Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Emergency Medicine

This post is an amazing opportunity for candidates to work in a well-supported and aspirational Emergency Department which has a strong focus on education and training. The job will take place in the Royal Berkshire Hospital Emergency Department which is the highest ranked trust for education in the deanery, having been recognised by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) and the GMC as having an ‘Excellent’ rating for education for the last 9 years running. In 2019 – we achieved the status of an ‘Academic’ department and become formally affiliated with the University of Reading.

The objective of the post is to provide motivated candidates with the opportunity to further their experience and skills by providing a highly supportive learning environment and the same supervision and guidance received by trainees.

The post will have a consultant supervisor who will guide the candidate and support them to carry out clinical governance activities that support their medical education role.

The RBH is a busy district general hospital serving a population of 900,000 and our ED sees excess of 140,000 patients a year with 25% of these being under 16 years old. We are a trauma unit operating within the Thames Valley Trauma Network. We have a 24hr cardiac catheterisation service and also run a 24hr stroke thrombolysis service.

Emergency Medicine is at the heart of the hospital’s emergency care pathway and provides innovative and high quality care for patients from the moment they arrive at the hospital. It is a consultant led service with consultants providing leadership and patient care on the ‘shop floor’ 08:00-00:00 7 days a week. There is a strong commitment to ensure the ED is appropriately resourced to deliver high quality and timely emergency care. The trust has been and continues to be very supportive of the developments that are taking place to address the pressures resulting from increased emergency admissions and a greater acuity of cases which present.

You will join a team of ED doctors on the resident doctor/SHO tier. You will have the opportunity to manage a wide range of presentations in all age groups including children. You will be strongly supported through this by consultant and middle grade presence. We have 24 hour middle grade cover, and night shifts are staffed by at least 6 doctors.

Intensive Care Medicine

The Royal Berkshire ICU has 25 beds with over 1000 admissions per year. Our consultants work a weekly rota that now includes a two consultants on duty during the day and a third consultant for extra supervision and teaching of our trainees and medical students on Tuesdays. The 16 trainees attached to the unit work a full time rota, with two on at night. We also train 4 trainee advanced critical care practitioners (tACCPs). The unit has a progressive approach to educational supervision with a bespoke local training programme mapped to the ICU curriculum and adapted for students and trainees of all levels and experience. Teaching session include the use of in situ simulation to enhance experiential learning and foster teamwork.

Approximately 60% of admissions are medical casework. The remainder largely comprising post-operative emergency surgical. We also care for patients following major urological, gastrointestinal and orthopaedic procedures. Annually there are approximately 120 paediatric intubations and stabilisations prior to retrieval to Southampton or Oxford PICU’s (via SORT Network).

This ICU is both research and teaching orientated with a variety of ongoing research projects, both national multi-centre and local and the unit was a significant contributor to trials such as RECOVERY and REMAP-CAP. A powerful clinical information system, research nurses and a data manager support the ICU.

Reading also has expertise beyond the traditional boundaries of Intensive Care. The follow-up clinic is the second oldest in the UK and there is a 24/7 outreach service who reviewed in the region of 1000 patients per month. A centrally funded bereavement expert co-ordinates relative follow-up, organ donation and staff pastoral care.