Consultant in Stroke MedicineNHS

Job summary

This new appointment at Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is designed to support both the Acute Stroke Unit and the TIA and Stroke Clinic.

The postholder will contribute to the continued development of Homerton's high-performing stroke service, which manages around 275 stroke patients and 500 TIA referrals annually. Responsibilities include direct clinical care within the 19-bed stroke unit, supporting rapid TIA and acute stroke assessments, and working collaboratively with the multi-disciplinary team to maintain excellence in acute stroke care and effective and early stroke rehabilitation. The service consistently ranks in the upper quartile of the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme, and the post-holder will contribute to delivering the highest standards in evidence-based acute stroke unit care. The postholder will also contribute actively to service development and stroke education within the wider Trust.

Main duties of the job

Specific Duties of the Post at Homerton University Hospital include:

• To share in the provision of acute stroke service including inpatient rehabilitation.
• To share in the provision of outpatient TIA services locally.
• To provide patients with rapid access to Hyperacute stroke services at Barts Health where necessary.
• To aid and facilitate the rapid transfer of stroke patients from RLH HASU to the Homerton Acute Stroke Unit along the relevant pathway.
• To lead the daily medical team on the Acute Stroke Unit and provide effective supervision, support, and education for the stroke resident doctors in-post.
• There will be no on-call commitment at the Homerton site. Out of hours cover will be provided by the hospital medical team.
• To support the lead clinician for stroke in furthering service developments and driving positive changes including initiating a programme of liaison work with the community stroke team.
• To be actively involved in stroke research by enrolling patients in currently opened trials (national and international research studies as part of the National Stroke Research Network and the NIHR portfolio) as well as promoting new studies on site.
• To maintain quality and ensure continued top performance in the Stroke Sentinel National Audit Programme.

Job description

General Duties

• To share responsibility for providing evidence-based standards of care for all inpatients and outpatients.
• To have regard at all times to the clinical and quality standards set out in the Patients Charter and the local purchasers contracts.
• To liaise effectively and on a timely basis with General Practitioners, community services and all healthcare agencies.
• To encourage and foster the governance process at clinical, managerial and medical levels and to take part in regional audit in support of evidence-based medicine.
• To participate fully in the management of the Stroke Departments and to liaise closely with the relevant General Manager and the Clinical Director.
• Continuing responsibility for the care of patients in his/her charge, including all administrative duties associated with patient care.
• Leadership and proper functioning of the services in his/her charge in line with agreed policies at the Trust.
• Development of his/her own specialty interests, including active participation in research programmes.
• Corporate and singular responsibility for the management of the resident medical staff including the approval and monitoring of resident staff rotas and locum appointments.

About us

The Stroke department at Homerton Healthcare manages approximately 275 stroke patients per annum and in the region of 500 TIA referrals. It serves a population base of 300,000 and is generally performing in the upper quartile of the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme for clinical activity. The multi-disciplinary stroke service aims to ensure all stroke patients are admitted, when appropriate, directly to the Stroke unit and all TIA referrals are seen within 24 hours (or 7 days when low risk) across a 5 day week currently. A 7 day service is provided via central cover at the Royal London Hospital Hyperacute Stroke Unit (HASU). The unit provides a liaison stroke review service to the wider inpatient hospital bed base including the intensive care unit.

The current Stroke service comprises a 19-bedded unit based on Graham Ward on the main Homerton Healthcare site. The unit provides high-quality multi-disciplinary inpatient acute care and early rehabilitation after stroke for patients of all ages from City and Hackney CCG together with some Haringey residents in adjacent post-codes. There is a skilled and specialist team of doctors, nurses, therapists (physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists; psychologists and dieticians) working with the patients in a closely co-ordinated manner to ensure a high standard of care.