Physician Associate

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Job Overview
We are looking for a Stroke Physician Associate to join an expanding and forward-thinking department as it moves to providing acute stroke services for the entire population of Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG), along with regional provision including Mechanical Thrombectomy to the wider Severn Region and beyond.

Stroke services have been centralised to the Comprehensive Stroke Centre (at Brunel Building, Southmead Hospital) from May 2023 with an expansion of the hyperacute stroke unit (HASU). The acute stroke unit (ASU) is also based at Southmead Hospital.

The Physician Associate role is continually being developed to work alongside the department’s doctors and multidisciplinary team. The role will give the candidate the opportunity to work in a progressive specialty providing support to the hyper acute and acute wards.

They will have Educational Supervision provided alongside an annual appraisal to overview their career development and mentorship.

Main duties of the job
Weekly rotas will vary to include care of Stroke patients throughout their Acute pathway, including:

• Daily consultant led board rounds and ward rounds.
• Ward cover on both the HASU and ASU.
• Multidisciplinary team meetings.

The specialty also participates in our own research as well as recruiting for national trials. There are always projects that you can get involved in or start developing your own ideas.

The role requires 1:4 weekends to be worked.

Finally, we are keen that you will be afforded a similar level of training as enjoyed by our other team members. This will include the opportunity to attend SDEC clinics. The Stroke team runs a review of all thrombolysed patients and those referred for thrombectomy. There is a regular journal club.

Working for our organisation
North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) is the largest Trust in the South West region, and one of the largest trusts in the country. Last year, the Trust treated over 100,000 inpatients, over 350,000 outpatients, over 90,000 emergency department patients and helped deliver over 6,000 babies across its hospital and community health services. The Trust employed more than 9,300 staff, has over 1,000 inpatient beds and income in excess of £500 million.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities
Please refer to the Job description and Person Specification for all essential and desirable criteria required for the role.

Person specification
NHS experience
Essential criteria

• BA/BS Degree prior to undertaking PA program
• PG Dip in Physician Associate studies from a UK training program
• Current and valid certification or re-certification by the Physician Associate National Examination and/or registered with the Physician Associate Managed Voluntary Registration Commission (PAMVRC)
• Clinical experience in neurology/stroke

Desirable criteria

• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) / Continuing Medical Education (CME)
• Experience of conducting clinical audit

If you apply for this vacancy and have not received a communication from North Bristol NHS Trust within three weeks of the closing date, please assume that on this occasion your application has been unsuccessful.

Please note that North Bristol NHS Trust does not reimburse travel expenses relating to interview attendance.

If you feel you meet the requirements of the Disability Act / Two Ticks scheme and require further support/advice, please contact us.

North Bristol NHS Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

The successful applicant(s) will normally commence at the minimum of the scale unless they have previous NHS service at the same band. Progression through the scale is by annual increments.

At North Bristol Trust (NBT), we know diverse and inclusive environments lead to happier and healthier teams and improved patient care and outcomes. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are currently underrepresented in NBT’s workforce at Band 8a and above. These include people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people and LGBTQIA+ people.

Please note that stringent pre-employment checks are undertaken on all successful applicants prior to commencement in post.