Consultant Physician - General Medicine

Acute services are situated at Sale with some acute beds located at Maffra and Heyfield. CGH provides specialist medical, surgical, obstetrics and gynaecology and paediatric services including Level 2 Nursery and some general practice inpatients. There is also a number of visiting services including renal medicine, dermatology, vascular, urology, IVF, ophthalmology, ENT and ERCP. 

The Medical Services Division comprises specialty units such as ICU / CCU, Cardiology, Oncology, Renal Dialysis, Emergency Department, Aged Care & Rehabilitation, Respiratory and sleep medicine.  The 6 bed ICU / CCU provides ventilation and hemofiltration. The junior workforce comprises two Interns and five Physician trainees on rotation from subregional and Melbourne hospitals.

The Consultant Physician will provide senior medical support, in conjunction with other Physicians, in General Medicine and the Critical Care unit at CGH. This will occur within the principles of care coordination, where patients/clients/residents have access to a highly coordinated health care and community support system.

Specific responsibilities include:

• Perform at the level of Specialist General Physician to provide safe, comprehensive care, consistent with approved scope of practice and CGH’s capability.
• Provide clinical and professional leadership within the medical division, working collaboratively with other clinicians and the nurse unit managers.
• Consultative support for other specialities to provide integrated management of patients with complex medical needs.
• Arrange ongoing medical management in accordance with the best interests of the patient seeking advice from appropriate tertiary referral centres where indicated.
• Ongoing management of patients presenting with acute illnesses including exacerbations of common chronic diseases and complex patients with multiple comorbidities.
• Longitudinal management of patients with chronic disease.
• Support the development of and participate in the on call Physician roster, including providing after hours support to the Emergency Department, Critical Care Unit and inpatient units.
• Provide ambulatory consulting services in General Medicine through CGH clinics or private practice as agreed. These may include, but not limited to:
  • Rapid access medical clinic
  • Rapid access acute chest pain clinic
  • General Medical clinic
  • Medical Discharge clinic
  • Hospital In the Home Service
• Clinical management and organisation of pre-operative assessment and preparation of patients for day surgery extended day-only surgery and other patients as necessary;
• Practice evidence-based medicine integrating evidence and knowledge in providing optimal care to individual patients and for patient populations.
• Provide supervision and training to interns, registrars, other junior medical staff and medical students, including the supervision of procedures such as Practice evidence-based medicine integrating evidence and knowledge in providing optimal care to individual patients and for patient populations.
• Plan, support and participate in continuing medical education activities for the medical service and other CGH medical staff, including but not limited to: formal and informal clinical presentations, teaching sessions and Grand Rounds.
• Actively participate in clinical governance programs including case review, clinical audit, morbidity and mortality reviews, journal club and grand rounds, CGH quality activities and accreditation processes
• Provide advice to the Executive team on service planning and development and equipment requirements.
• Document relevant clinical information legibly, concisely and accurately.
• Practise to incorporate the determinants of health into patient management.
• Manage illness across the age spectrum from adolescents to older people.
• Optimise management of Illness and disability to accommodate patient’s participation in education and occupation.
• Mitigate the effects of social disadvantage on disease patterns in populations.
• Contribute to health policy development and implementation in immunisation, nutrition and screening.
• Mitigate inequitable effects of education on health outcomes.
• Consider family and cultural influences on health and health care and psychological and psychiatric aspects of patient care.

Generic Responsibilities include:

• Work collaboratively with all members of the multidisciplinary team to facilitate integrated person-centred care leading to timely and effective patient discharge.
• Actively participate in quality activities and accreditation processes in accordance with

standard practice.

• Manage OH&S consistent with overall OH&S programs, policies and procedures within CGH and also: look after your own health; look out for the health and safety of others in the workplace; follow safe work practices; report hazards and injuries; participate in agency health promotion initiatives and support healthy lifestyle choices for staff.
• Contribute extensively to the development of an annual capability development plan designed to support you to:
  • achieve your personal goals and objectives;
  • live ethically within your personal value system; and
  • enthusiastically support CGH to achieve our strategic and service delivery goals and objectives
• Support patient, client and community participation in decisions in all aspects of the service
• Work within agency policies, procedures and code of conduct
• Participate in mandatory education as it relates to your specific roles and responsibilities. This may include:
  • Fire Safety
  • Manual Handling / Back Care
  • Minimal/No Lift (As appropriate)
  • CPR (As appropriate)
  • Infection Control – as it relates to the employees designated work role

1. Leadership Capabilities

1. Management Capabilities

1. Technical Capabilities:

Mapped to RACP nine competencies Professional Qualities Curriculum (PCQ).

