Consultant in Acute Medicine
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
London, N18 1QX
Salary
£113,565 to £150,569
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Not specified
Closing date
9 September 2026
9 days left
Job description
The following is a non-exhaustive list of the duties of a consultant. The appointee is expected to: Deliver day-to-day clinical care and leadership in...
CLINICAL RESPONSIBILITIES
- Participate in clinical governance activities.
- Provide senior clinical leadership and expert management for patients.
- Contribute to safe discharge planning in partnership with community and primary care services.
- Provide clinical supervision and training to resident medical staff.
- Show flexibility to undertake different appropriate clinical tasks at the request of the clinical manager.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR PATIENTS
- Support discharge planning and follow-up care incollaboration with primary care and community services.
- Ensure patients are fully informed about their conditions and treatment options, supporting shared decision making.
- Respond promptly to changes in patient condition, clinical risk or safeguarding concerns.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR POLICY AND SERVICE DEVELOPMENT
- Support the development of care pathwayswith community services and speciality teams
- Participate in the development of acute medicine services to improve patient flowand quality of care.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR FINANCIAL AND PHYSICAL RESOURCES
- Participate in the management andutilisationofclinical areas and resources.
- Support cost-effective prescribing treatment in line with theTrust's and national guidelines.
RESPONSIBILITY FORLEADING AND MANAGING
- Support the development and supervision ofresident doctors and other team members.
- Assist in managing performance against key targets and standards, including patient flow.
Indicative job plan
An indicative job plan/timetable for this post with indicative Programmed Activities (PAs) is provided in the document attached, but this will normally be re-assessed after 3 months of appointment to ensure it meets the needs of the service.
For a whole-time 10 PA contract: the baseline split is:
Direct Clinical Care: 8.0 PAs on average per week (Clinical activity, clinically related activity, predictable & unpredictable emergency work)
Supporting Professional Activities: 1.5 core SPAs (CPD, audit, teaching & training) and 0.5 Quality and Service SPAs to be agreed with appointee (assumed to be educational supervision).
Anadditional0.5 SPA is available to all Consultant Staff subject to review and agreement for quality and service roles which must be approved prospectively by the ClinicalService Lead, or by the Medical Director for Trust-wide roles.
Job plans are reviewed annually, and applicants are encouraged to study the provisions of the Consultant Contract for England 2003 under which this post is offered.
Supporting Professional Activities (SPAs)
Delivery of the highest quality service possible is the main priority of this department. This means integrating evidence-based practice, research, audit, and other aspects of clinical governance, particularly the delivery of quality training and risk management.
There area number ofdifferent shifts within the annualised acute medicine consultant rota: the following description covers the shifts duties, the averageworkloadand the shift frequency.
AMU: 0800-1700 (1.75DCC PAs + 0.5SPA PAsMon-Thu, 2DCC PAs + 0.25SPA PAsFri): 8-12am AMUward round(up to 16 patients), 12-13MDT, 13-15 SPA, 15-17board round and afternoon reviews[frequency: 65 shifts per year].
HOTSDEC: 0800-1700 (2.0 DCC PAs + 0.25 SPA PAs/day): named consultant for SDEC(new patients)supporting ANPs andresidentdoctors, holding referral & advice hot phone [frequency:16shifts per year].
COLDSDEC: 0800-1700 (2.0 DCC PAs + 0.25 SPA PAs/day):8-10 am Post-Take Round in ED, 10-17named consultant for SDEC (follow-up patients) andVirtual follow-up clinic[frequency:16shifts per year].
PTWR & Day Take: 0800-1700 (2.25 DCC PAs): 8-10 amPost-TakeRound in ED then named consultant for the medical take;11am and 3:30pm MDT huddles.The average medical take is 50-70patients/24h. [frequency: 33 shifts per year].
Additionalstandalone SPA activity (up to 2.25SPA PAs/day), orotherwise combined with the Adult Hospital at Home shifts (0.75DCC PAs+1.5 SPA PAs/day).
Weekday Evening Take: 1700-2000 (0.83 DCC PAs) [frequency: 1 shift per month (on a fixed evening between Monday and Thursday), plus 1 in 14 Fridays].
AMU weekend
o Saturday 0800-2000 (4 DCC PAs) and Sunday 0800-1700 (3 DCC PAs) alternate with:
o Saturday 0800-1700 (3 DCC PAs) and Sunday 0800-2000 (4 DCC PAs).
oPost-takeround in ED then responsible for half of AMU (up to16 patients), medical take in the afternoon until the end of the shift. AMUAconsultant supporting SDEC.
o 1.75 of SPA PAsfor the rest of the week, on a day of own choice.
o Compensatory time off/zero hours is included following a weekend displacing normal clinical activity.
o [The weekend frequency is 1 in 8].
We have adopted annualised job plans and the exact timetable of shifts areallocatedto take account of annual leave requests and other agreed specialty activities whilstmaintainingcover in all clinical areas. There are opportunities to swap with colleagues where the need arises after the rota is written. The exact allocation of shifts on the rota alsotakes into accountindividual skills and preferences across the Consultants contributing to the Acute Medicine Rota,egsome consultants contributing to a higher proportion of SDEC or take shifts.Acute Medicine covers 50% of theAdult Hospital at Homeweekdayrota: the workload is shared between interested consultants.
Dedicated time for DCC admin duties (reviewing results, attending MDT meetings, dictating letters, virtual clinics, etc) is included in the AMU and SDEC shifts (0.25 PA per shift).
On Call Duties
There is evening and weekend scheduled working as per above shifts description.
North Mid is part of North Central London integrated care system - consisting of the NHS and Local authority organisations in Camden, Islington, Barnet, Enfield and Haringey. As with other ICS's, we are working increasingly closely with partners and indeed many of our financial and performance objectives are measured at this system level. Whilst all organisations remain as standalone, statutory bodies we have an ICS infrastructure for making shared decisions and agreeing shared approaches.
We are proud of our staff and want to ensure their training allows them to provide excellent clinical care. We are also a training unit for medical students from UCL and St George's University Grenada, and for nursing and midwifery students from Middlesex and City Universities.
Take a tour of our hospital here
Qualifications, Training and Experience
Essential
- MRCP or Equivalent
- CCST/CCT or equivalent in Acute Medicine / General Internal Medicine and on the specialist register, or otherwise within 6 months of CCT date at the time of interview, or CESR application submitted Experience of working in acute medicine
- Ability to take full and independent responsibility for clinical care of patients
- Ability to take full and independent responsibility for the management of acute emergencies
Desirable
- Post Graduate degree
- Experience in Ambulatory Emergency Care / Same Day Emergency Care
Skills & Abilities
Essential
- Ability to communicate effectively with staff, patients, and relatives
- Potential to develop leadership skills
- Excellent interpersonal and organisational skills
- Experience of service development and quality improvement initiatives
- Ability to work in a pressurised environment
Desirable
- Training/qualification in leadership and management
- Posters/presentations at regional and national meetings Publications in peer-reviewed journals
Knowledge
Essential
- Knowledge and participation of clinical audit
- Understanding of Clinical Governance
- Experience on providing high quality training and education to undergraduates and postgraduates
Desirable
- Posters/presentations at regional and national meetings Publications in peer-reviewed journals
- Post graduate diploma in teaching
Other Requirements
Essential
- Excellent communication skills, both oral and written, and an ability to relate to staff and patients.
- Knowledge of resource management issues.
- Ability to stay calm under pressure. Computer literate
- Willingness to work flexibly as part of a team
- GMC Registration
Desirable
- Ability to support and motivate staff during periods of pressure
How to apply
Applications are handled entirely by the employer on the original advert. We do not collect CVs, supporting statements or application data.
Provenance
Source
NHS Jobs
First seen
26 August 2026
Last checked
28 August 2026
Salary, closing date and description are taken from the employer's advert. The original advert always takes precedence.
About the employer
NHS organisation
This listing was structured from NHS Jobs. Vacancy details and the application process remain the responsibility of the original source.
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