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.

Barts Health NHS Trust is home to the Physician Response Unit (PRU) which was launched in 2002 with the aim to deliver safe, effective and patient-centric care in North East London by bringing the Emergency Department to the community. For 20 years the PRU has promoted a shared decision-making model which empowers patients and facilitates clinicians to identify the right care, in the right place, at the right time. In doing so, it provides definitive clinical assessment, often in patients’ own homes, delivering emergency care which is holistic and accurately matches patients’ needs. This service is delivered through the tripartite relationship between Barts Health NHS Trust, London Ambulance Service (LAS) and London’s Air Ambulance Charity. 

Main duties of the job

The clinical focus of the PRU is to ‘take the Emergency Department to the patient’, providing high quality care for patients where they need it. It attends a broad range of clinical presentations including illness and injury in adults and children, and where possible enables diagnosis and treatment of patients in the community without the need for subsequent ED attendance or hospital admission. The car is equipped with a range of diagnostic equipment and treatments enabling many conditions to be managed in the community. The service works closely with London Ambulance Service and community health providers to ensure that high quality care and patient experience are prioritised. 

The PRU recently expanded its operational hours to 08.00 – 22.00 7 days a week, and from August, this will be provided by two PRU teams across Waltham Forest, Newham and Tower Hamlets alongside the REACH service (08.00 – 20.00). Since this redevelopment the PRU has demonstrated high impact for patients, with excellent patient experience, and a high proportion of emergency patients being managed in the community to their benefit. The service has attracted national attention as an innovative and effective model of emergency care, and has been shortlisted for several national awards including BMJ Emergency Team of the Year and the HSJ Improvement in Emergency & Urgent Care award. 

Working for our organisation

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers.  

The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.  

Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.  

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.