SENIOR HOUSE OFFICER GRADE

The posts will each last either four or six months, and will be a mix from the following specialties:-

Accident and Emergency

Obstetrics and Gynaecology

Ophthalmology

Palliative Care (St Helena Hospice, Colchester)

Paediatrics

Care of the Elderly (2 posts at Colchester General and 1 at Clacton Hospital)

General Medicine (Endocrinology)

ENT

For August 2009, we will be advertising for 14 three year rotations. To see the posts that will be included on each rotation, see the spreadsheet.

MAIN CONDITIONS OF SERVICE FOR HOSPITAL POSTS

(i) The posts are covered by the Whitley Council Agreements for Hospital Medical and Dental Staff.

(ii) The posts are wholetime appointments

(iii) The salary scale for all posts is as per current Whitley Council Conditions

ACCOMMODATION

The posts are resident and single/married accommodation is available while trainees hold hospital posts.

CONDITIONS OF APPOINTMENT

(i) Particular qualifications/experience required

On appointment as Senior House Officer a Medical Practitioner shall have at least twelve months postgraduate experience in hospital posts; and shall be fully registered; or if provisionally registered shall obtain full registration within fourteen days of taking up his appointment; or shall hold limited registration.

(ii) Medical Examination

It will be necessary for you to complete a Health Questionnaire if this is your first post with the Essex Rivers Healthcare. It will not be possible to start you on the payroll prior to health clearance being given.

(iii) The Postholder should be prepared to perform duties in occasional emergencies and unforeseen circumstances. Commitments arising in such circumstances are however, exceptional, and the postholder will not be required to undertake work of this kind for prolonged periods or on a regular basis. All efforts will be made to ensure that work of this kind does not result in continuous hours of duty which exceed the New Deal continuous hours of duty limits.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT EACH POST IS AVAILABLE IN THE INDIVIDUAL JOB DESCRIPTION.

ESSEX RIVERS HEALTHCARE TRUST

ORIGINS AND COMPOSITION OF THE TRUST

Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust (ERH) was established as a second wave NHS Trust on 1st April 1992. It comprises the former Acute and Community Units of the North East Essex Health Authority. On 1st April 1992 the other two Units of that Health Authority, i.e., the Mental Handicap and Mental Health Units were established as the New Possibilities and North East Essex Mental Health Services NHS Trusts respectively. On 1st April 1993 the North East Essex Health Authority merged with the Mid Essex and West Essex Health Authorities to form the North Essex Health Authority with headquarters based in Witham, a small town midway between Colchester and Chelmsford and the former headquarters of the Essex Area Health Authority

There are four main towns: the Roman town of Colchester, England's oldest recorded town; Clacton on Sea, a seaside resort on the Tendring peninsula; Halstead, a small market town, Harwich, a major port serving Holland, Germany and Scandinavia.

Colchester can be reached from London in 90 minutes by road. The journey by train from Liverpool Street Station takes 50 minutes to Colchester and a further 20 minutes to Clacton on Sea.

The district has a population of approximately 334,000, with a high proportion of elderly people concentrated in the coastal region. Both the total population and proportion of elderly people are increasing.

THE HOSPITALS

Colchester General Hospital (CGH) – 611 Beds

(Telephone 01206 747474) Colchester General Hospital was originally a modified nucleus design opened in 1984 with the intention that further matching phases would be added. The nucleus design was however abandoned but several developments have taken place on the site since 1984 as part of the Trust’s centralisation policy and more developments are planned.

Elmstead Day Services Unit opened in May 1993 as a dedicated day unit and was subsequently expanded and consists of three operating theatres, two endoscopy suites, Haematology Day Unit and thirty five beds. The endoscopy suites are equipped for both upper GI Endoscopy and Colonoscopy as well as ERCP examinations.

In January 1997 a new block, Constable Wing, was opened allowing the old Colchester Maternity Hospital to close. Constable Wing consists of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Departments, additional wards and the Dennis Dunn Orthopaedic Unit which partly replaced the orthopaedic services provided at Black Notley Hospital when that hospital closed in March 1998.

Gainsborough Wing has recently been opened and accommodates Care of the Elderly Wards, Neurology, Rheumatology and Rehabilitation, including a state of the art hydrotherapy pool.

Planning for Phase V, which includes Cancer Services, The Breast Unit and other services currently provided at the Essex County Hospital, has begun which will complete the centralisation of services on the Colchester General Hospital site. Currently, therefore, the specialties and departments contained within the Colchester General Hospital site are:

Accident & Emergency

Out-patients

Acute Geriatrics

General Medicine & Thoracic Medicine

General Surgery

Urology

ITU

Paediatrics

Pain Relief

Plastic Surgery

Ear, Nose and Throat Surgery

Orthopaedics and Traumatology

Haematology and Blood Transfusion

Radiology, including CAT scanner, Angiography and Duplex scanning

Head Injury & Neurological Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation including a Day Hospital

Rheumatology

Gynaecology

Obstetrics

Special Care Baby Unit

Oral Surgery

Breast Surgery

Mortuary

There is a six bed Intensive Therapy Unit and a four bed high dependency unit. This is run by the Anaesthetic Department, although care of patients is shared with the clinician involved. In addition plans are being prepared for the establishment of a High Dependency Unit. There is a separate Coronary Care Unit and there are plans to relocate this to a larger site within CGH now that the new Gainsborough Wing has been completed. The X-ray Department has digital subtraction angiography, as well as conventional angiography, a spiral CT Scanner and ultrasound including duplex scanning. An MRI Scanner is due to be installed in the near future.

