Elderly Medicine Consultant with Special interest in Surgical Liaison
The closing date is 17 May 2026
Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is currently undergoing expansion with a complete emergency floor redesign and rebuild. This opens an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic geriatrician to join our team and contribute to a bespoke pathway for frail older people admitted to hospital.
We would like to recruit a geriatrician with a passion for excellent care to join our team of consultants, specialist doctors, advanced practitioners, nurse consultants and speciality doctors. We are flexible, supportive and inclusive. New consultants are supported with a mentor.
We welcome applications from less than full‑time candidates, existing consultants and speciality registrars due to CCT within the next six months.
Proposed interview date: 15th June 2026
Main duties of the job
Dorset County Hospital is a 350‑bed District General Hospital with a comprehensive range of medical and surgical services. The successful applicant will participate in the delivery and development of services for older people in our hospital. Their timetable will be tailored to individual skills and subspeciality expertise, but likely to focus on working with existing colleagues in front‑door frailty.
We provide daily geriatrician‑led ward rounds on the medical admissions unit, frailty SDEC services, a 38‑bed inpatient frailty unit, an acute stroke unit and associated rehabilitation and outpatient stroke services, orthogeriatric and general surgical liaison services, Parkinson’s disease service.
We have close links with colleagues working in our local community hospitals with some colleagues working across the two areas providing some sessions for inpatient care in these hospitals. Our multidisciplinary department is working together towards becoming Dorset County Hospital’s Centre of Excellence for the Care of Older People.
About us
At DCHFT we pride ourselves on the care we provide for our patients, and on the culture, we are creating for our staff. We work hard to create a fair, inclusive environment for our staff.
Our mission is to provide outstanding care for people in ways which matter to them, and our vision is that Dorset County Hospital, working with our health and social care partners, will be at the heart of improving the well‑being of our communities.
We are a Trust that celebrates diversity, and we are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We welcome applications from people in all under‑represented groups.
Job responsibilities
This post is a great opportunity for an enthusiastic consultant to participate in the development of services in a friendly district general hospital situated in a beautiful part of England. This post will be within the Department of Medicine for Older People (DMOP). The successful applicant will join senior medical staff in Medicine for Older People and Stroke, working to improve the care of emergency medical admissions and frail older people. The Trust has in recent years worked with the Acute Frailty Network to develop a dynamic and progressive approach to the management of frail older people.
We have developed a fully integrated acute frailty unit in the acute medical unit which provides daily weekday geriatrician ward rounds and MDT review. A Frailty SDEC service provides rapid access appointments, medical falls reviews and direct reviews of suitable ED patients. Geriatricians also provide ward rounds in community hospitals in West Dorset and input to locality virtual wards, alongside providing an advice line to local GPs, community frailty teams and paramedics. Together with other members of the team, this appointment will facilitate the ongoing development of the Trust’s frailty pathway, both within and outside the hospital walls, in collaboration with Dorset HealthCare, our community partner.
We have a well established orthogeriatric liaison service for elderly trauma patients and are developing a liaison service for general surgery.
General medicine patients are able to attend for rapid access assessment via Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC). The emergency floor is currently in the process of being redesigned, with new processes being developed to ensure patients are seen in the most appropriate environment. For MOP this will mean increased use of our existing Frailty SDEC. All members of the department will be involved in this and there are exciting opportunities to contribute to the development of new admission pathways.
The post holder would be expected to contribute to the all‑age medical take, with frequency 1 in 12 weekdays and 1 in 8 weekends.
Person Specification
Education, Qualifications & Training
* Full GMC Registration
* Entry on the GMC Specialist Register via CCT (proposed CCT date must be within 6 months of interview), CESAR or European Community Rights
* MRCP or overseas equivalent
Experience & Knowledge
* Evidence of the ability to manage the demands of being a DGH based consultant
* Experience of working within the NHS
* Experience in a special interest that will complement those existing in the department
Current Skills & Abilities
* At least 5 years clinical experience in geriatrics and acute general medicine at registrar or equivalent level
* Evidence of the clinical skills required to fulfil the specialty and sub‑specialty elements of the job as in the job description and technical specification
Team Working and Service Development
* Evidence of recent collaborative working in a service development or improvement
Understanding and Participation in Clinical Governance
* Understanding of the principles of Clinical Governance
* Evidence of participation in recent relevant audit
Management Training, Organisational Skills and Strategic Vision
* Evidence of management experience
Teaching and Communication
* Evidence of Teaching Experience
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Salary: £109,725 to £145,478 a year (per annum) with additional on‑call supplement.
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