Job overview

The Healthcare for Older People (HOP) team is a hard-working, dedicated and accommodating team. Consultant numbers over the last 15 years have expanded from 3 WTE to 9.15 WTE (excluding stroke consultants’ numbers) and have also diversified with the addition of two Specialty Doctors, a Consultant Nurse and an Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Frailty and three Specialist Nurses in Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorder.

Our specialty base currently includes two 28-bedded acute medical wards specialising in healthcare for older people. We have a separate 28-bedded acute stroke ward with 2.9 WTE Consultant Stroke Physicians. In one of our community hospitals we have a 15-bedded stroke rehabilitation ward. Our rehabilitation beds are based in our 4 community hospitals and Intermediate Care beds within our local care homes. We also provide an Orthogeriatric service, Parkinson’s Disease & Movement Disorder service and rapid access clinics. We have taken over the responsibility for providing medical cover to the 18 beds at Totnes Community Hospital working closely with the team there to develop a sustainable future model that will also support the training of medical students, foundation doctors and registrars.

Main duties of the job

To provide high quality Consultant delivered care to patients, including clinical leadership and supervision of junior medical staff, ensuring the highest standards of clinical care are provided to all patients attending the hospital.

To have an interest in medicine for community dwelling frail older adults offering comprehensive geriatric assessment in a variety of settings including at home, care homes, community hospitals and intermediate care settings, and providing senior medical input to diverse inter and intra disciplinary teams working across these settings and Dart ward at Totnes Community Hospital.

To be proactive in ensuring that all patients receive rapid assessment, treatment and clinical decision making, whilst ensuring our standard to deliver safe quality and performance are delivered and sustained.

To provide teaching and training at undergraduate and postgraduate level and supervised and train the juniors and specialty doctors.  To be proactive in the Department’s clinical governance agenda and take on leadership roles to support continuous learning and improvement, thereby abiding by the clinical and corporate governance policies of the Trust.

To liaise with clinicians and managers within and outside the Department to address any issues arising that may affect the services.

To participate in relevant audit and quality assurance processes. 

Working for our organisation

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust has recently become one of the first vertically-integrated health and care organisations in the country.

There is a commitment to an ambitious and inclusive vision to improve health and well-being for the population from all local stakeholders across health and social care, and that vision has been awarded Pioneer status by NHS England. The development of an Integrated Care Organisation, (ICO) through the acquisition of Torbay and Southern Devon Health and Care NHS Trust by South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has now taken place and is one of the major enablers in the transformation of services, and developing a new approach to health and social care.

The ICO allows us to radically re-think and re-shape the way we deliver care, free from traditional organisational constraints. We will develop and redesign services that meet the needs of our local population and that are coordinated and integrated in ways that benefit service users.  We will develop services that are responsive and flexible and which link, without break, with services of our partner organisations such as primary care and mental health services. 

Opportunities to be part of designing and delivering innovative new services in Torbay and South Devon, including more integrated and streamlined care pathways for patients is available to all current and newly appointed staff.