11.07.2015 Views

Consultant physicians working with patients - Royal College of ...

Consultant physicians working with patients - Royal College of ...

Consultant physicians working with patients - Royal College of ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

<strong>Consultant</strong> <strong>physicians</strong> <strong>working</strong> <strong>with</strong> <strong>patients</strong>contribute substantially to provision <strong>of</strong> the acutegeneral medical service. Usually they participate in aone in eight to one in fourteen acute-take rota thatincludes post-take ward rounds on the emergencymedical admissions unit. Additionally, they will lead award-based team responsible for about16–20 unselected general medicine in<strong>patients</strong>.Most diabetes/endocrine consultants are also trained ingeneral medicine and take part in acute medicine ‘takes’on a rotational basis. A small number <strong>of</strong> consultantsmay deal <strong>with</strong> diabetes <strong>with</strong>out endocrinology, and asomewhat larger number may be endocrine specialistsalone. There is an increasing number <strong>of</strong> diabetologists<strong>with</strong> a community diabetes specialty.Inpatient workDiabetes is over-represented in hospital populations(about 17% <strong>of</strong> NHS beds are occupied by diabetic<strong>patients</strong>), mostly due to complications such as coronaryartery disease or foot ulceration <strong>with</strong> infection.Treatment alterations and glycaemic control are doneon an outpatient basis by diabetes specialist nurses.Similarly, endocrine investigation and treatment arealmost entirely done <strong>with</strong>out hospital admission.Diabetes/endocrine specialists therefore have anunusually high inpatient load <strong>of</strong> general medical, ratherthan specialty, <strong>patients</strong>. Diabetic foot disease (the mostcommonly admitted diabetes-related disorder) is alsoincreasingly managed on an outpatient basis <strong>with</strong> thesupport <strong>of</strong> multidisciplinary foot care teams. Inpatientconsultation work varies considerably depending on theco-specialty pr<strong>of</strong>ile <strong>of</strong> the hospital. Because <strong>of</strong> the highprevalence <strong>of</strong> diabetes comorbidity among hospitalin<strong>patients</strong>, there is a substantial workload in supportingcolleagues in other specialties; this is increasedconsiderably if there are tertiary referrals: maternity,renal, vascular or cardiac services. 1 For endocrinology,the workload is greater where a hospital hasneurosurgery, a cancer centre or a specialist endocrinesurgical service.Outpatient workOutpatient work comprises the following elements: General internal medicine (GIM): this load variesconsiderably. Most consultants will either run aseparate general medical clinic or see such <strong>patients</strong>as part <strong>of</strong> their endocrine clinic. Diabetes services: new patient consultations forpeople <strong>with</strong> diabetes are complex and requireapproximately 30 minutes <strong>of</strong> consultation time.Review diabetes <strong>patients</strong> require approximately20 minutes but may require more time. Additionaltime <strong>with</strong> other healthcare pr<strong>of</strong>essionals (egspecialist nurses and dietitians) may also be needed. Endocrine services: new endocrine <strong>patients</strong> requireabout 30 minutes <strong>of</strong> consultation time and review<strong>patients</strong> about 15 minutes. Complex reviews forpituitary <strong>patients</strong> or endocrine tumours, paediatrictransition or genetic consultations may take longerand arrangements for joint consultation <strong>with</strong> otherspecialities are recommended. Nurse-led clinics: increasingly specialist services anddiabetes and endocrinology are being provided bynurse-led clinics. These are an invaluable resourcethat ensure that the appropriate review <strong>of</strong> many<strong>patients</strong>. They do, however, still require consultantsupport.Academic medicinePhysicians in the specialty who have university contractsgenerally divide their time equally between research anda clinical work programme similar in configuration butreduced by 50% <strong>of</strong> the volume to their NHS colleagues.Quite frequently, the clinical contribution will berestricted to the specialty (eg no GIM, or onlyendocrinology). The academic component <strong>of</strong> such postsusually focuses primarily on research, but there is likelyto be a substantial teaching load and other academic,administrative and managerial responsibilities.7 Opportunities for integrated careThese have been partly covered in section 4. Examples<strong>of</strong> integrated care in the specialty <strong>of</strong> diabetes andendocrinology include: the diabetes team: consultant, specialist nurse,dietitian and podiatrist the extended diabetes team: vascular surgeon,orthopaedic surgeon, nephrologist,ophthalmologist, optometrist, psychologist, etc diabetes links <strong>with</strong> primary care, includingcommunity diabetologists and GPwSIs in diabetes endocrine links <strong>with</strong> nuclear medicine (fortreatment <strong>of</strong> thyrotoxicosis): endocrine surgeons,geneticists and paediatricians joint management <strong>of</strong> <strong>patients</strong> <strong>with</strong> pituitary disease<strong>with</strong> pituitary surgeons, in pituitary centres transitional care (in both diabetes andendocrinology) for the efficient and sensitive movefrom paediatric to adult care.94 C○ <strong>Royal</strong> <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> Physicians 2013

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!