Job overview

The Acute Frailty service consists of purpose built Acute Frailty Assessment Unit (AFAU), in reach service to the Emergency Department, and telephone Advice & Guidance through Consultant Connect. 

 The AFAU (widely recognised as a regional exemplar in London) offers same-day emergency care from a 12-patient clinical unit and receives patients from ED following frailty screening, in addition to taking patients directly from London Ambulance Service or referred by our community partners.

 There is a wide multi-disciplinary team including a Frailty Nurse Consultant, Advance Care Practitioners, a dedicated Pharmacist, social workers and Age UK support. At present, the AFAU offers a 5-day consultant service with a future plan for 7 day service delivery, there is a nursing and therapy service at weekends.

 Acute Frailty has a well-established multidisciplinary team including a Nurse Consultant, Frailty Clinical Nurse Specialists, ACPs, pharmacist, senior OTs and physiotherapists, dietician and SLT input in addition to dedicated social workers and Age UK navigators.  The service works in close partnership with our community providers including hospital @home, rapid response services, St Christopher’s Hospice community team and Bromley GP Alliance.  The post holder will have the opportunity to join this fantastic team and provide excellent care to frail, older people using the networked opportunities to provide care closer to home.

Main duties of the job

The remit of the post holder will be to work within the multi–disciplinary team providing and further developing care for Gerontology patients. In addition, the individual will be required to play an active role in the general workload of the department while having a significant commitment to teaching and training of junior staff. In addition, the individual will be required to play an active role in the general workload of the Care Group, take on appropriate specific responsibilities as part of their core Supporting Professional Activity (e.g. infection control, risk and performance management, consultant and junior rota supervision, teaching programme, mortality monitoring, audit, speciality liaison) while having a significant commitment to teaching and training of junior staff and students.

Major areas of Adult Medicine in King’s include the interface with Acute Frailty, Orpington Hospital and other medical specialties and community care providers.  It is envisaged that the successful candidate will contribute to the development and delivery of all aspects of the service but our priorities are to continue working towards provision of recognised outstanding patient safety, quality of care, patient experience and reducing waste, and our focus is on the assessment and management of our patients with appropriate clinically lead pathway design.

 

Working for our organisation

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of £2.1billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year and around 14,000 staff based across 5 main sites in South East London. The Trust provides a full range of local hospital services across its different sites, and specialist services from King’s College Hospital (KCH) sites at Denmark Hill in Camberwell and at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) site in Bromley. 

King’s is committed to delivering Sustainable Healthcare for All via our Green Plan. In line with national Greener NHS ambitions, we have set net zero carbon targets of 2040 for our NHS Carbon Footprint and 2045 for our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus.