StR post details (August 2012 - July 2013)

Name of Supervisor: Dr Richard Porter
Location of the post: Birch Hill Hospital, Rochdale
Telephone numbers: 01706 754306

1. DETAILS OF PLACEMENT (LOCATION, POPULATION, INPATIENT OR OUTPATIENT, BEDS)
This is an inpatient post for working age clients. Dr Porter is the Consultant Psychiatrist for Moorside Ward which is a 24 bedded inpatient unit. Generally 16 patients from the north of Rochdale are admitted to Moorside Ward. 8 beds have been allocated for Oldham patients. Occasionally patients from out of area get admitted to Moorside Ward as part of bed management.
A FY2 doctor, an ST1-3 trainee and a speciality doctor are linked to the team.

Core Placement: It’s not a core training post. However there is a possibility of achieving competencies of core post for instance by attaching to the community Consultant team of North sector

Endorsements: Not endorsed
Supervisor: Full time

2. DETAILS OF ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES AND EXPERIENCE TRAINEE WILL GAIN

Inpatient Work:
Activities include attending the ward rounds twice a week and taking part in assessing and managing specific cases (under supervision of Dr Porter). This may also involve liaising with other services (like GP surgeries, social services, CRHT, sheltered accommodation etc.) to devise robust plan of management after every admission.
The lunch time nursing hand is a good opportunity to get a quick update on patient’s mental state.

Medico legal work:
The trainee will be encouraged to prepare medico-legal reports and reports for MHRT and managers’ Hearings under supervision of Dr Porter. There will be also an expectation that the trainee will develop skills in presenting cases during these proceedings.

Any other clinical commitment:
On Wednesdays (11:00 am) there is a bed management meeting which is attended by ward manager, bed management staff and Consultant Psychiatrist however senior trainees are welcome to join and gain some managerial experience.

3. JUNIOR DOCTOR SUPPORT AND SUPERVISION
There is always an opportunity to supervise and support juniors attached to the team. Inhouse teaching (case conferences, journal club presentation and interview skills) is on Wednesday afternoons and StRs take an active role in facilitating/ chairing these sessions.
From August 2011 senior trainees also decided to conduct a separate teaching session for juniors where the StRs can present themselves (on Friday afternoons; 13:00-14:00).

4. ON CALL COMMITMENT AND PAY BANDING
Daytime on-call: On call rota is 1:8 which is shared with speciality doctors and staff grades. It’s a non resident on-call rota with StRs providing 2nd tier of cover (2nd on-call) for 24 hours during weekdays and 48 hours over the weekend (Saturday and Sunday). There is no compensatory rest after 24 hours on-call but Monday is off after the weekend on-call shift. Consultants provide 3rd tier coverage.
During the day other team’s work doesn’t get passed on to on-call StR unless there is no medic available from the respective sector teams.

Out of hours on-call: Rochdale StR covers for only Rochdale patients during OOH. There is no A&E dept in Rochdale therefore patients usually present either to Fairfield Hospital A&E, Bury or in Oldham Hospital. If these patients require MHA assessment then StR can be called to assess patient at Bury A&E, Bury Police Station and Middleton Police station but not in Oldham A&E.

Banding: 1B

5. TEACHING / SUPERVISION / ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
StR will get weekly supervision from Dr Porter.
Being 2nd on call StR provides telephonic supervision and support to junior doctors. Friday teaching sessions are used to provide formal teaching to junior trainees.
There is always a chance that juniors attached with the team will require informal teaching from the senior trainee.

6. AUDIT / RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
The educational supervisor will support research in the department and audit is an expected part of the attachment.
The trainee will be encouraged to develop or participate in research activity as part of postgraduate degree or as part of training programme research experience.

7. MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE
There are a number of opportunities to take part in the managerial processes for instance chairing ward rounds, CPA meetings, attending bed management meetings, and Consultant meetings.
The trainee will be encouraged and supported to develop his/her own management project.

8. ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE AVAILABLE
Some StRs have also gained community experience in this post.

9. IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL DETAILS (FACILITIES etc)
Office: StR will have his/her own office in the Out Patient Department of Birch Hill Hospital (BHH) which has a computer and a telephone.
Car park: Car park is free at Rochdale and finding a place is never a problem.
Secretary support: Dr Porter’s secretary is based in the out patient department at BHH as well so it is very easy to approach her for any clinical work.
Other sites and travel required? – not required in this post.

PROBABLE TRAINEE TIMETABLE

Note: Though current StR uses Thursdays for the special interest/ research purposes but it is not compulsory that it be on Thursday. Dr Porter is flexible about these sessions and these can be negotiated with him prior to joining the post or varied part way through.