There are currently eleven operating theatres, three in Elmstead Day Unit, four in Constable Wing and four in the main CGH block, near the Intensive Care Unit and the surgical wards. There are plans to convert the nearby Rowhedge Ward into more theatre capacity to allow a CEPOD theatre to be available all the time for emergencies.

Colchester is a Breast Screening Centre and will continue as a Cancer Treatment Centre following agreement between the Trust, the Health Authority and the regions involved.

Other facilities on the CGH site include a physiotherapy department with gymnasium and a fortnightly amputee limb fitting clinic, occupational therapy, pharmacy and CSSD. There are also the staff restaurant, snack bar and hospital shop and car parking facilities for staff and visitors.

Essex County Hospital (ECH) – 56 Beds

(Telephone 01206 747474) Opened as a voluntary hospital (the Essex and Colchester Hospital) in 1820, itwas the main acute hospital until the opening of CGH. ECH houses a sub Regional centre for radiotherapy. It has a busy out-patient department.

Departments and Specialties located within Essex County Hospital are:

Breast Unit and Screening Centre

Medical Physics Department/Nuclear Medicine

Audiology Department

Out-patients Department

Radiotherapy

Dermatology

Cytogenetic Laboratory

Ophthalmology In-patients

Genito-Urinary Medicine

Plastic Surgery Out-patients

Pain Relief

Essex County Hospital maintains some support services, i.e. pharmacy, X-ray, physiotherapy and occupational therapy. The occupational health department is also based there.

Clacton and District Hospital

(Telephone 01206 747474) 118 beds, including 56 Acute Care of the Elderly beds, 25 bed Rehabilitation ward. Busy Out-patient department, 1 GP ward and GP Maternity Unit, accommodates wards for the NE Mental Health Services Trust as well, and a small 9.00 am to 5.00 pm Casualty Department.

Harwich Hospital

(Telephone 01255 201200) This houses 37 GP beds with a small Casualty Department and active  Out-patient Department.

Halstead Hospital

(Telephone 01787 291010) There are 20 GP beds within a new ward block opened in May 1993 and an

Out-patient Department

Severalls Hospital

Recently closed as a N E Essex Mental Health Trust facility but still housing

(and for the immediate future):

Clinical Biochemistry

Histopathology

Cytopathology

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

QUALITY

The Trust aims towards maintaining the goodwill and confidence of it's own staff and of the general public. To assist in achieving this objective, it is essential that, at all times, employees carry out their duties in a courteous and sympathetic manner.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

This Trust has an Equal Opportunities Policy. The aim is to ensure that no individual receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, religion, creed, colour, race, or is disadvantaged by any conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable. Whilst the Trust recognises specific responsibilities fall upon Management, it is also the duty of all employees to accept personal responsibility for the practical application of the Policy.

ACCOMMODATION POLICY

It is the policy of this District to:

charge for married accommodation

charge for single accommodation for a 1 in 4, 1 in 5 or 1 in 6 rota

Single accommodation is not charged for whilst on a 1 in 3 or more onerous rota.

N.B. Pre-registration House Officers are not charged for single accommodation whatever their rota.

DATA PROTECTION

Personal data relating to your employment with the Trust may be processed fairly and lawfully in accordance with the above Act.

CONFIDENTIALITY

All information concerning patients and staff, their health and personal records, is strictly confidential. Unauthorised disclosure of such information or any computer data of a personal nature can result in dismissal without notice and may, in certain circumstances, result in prosecution for an offence under the Data Protection Act or an action for civil damages under the same Act.

NO SMOKING POLICY

This Trust has adopted a Policy on Smoking Prevention, the aim of which is to restrict smoking to designated areas in Trust premises, so that non-smoking is the normal practice. These restrictions will apply to patients, staff and visitors.

N.B. This post is exempt from the provision of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 by virtue of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exemptions Order) 1975. Therefore, if you withhold information about convictions which for the purposes are "spent" under the provisions of the Act, you may be liable to dismissal or disciplinary action by Essex Rivers Healthcare.

NEW DEAL HOURS MONITORING

In line with the NHSE directive it is now compulsory for all junior doctors to complete and return the hours monitoring diary sheets when requested on a six monthly basis. Failure to do so may cause you to be in breach of your contract and possible disciplinary action.

In addition junior doctors agree formally to work with their employers to identify appropriate working arrangements or other organisational changes in working practices which move non-compliant posts to compliant and to comply with reasonable changes following such discussion. Changes will be re-monitored by diary sheet and overseen by Regional Task Forces (or their equivalent).

MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE

The Doctor agrees to:-

(a) Co-operate fully with Essex Rivers Healthcare and it's Legal Advisors in the investigation of any Patient Complaint/Incidence involving but not limited to any allegation of negligence or misconduct on the part of the Doctor and in the conduct and dissent of any proceedings arising therefrom.

(b) To provide Essex Rivers Healthcare on request with a full written Statement concerning the said Patient Complaint/Incidence including Statements for use in court proceedings.

LIST OF HOSPITALS WITHIN ESSEX RIVERS HEALTHCARE

COLCHESTER

Colchester General Hospital, Turner Road, Colchester Colchester (01206) 747474

Essex County Hospital, Lexden Road, Colchester " "

HALSTEAD

Halstead Hospital, Hedingham Road, Halstead Halstead (01787) 291010

HARWICH

Harwich and District Hospital, Main Road, Dovercourt Harwich (01255) 201200

CLACTON-ON-SEA

Clacton and District Hospital, Freeland Road, Clacton-on-Sea Clacton (01255) 201717

MEDICAL PERSONNEL MANAGER Colchester (01206) 742148

Essex Rivers Healthcare

Colchester General Hospital

Postgraduate Medical Centre

Turner Road

Colchester, CO4 5JL

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For any questions or comments about  this website, please contact Andrew Lennard-Jones