Consultant Rheumatologist

The Rheumatology department at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals are looking for a new member to join their team. The department are currently working to enhance the models of care to achieve the quality standards for patients with rheumatic disease and to improve patient outcomes. Join part of a dynamic team working to delivery high quality care to patients in the north west of England. 

Main Duties: 

• This is a 10 PA (40-hour) contract. Of these, 8.5 PAs will be direct clinical care, and 1.5 are for Supporting Professional Activities (SPAs). These SPAs can be spending on CPD such as job planning, appraisals, training, team meetings, clinical governance, audits, etc.
• There are no on-call commitments for this post.
• Most of the direct clinical care time will be spent in outpatient clinics, with the remaining PAs allocated to ‘Ward Referrals / Admin’. These two activities are together because the department only receives around 5-10 ward referrals per week, so admin can be done when there are no ward referrals to be dealt with.   

The Department:

The successful applicant will undertake clinics at Victoria Hospital and another hospital, most likely Clifton Hospital. The cross-site work is done to be able to offer clinics to patients across a wider geographical area, reducing travel times for patients with Rheumatological issues. You will be working with a specialist team including 4 other Rheumatology Consultants, Specialist Rheumatology nurses, and Allied Health Professionals. The appointee also be working closely with the wider team, including medical specialties and the Radiology department.  

The Hospital:

As an IMG considering Blackpool as your new home, it’s important to understand what the NHS trust is like, too. The Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is located in Blackpool, Lancashire, and provides healthcare for the Lancashire and South Cumbria area (a population of around 1.6 million). 

The Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is focused on improvement, particularly regarding technology. The forward-thinking hospital is currently utilising the best medical tech to help both staff and patients, including remote monitoring technology for cardiac patients. This tech puts cardiac patients in a direct point of contact with the hospital when necessary, meaning they won’t have to go through their GP. In turn, that means reduced waiting times. David Rose, Cardiothoracic Surgeon, has said on this development,

Getting on the specialist register is a goal for many IMGs. Luckily, gaining your Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration is especially encouraged at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, which allows you to earn a higher salary with increased responsibility as a Substantive Consultant. That means doctors are provided with educational funding and high levels of CESR support, an initiative that the trust is extremely proud of. Thanks to it, the NHS trust has a proven track record of getting Emergency Medicine and Radiology doctors through CESR.

So, what can you expect when pursuing CESR at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals? You’ll benefit from guidance and support every step of the way. The hospital has a dedicated CESR lead who is an IMG herself, and she oversees the CESR support system, which includes 12 monthly meetings and six workshops per year. For additional guidance, a sort of ‘buddy system’ is in place, which means you’ll have other doctors in your medical modality supporting you. When pursuing CESR, you’ll also gain access to the internal CESR resource centre on the trust’s intranet, which has a range of guidance and tips to help you gain specialist registration. If that isn’t enough, the hospital financially covers the entire CESR training process.

The location:

Blackpool is a northwest England town in the County of Lancashire. It sits on the north western coast, home to a long beach, promenade, and three Victorian piers. Those attractions often encourage tourists to visit and have a stroll along the seafront, but Blackpool offers much more than seaside amusements. The hospital itself is not located in the city centre. It is based in very picturesque surroundings with lots of greenery around. There are golf courses to enjoy, and it’s next to the zoo, one of the UK’s best animal parks! You may find yourself listening to the sound of parrots or elephants on your walk to the hospital! 

As an IMG living in Blackpool, you’ll likely settle down away from the bustling seafront; instead, you can make the most of the friendly and diverse neighbourhoods you’ll find throughout the town. Here are just some of the things that make Blackpool an excellent place to live.

Blackpool offers much lower housing costs than the national UK average. The average rent in Blackpool stands at £554, which is very affordable – especially when you compare it to the £1500-1600 average price to rent a flat in London!

Looking slightly further afield, Blackpool has plenty of nearby towns and villages that make great places to live for doctors working at the Blackpool Teaching Hospitals Trust. Poulton-Le-Fylde and Lytham St Annes are two prime examples of amazing, affordable and friendly places to live and enjoy family life outside of the hospital. 

Preston is also a great example, as it’s another great city only a 25-minute train ride away, offering great food, art galleries, markets, and a rich history to explore.

Getting around Blackpool is easy even if you don’t have a car, thanks to the many buses and trams running through the town. Better yet, both forms of public transport are very affordable so that you can get from A to B with ease. If you want to travel out of Blackpool, there are train links to Manchester, Liverpool, and other bustling UK cities.

One of the best things about these easy transportation links is that they provide access to excellent schools in the area. If you have kids, that’s crucial to get the right access to their education. For kids up to age 16, Unity Academy Blackpool has an outstanding record and is positioned next to Layton train station. For those that want to give their kids the best education possible, Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy is the highest-ranking secondary school in Lancashire, just a 45-minute drive out of Blackpool. Proximity plays a large factor in where your child will be allocated a space in public schools – so you should carefully investigate the schools around the areas you want to settle

Lancashire County has a diverse population, with 14.4% of the population in the North West considered an ethnic minority group. In Blackpool and the surrounding areas, you’ll find people from many different religions and ethnic backgrounds, making it an inclusive place to live. In the Trust, you’ll meet people from all over the world. For instance, Wales, Ireland, Denmark, Hungary, Sweden, Algeria, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Trinidad, America and Australia, and all the countries in between! At the moment, there are 76 different nationalities employed by the Trust. 

You will also find many places of worship in Blackpool, including the Central Mosque for the Islamic community, the Jewish Reform Synagogue for the local Jewish community, and a range of Christian churches. Christianity is the most popular religion in Blackpool, but you’ll still find plenty of accommodations for other religions, too. Currently, people working at the Trust claim their beliefs as Atheism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism and Sikhism, but all religions are accepted in this welcoming place. 

Requirements:

The team welcome applicants from a range of backgrounds and experiences, but have outlined the below as important requirements for an applicant: 

• Full MRCP (or equivalent) 
• Evidence of English language (OET, IELTS, or equivalent)
• Senior Rheumatology experience 

How to Apply

To apply for this role, simply send your CV through to apply@bdiresourcing.com and one of our specialist medicine team can pick it up. If you have any questions or would like to know more, please email your queries through to the same address and one of our team will be in touch.