General Practitioner for Frailty Virtual Ward

Up to 10 sessions per week are available however the service is happy to look at flexible working options with a minimum of 2 sessions per week. Please contact us to discuss further.

An opportunity has arisen to join our new Frailty Virtual Ward team. This is a system level collaboration between WUTH, WCHC, CWP, Wirral ICB and Healthy Wirral.

NHS England has an ambition for Frailty Virtual Wards to be rolled out to provide care closer to home to patients who would otherwise be admitted into hospital. We aim to build a virtual ward consisting of 30 virtual beds (in patient’s own homes / care homes).

This is an exciting new service that offers successful candidates a unique opportunity to be involved in a new model of care for older people with frailty in Wirral.

The role would be on a sessional basis, 4 hours being equivalent to one session. The expectation would be to cover at least 2 sessions a day with a working pattern of 8:30-4:30 or 10.30am until 6:30pm.

Please note 2 x GP roles for Frailty Virtual Ward will be available.

The GP role involves working alongside and supporting the existing Community Integrated Response Team (CIRT) and Community Geriatrician in managing frail older patients who are referred to the service. We are also looking to expand the current team with clinical fellows (SHOs), ANP and Physician’s associate. The CIRT team will be expanding their existing team with additional nurses and therapists. It already has a complement of nurses and therapists who are undergoing continued professional development to reach Frailty advanced practitioner competency. The service links very closely with our Older Person’s Rapid Assessment Clinic to provide timely diagnostics where appropriate.

It is expected that the successful candidate will be developing their frailty specialist skills, with scope available to broaden their experience with more acutely unwell patients in a well-supported environment.

All new colleagues can expect to receive a warm and friendly Wirral welcome from the very first time they make contact with us. We are described as “competent and caring staff” by our patients.

Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is situated on The Wirral peninsula which has a stunning coastline and beautiful countryside surroundings, with great activities for its residents.

We are one of the largest and busiest acute Trusts in the North West of England, comprising of the Wirral’s only Emergency Department. We provide a high quality range of acute care services and employ over 6,000 staff, who serve a population of approximately 400,000 people across Wirral, Ellesmere Port, Neston, North Wales and the wider North West footprint.

We have approximately 855 beds trust-wide and our financial turnover is in excess of £337m.

The Wirral is easily accessible with excellent transport links including motorway, train, bus or ferry and within easy reach to the major cities of Liverpool, Chester and Manchester as well as neighbouring North Wales.

Key areas of the role would include the following:

• Triaging referrals
• Prescribing of medications
• Providing Comprehensive Geriatric Assessments
• Liaising with Community Geriatricians
• Carrying out video and telephone consultations with patients and carers
• Some face-to-face visits for more complex cases
• Anticipatory care planning
• Escalation plan discussions
• Advice and leadership for team in absence of Consultant Community Geriatrician
• Documentation and summarising
• Supporting CPD and professional development of the team

You will be given training to manage the hospital’s electronic patient record, called Cerner Millennium, to enable electronic recording of patient assessments and the requesting and endorsing of investigations. It is envisaged that any administration will be completed within the sessional times of direct clinical care.