North Western Foundation School
Blackpool Programme
Individual Placement Description
Placement
The department
FY1 General Surgery Urology
General Surgery is a busy department with over
2300 elective admissions every year.
The workload in the directorate consists of:
Elective operations: 2304
Day case operations: 1994
Emergency operations: 1433 - making it
a total of over 5,700 cases giving ample
opportunity to gain valuable experience.
The general surgical directorate sub –
specialises in Breast & Endocrine
Vascular
Upper & Lower GI Surgery
There are weekly multi-disciplinary meetings in
Breast, Upper GI & Colorectal surgery. Weekly
meetings are also held with Radiologists in
vascular and General surgery.
The trainee will provide a ward based care
encouraging reflective practice on patients under
guidance from Consultants and middle grade
staff. They participate on a 24hr shift system of
emergency cover.
Nurse Specialists help with routine clerking,
freeing up time for the trainee to deal with the
management of patients under their care.
The type of work to expect and
learning opportunities
The
urology
department
is
expanding to a 4 consultant unit
with complimentary interests.
During the urology attachment you
will still have a commitment to the
general surgery on call rota and
the majority of your duties will be
similar to those described under
general surgery though obviously
as part of a busy general urological
team. Urology always seems to
have been a subject poorly
covered at both undergraduate and
postgraduate levels – I feel
exposure at FY1 level is a very
important, beneficial part of the
rotation whatever your career
aspirations. You will participate in
the management of all common
elective and emergency urological
conditions.
We encourage you to attend all
aspects of our unit’s work in
addition to the ward based duties;
theatre,
our
diagnostic
unit
(urodynamics, flexible cystoscopy,
prostate
biopsies,)
out-patient
clinics and MDT meetings.
Where the placement is based
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals
Clinical Supervisor(s) for the Mr Rothwell/Mr Campbell
placement
Mr Khan/Mr Finney
Main duties of the placement
 Assessment, investigation and treatment
of elective and emergency surgical
inpatients and formulating a plan of
management
 Work to a pre set emergency shift rota
along with the surgical team
 Communicating with the hospital at night
team and making effective handover to
the next team on shift
 Perioperative ward care of patients
 Consent patients for simple procedures
 Assessing and monitoring patients in
surgical high care with the early warning
scoring system, seeking guidance on
management and/or communicating
progress to senior colleagues;
communicate effectively with the nursing
staff and cross check understanding at all
levels
 Communicating with primary carewriting legible discharge letters
 Writing clear and legible prescriptions
 Attending consultant ward rounds
 Taking an active role in post-take ward
rounds
 Attendance at and contribution to audit
meetings and multi-disciplinary team
meetings


Active attendance at weekly educational
lunchtime meetings
Involvement with the processes of care
of the dying patient
You will gain experience in:







 Venous cannulation & setting up
of infusion
 Catheterization of patients
 Nasogastric tube intubation
Principles of fluid balance
 Principles of critical care; the
role of the Early Warning Scoring
System
 Assessing patients in outpatient
clinics
 Communication skills and
experience of audio transcribing
.
Typical working pattern in this Mon: Variable but a schedule is available on line
placement
and will act as a template
Tues:
Wed:
Thurs:
Fri:
Sat:
Sun:
On call requirements: 1 in 9 on call
Employer information
The employer for this post is Blackpool Teaching
Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The post will be based in Blackpool Victoria
Hospital.
It is important to note that this description is a typical example of your placement and may be subject
to change.