North Central Thames Foundation School (NCTFS)
Individual Placement Description - East and North Herts NHS Trust
Placement
The
department
The type of
work to expect
and learning
opportunities
Location
Supervisor(s)
Main duties of
the placement
F2 Rheumatology
Rheumatology/ General medicine

This is an innovative team set up to provide care to all medical outliers under one team. Inpatient
numbers range between 10 – 30 but tend to spread over various wards. The team has one of the
highest levels of consultant supervision with 3 consultants sharing the patient care. There are ward
rounds for new and complex patients daily and full ward rounds at least 3 times weekly.
 The team provides in-reach support for surgical specialties providing broad experience in
management of complex medical co-morbidity. The patient group is entirely unselected.
 Consultant and registrar ward rounds provide teaching with different consultants across the week
 Managing acutely unwell patients
 Assessing and planning management for patients with Chronic disease.
 Assessing and planning care for patients with dementia and delirium
 Assessing and providing on-going care for surgical patients with medical co-morbidity
 Opportunity to manage rheumatology inpatients and assess medical musculoskeletal /autoimmune
problems
 General medical on call with cardiac arrest responsibilities
 Ward jobs and procedures e.g. Venflons, ABGs
 Writing discharge letters and TTO’s
 Requesting and reviewing investigations
 Rewriting drug charts
 Daily MDT meetings( usually consultant led) which will help to develop discharge planning skills
 Communicating with patients / families /Nurses /Ward staff and community based medical
practitioners
 Experience in wide range of medical pathology including elderly medicine and rheumatology
conditions
 Attendance of Rheumatology Teaching clinics – This is a weekly clinic shared with CMT and VTS
team members. The Trainee will see new patients (3-4) and then discuss the patient with Dr Ellis.
They will examine the patient together and the trainee will write a clinic letter. This will be
countersigned by Dr Ellis who will provide feedback and advice. This is an opportunity to obtain
SLE’s for the eportfolio.
 Gain experience in audit and case reports
 Weekly team based consultant led teaching in the format of Morning report where a case from the
ward will be discussed in detail.
 Formal FY2 teaching programme
Lister Hospital Tower Block covering various wards
Dr Spencer Ellis
 Ward rounds- 4- 5 days weekly with consultant for new admissions
 Ward work
 Attend daily handover at 08.30 ( shared among the team members)
 Clerking patients
 Patient assessment and management
 Prescribing
 Phlebotomy, cannulas, ABGs other procedures
 Arranging investigations
 Assessment of acutely ill and stable ward patients
 Discharge planning and summarising care for discharge letters
 TTOs
 Certifying death and writing death certificates
 Liaison with relatives and patients
 Breaking “bad news” and assisting in care plans for the terminally ill.
 Daily MDT meetings involving Physio /OT and discharge coordinator
 Taking part in resuscitation of patients
 Supervision and teaching of medical students
Mon & Wed:
0800 – 1700
Tues/Thurs/Fri:
0830 – 1730
On call requirements: Clerking, ward cover
Typical
working
pattern in this
placement
Employer
East and North Herts NHS Trust
information
It is important to note that this description is a typical example of your placement and may be subject to change.