Consultant in Palliative Medicine

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust is looking to appoint a dynamic, innovative, flexible and forward-thinking consultant colleague with a particular interest in hospital based palliative care. The successful applicant will join existing consultants based in Torbay; Dr George Walker, Dr Sarah Human and Dr Fay Murray-Brown. The Torbay and South Devon Specialist Palliative Care Service is delivered by 2 providers; Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust and Rowcroft Hospice. Although not formally integrated, the 2 organisations aim to provide a seamless service for patients; the cornerstone of this provision is a combined medical consultant team, covering acute, community and hospice inpatient facilities. This post is based with the Hospital Palliative Care Team at Torbay Hospital.

The postholder will join the Hospital Palliative Care Team (HPCT) based on the Torbay hospital site. The team forms an integral component of both the Cancer Support Team and the Torbay and South Devon Specialist Palliative Care Service.

The HPCT provides a specialist palliative care service in the acute setting from 0900 to 1700 six days a week. This is a liaison service, working with teams throughout the hospital to provide support, expert advice and guidance for the care of patients requiring palliative and end of life (EOL) care. The service receives an average of 124 new referrals per month, 48% of patients with cancer and 52% with non-cancer diagnoses. In addition to direct patient care, the team has a key role in education and leadership to enhance a palliative care approach for all patients by all staff.

Current direct clinical medical input to the HPCT is provided by Dr Sykes (0.4 WTE), Dr Murray-Brown (0.6wte) and Dr Helen Kimble (0.6wte); these figures exclude on call commitment for the whole service. Dr Sarah Human and Dr George Walker provide additional clinical support when cover required. The post is being created to replace the hours of Dr Sykes. A Specialist Registrar may be placed with the Hospital Team depending on training needs.

There are close working relationships with oncology and haematology services as well as the wider cancer support team including psychology, dietetics, speech and language services and chaplaincy.

Why Work With Us

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust is an Integrated Care Organisation providing acute health care services from Torbay Hospital, community health services and adult social care. The Trust runs Torbay Hospital as well as five community hospitals, stretching from Dawlish to Brixham. We also provide health and social care to the local population

Torbay Hospital is a medium-sized, progressive and innovative District General Hospital providing acute services to South Devon with a 10-bedded Critical Care Unit, six general theatres, three orthopaedic theatres and a day surgery unit. We provide services in most specialties within Torbay but have close working relationships with Royal Devon University Healthcare (Exeter and North Devon) and University Hospitals Plymouth.

We have around 500,000 face-to-face contacts with patients in their homes and communities each year and see over 78,000 people in our A&E department annually. We serve a resident population of approximately 375,000 people, plus about 100,000 visitors at any one time during the summer holiday season.

For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Georgina Walker Job title: Palliative care consultant Email address: [email protected] Telephone number: 01803 210810