The PQC integrates and fully encompasses the diagnostic, clinical, and educative-based aspects of the physician’s daily practice regardless of specialty or area of expertise.

Specific Capabilities:

Communication

Develop rapport, trust and ethical therapeutic relationships with patients and families:

• Establish positive therapeutic relationships with patients and their families
• Respect patients confidentiality, privacy and autonomy
• Communicate effectively and sensitively with patients and their families, colleagues and other health professionals
• Demonstrate a compassionate, caring attitude to patients and possess skills in communication, especially in regard to conveying bad news and the management of end of life issues
• Works within multi-disciplinary team based approaches to assessment, management and care of patients

Quality and Safety

• Using evidence and information, safe practice, identifying, preventing and managing potential harm, draw on different kinds of knowledge in order to weigh up patients' problems in terms of context, issues, needs and consequences
• Process and apply new knowledge and information to clinical practice gained through research and continuing professional development
• Safely and effectively perform appropriate procedures
• Maintain skills and learn new skills
• Consistently demonstrate procedural knowledge and technical skill at a level appropriate to their level of experience
• Adapt skills in the context of each patient-each procedure
• Approach and carry out procedures with due attention to safety of patient, self, and others
• Analyse own clinical performance for continuous improvement

Teaching and Learning (Scholar)

Ongoing Learning, Research, Educator;

• Assume responsibility for own ongoing learning
• Access and interpret relevant evidence, integrate new learning into practice and document and evaluate any change in practice
• Critically evaluate medical information and its sources, and apply appropriately to practice decisions
• Support the learning and development of colleagues, junior medical officers, students, other health care workers and trainees
• Understand and conduct research; identify and apply evidence based research, plan & execute clinical research projects

Cultural Competency

• Manage patients in ways that demonstrate sensitivity to their physical, social, cultural, and psychological needs
• Respect patient diversity and difference (including gender, age, religion, culture)

Ethics

• Demonstrate professional practice is underpinned by CGH five core values of social justice and equity of outcome; honesty, transparency and integrity; quality – excellence with the client at the centre; caring – support, compassion and tolerance; and respect and support for all people.
• Demonstrate a working knowledge of medico legal issues in contemporary medical practice
• Support patient education and understands the legal and ethical dimensions of patient consent

Clinical Decision Making

• Demonstrate specific clinical skills and theoretical knowledge in General Medicine required for competent practice as a Consultant Physician
• Demonstrate knowledge of and ability to competently utilise the range of common or generic skills, attitudes and behaviours required of all physicians
• Demonstrate specific clinical skills and theoretical knowledge relating to advanced life support, critical care and trauma management, including procedural skills in airway management and obtaining vascular access
• Provide comprehensive assessment, diagnostic and therapeutic skills for ethical and effective patient care
• Assess people presenting with commonly occurring medical problems, abnormal radiology & organ function and environmental & occupational exposures
• Manage general medical disorders; understand their pathogenesis, manifestations and complications
• Perform interventions with regard to indications, benefits, harms, costs, and procedures

Leadership and Management

Manage and lead clinical teams

• Is respectful of the different kinds of knowledge and expertise which contribute to the effective functioning of a clinical team
• Communicate with and co-ordinate medical teams to achieve an optimal medical environment

Manage their practice and career effectively

• Use time management skills appropriately
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date patient records

Serve in administration and leadership roles, as appropriate

• Plan relevant elements of health care delivery (work schedules, …)
• Chair or participate effectively in committees, meetings, working groups.
• Effectively work with other health professionals to minimise interprofessional conflict and maximise patient care
• Collaborate with other professionals in the selection and use of various types of treatments assessing and weighing the indications and contraindications associated with each type.

Health Advocacy

• Promote health maintenance of patients; advise patients (and their families) on ways to maintain and/or improve their health Advocate for improvements in health care
• Identify points of influence in the health care system and its structures
• Describe the role of the medical profession in advocating collectively for health and patient safety
• Advocate for improved resources in the environment where they are employed
• Look after their own health
• Take responsibility to ensure that when on duty, or on call, the physician functions at an optimal level of performance

The Broader Context of Health

• Respond to the health needs of the community
• Describe the health needs in the practice communities that they serve
• Identify opportunities for advocacy and health promotion and respond appropriately
• Identify the determinants of health in the populations including barriers to access to care and resources
• Identify vulnerable or marginalised populations and respond appropriately

I have read and understand the contents of the position description:

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