Post Number:

3263;3264;6014;6015

Post Title:

GPST post in ST1 and ST2 in A&E

Placement:

Princess Royal University Hospital and Orpington Hospital

Clinical Director: Dr/Mr/Miss

Dr Ian Stell

Clinical Supervisor: Dr/Mr/Miss

You will be allocated a named consultant at the beginning of your post

You will be allocated an educational supervisor who will be a GP (probably a GPST programme director)

Description of Post

This is a 4 month post held during ST1 or 2 programmes in A&E at the PRUH.

The A&E job is well established and highly regarded on the Bromley GPTP. You will gain experience in the management of acutely ill patients. You will also work in ‘minors’ where you see and manage patients who might well present to their GP with a similar problem. There is also experience in Paediatric A&E.

The department is well staffed and you will be supported by senior staff as well as the middle grades.

European Working Time Directive Banding

The post is part funded by the deanery and the appropriate pay scale is applied.

Special features relating to Rota

The post holders work 47 hours a week. You are rostered to work 1in 2 weekends and1 in 5/6 nights. The annual leave dates are rostered into the timetable. When you are due to commence your job, you will be given a date when you need to communicate to the department which rota you would prefer.

Learning opportunities (other than informally during clinical work)

A&E is an excellent job to learn how to assess risk and make good decisions.

The teaching programme, held on Wednesday mornings,  is well established and designed to covers the ‘must know’ areas so you can work safely in A&E.

At the end of your post –you will be asked to evaluate your learning opportunities and tell us what you found particularly relevant and useful.

Reflections of previous post holders

SHO1 :

‘Sorry for the delayed reply........but that is A&E. It has been really busy .No social life at all. Anyways coming to the point I must admit that it is really a good experience working in A&E. It offers you  the learning /basic knowledge of almost all the specialities. The beauty is you don't get bored as every patient you see is diff. Looking at the current NHS changes I think probably in future GP practices will be mini A&E deptt(s). At PRUH A&E we've a good senior cover which is really imp. You don't feel left out having to take major decisions on your own at any time. It is well staffed as well. The consultants are really keen & do make teaching an essential part of the training. We do have dedicated teaching sessions which are useful. The overall induction was very good at the start of the job.

    It is very tiring & stressful job. They are a bit miser about study leave. A good piece of advice for anyone doing A&E would be to book the courses relevant to A&E during their stay in A&E (e.g. ATLS,ALS,APLS, Minor surgical skills) etc rather than others which r less relevant to A&E because they may not get study leave for other courses.

   Also we r not allowed to attend any GP teaching sessions which puts me off. Overall you definitely learn new things, procedures (suturing, dressing. plastering). Attending blue calls & trauma calls adds to your confidence.

While working here one should try & make use of the opportunties available. And try & relax in whatever time you get off. I had been to Switzerland in 3days off ................ desperately needed a break. ‘

SHO 2

A&E is good for learning to deal with the unknown –you just don’t know what your next patient has.  Offers a generalist view of medical and surgical problems.  Very good exposure to a variety of simple and complex medical problems.  This enables the learning of knowledge and skills.  Helps to develop a good structure for patient management, with a basic understanding of investigating patients.

On the downside the nature of the job means there is poor continuity of patient care.  It would be educational to have feedback about the outcome of patients from both in patient care and from general Practice.