StR/ SpR POST DETAILS 2009-2010

DESCRIPTION OF PLACEMENT:

The post combines working on a male acute admission ward and also a male Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit. The Post offers the opportunity to lead multidisciplinary Ward reviews semi-independently from the consultant. The post includes weekly supervision sessions and sessions for research and special interests. There is also allocated time for the weekly postgraduate educational meetings. The SpR has opportunity to supervise a junior trainee and trust Grade Doctor.

ROLE OF TRAINEE:

The trainee will gain experience working as a member of a multidisciplinary team which has worked as a functional dedicated in-patient team since Dec 2006. The Team also looks after a 6 bed male PICU. The majority of patients are detained, so it follows that the trainee will gain supervised experience of assessments, hearings, and report writing for the purposes of the Mental Health Act. The Trainee will function as a quasi consultant alongside the trainer.

Suitably experienced trainees will be encouraged to lead their own ward reviews on a weekly basis semi independently from the Consultant.
The trainee will have ample opportunity to clinically supervise junior trainees and the team Trust Grade Doctor.

The trainee will attend the weekly postgraduate educational meetings and will be encouraged to participate in the management of these meetings.

A ST1-3 doctor is a member of the acute ward team and a trust grade doctor on the PICU.

This post is a core placement.

ON CALL COMMITMENT:

The SpR participates in a 1:7 rota intermediate tier on call rota across East Lancashire.
There is no day time on call in this post. Feedbacks from trainees suggest the on call experience is about right i.e neither too much nor too little experience.

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES:

The trainee will be encouraged to use 2 sessions for research and or special interest sessions. Although the trainer has limited personal research opportunities, he does give practical support and guidance to trainees in this area.

MANAGEMENT TRAINING:

There are ample opportunities for management opportunities through groups such as the locality in-patient governance group, the trust wide PICU Governance Network and Locality consultant meetings.

ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE AVAILABLE:

An integral part of the post concerns working on a busy male PICU which serves a population of 500000+. The multidisciplinary team on the PICU is mature and effective despite it’s limited size. The trainee will gain expertise in this area , including the management of violence including rapid tranquillisation and the use of a seclusion facility. The unit liaises regularly with local secure services.

The trainer is recognised locally as having special expertise in psychopharmacology and evidence-based medicine generally and rapid tranquillisation specifically.

IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL DETAILS:

The trainer recognises the importance of other training opportunities through the use of research time and special interest sessions. Because of the dedicated nature of the in-patient post, none of the time table is rigidly fixed for this post holder. They can therefore fit the work around their other commitments if necessary.

The trainee will have their own personal office and access to the team medical secretary.