Terribly understaffed medical on calls at night 1 SHO on call - has to be the only ward cover for AMU (approx 40-50 beds) and is the ONLY clerking doctor - both at the same time. 1 FY1 on call - has to be on ward cover for the REST OF THE HOSPITAL. 1 Registrar on call - has to accept referrals, help out with clerkings and with all the inevitable problems the FY1 will run into.

On the whole a nice, supportive consultant body. Sadly one or two clangers however. As an ED family; great, as most are. Rota management is more haphazard than should be accepted in today’s age of annualising and suffers from a ‘too many chefs’ mentality. Workload is heavy but much less so than other sized ED’s. Heavy psych/MIU/Drugs/neuro casemix and much less cardio/resp/GI etc.

I would like to have known that a significant proportion of the job include covering paeds Gastro and surgery. The trainees and GPs are prioritised for shifts in general paediatrics so you get a lot less of this. The rota is badly managed and it is very difficult to arrange annual leave without significant swaps being taken. The Paeds wards are very friendly with lovely nursing staff and it is well supported and well staffed.

Incredible team, the job is 2 months palliative care, 2 months medical oncology 2 FY2s share the same on-call rota and alternate which sets of on-calls they do, meaning you are doing half as many nights/weekends/long days as the rest of the FY2s on medicine in the hospital The oncology and palliative care teams are essentially one team and hold a joint handover and MDT, the registrars and SHOs of both specialties share the same office and so the collaboration between these teams is constant and effective. The MDT is essential to the functioning of the team and all members are outstanding, you simply wont have enough time to learn everything they have to teach in 4 months Your role on oncology will be to facilitate the ward round and manage oncology inpatients with registrar and consultant supervision, review patients on the day unit and assist the team with the usual administrative tasks a junior is expected to sort such as arranging scans, completing discharge summaries and liaising with other specialties/hospitals when needed On palliative care you will be taught a holistic approach to the knowledge and skills needed to independently review patients referred to the palliative care team and address specialist palliative care needs such as pain, nausea/vomiting, agitation with a focus on shared decision-making and patient empowerment. Discussions around treatment escalation and advance care planning will become second nature and as rewarding as unraveling complex medical mysteries on oncology Enormous potential for personal growth on a job like this with the most genuine and supportive MDT of nurses, registrars and consultants, you will be hard-pressed to find a better training experience during foundation

Incredible team, the job is 2 months palliative care, 2 months medical oncology 2 FY2s share the same on-call rota and alternate which sets of on-calls they do, meaning you are doing half as many nights/weekends/long days as the rest of the FY2s on medicine in the hospital The oncology and palliative care teams are essentially one team and hold a joint handover and MDT, the registrars and SHOs of both specialties share the same office and so the collaboration between these teams is constant and effective. The MDT is essential to the functioning of the team and all members are outstanding, you simply wont have enough time to learn everything they have to teach in 4 months Your role on oncology will be to facilitate the ward round and manage oncology inpatients with registrar and consultant supervision, review patients on the day unit and assist the team with the usual administrative tasks a junior is expected to sort such as arranging scans, completing discharge summaries and liaising with other specialties/hospitals when needed On palliative care you will be taught a holistic approach to the knowledge and skills needed to independently review patients referred to the palliative care team and address specialist palliative care needs such as pain, nausea/vomiting, agitation with a focus on shared decision-making and patient empowerment. Discussions around treatment escalation and advance care planning will become second nature and as rewarding as unraveling complex medical mysteries on oncology Enormous potential for personal growth on a job like this with the most genuine and supportive MDT of nurses, registrars and consultants, you will be hard-pressed to find a better training experience during foundation

Friendly and supportive consultant body and nursing staff, however department lacks motivation/interest in training juniors. Job is very service provision heavy with limited opportunities for developing your own interests. Rota is constantly short staffed and there is a reluctance to escalate rates for locum shifts (although I have heard this is an issue from the trust rather than the department).