Consultant in Geriatric Medicine

NHS; Bury St Edmunds; On-site; GBP 109,000 - 146,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider is seeking a Consultant in Geriatrics & Acute Frailty Medicine to join their team in Bury St Edmunds. This role involves delivering high-quality care for older patients, developing services, and participating in innovative frailty programs. Candidates should have relevant GMC registration and experience in geriatric medicine. Competitive salary and permanent contract offered with full-time hours.

Qualifications

• Entry on GMC specialist register in General Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine.
• Ability to manage and lead a multidisciplinary team.
• Experience of supervising junior trainees.

Responsibilities

• Provide holistic medical care to frail older people.
• Develop subspecialty services in geriatric medicine.
• Support active case management for frail older patients.

Skills

Clinical governance

Expert clinical opinion

Multidisciplinary team leadership

Education

MBBS or equivalent

Full GMC registration

Job description

Overview

Consultant in Geriatrics & Acute Frailty Medicine - Shape the Future of Frailty Care. Join our pioneering Care of the Elderly team at West Suffolk Hospital to lead transformative change in frailty care regionally and nationally.

What We Offer:

• Inpatient Geriatrics Ward: Oversee care on a 32-bed ward and develop the ward to have outstanding care for our frail populations
• Acute Frailty Service: Conduct specialist assessments in ED, AAU, and SDEC (Monday-Friday, 9 AM-7 PM)
• Community Impact: Collaborate with the Virtual Ward and community teams
• Weekend Rounds: Participate in a 1 in 7 rotation (Saturday-Sunday, 8:30 AM-12:30 PM)

Why Join Us

Frailty care is a top priority for our trust. Under new leadership, we are pioneering eFrailty Alerts, electronic clinical frailty scores, and patient-led pathways. By empowering patients, families, and healthcare professionals through education and innovation we are shifting away from traditional hospital-based care. Our approach fosters patient ownership of health, reduces ED waiting times, and delivers high-quality, person-centred frailty care. You will be working in Bury St Edmunds, a charming town in the heart of Suffolk with excellent transport links to Cambridge and London.

Interviews to be held on Friday, 5th December 2025.

Details on a full job description are attached for details.

Main duties of the job

• To provide high-quality, holistic medical care to frail older people in both hospital and community settings
• To develop services in a subspecialty area within geriatric medicine
• To provide advice and support to local GPs and community matrons
• To work with appropriate community services to enable frail older people to receive treatment safely in their own home
• To support the active case management of frail older people as part of the acute Frailty assessment unit
• Teaching and training of junior staff, medical students from Cambridge University, clinical nurse specialists based in geriatric medicine
• To participate actively in both Departmental and Trust Clinical Governance and Audit
• To have responsibility for ensuring active participation in continuing professional development (CPD), appraisal and revalidation

About us

#BeKnown at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. By us. By our patients. By our community

We are a busy, friendly, rural NHS Trust providing high-quality care and compassion to more than a quarter of a million people across west Suffolk. We care for, treat and support people in hospital, at home and in various community settings.

The West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds provides acute and secondary care services and has 500+ beds. It is a partner teaching hospital of the University of Cambridge. Adult and paediatric community services include a range of nursing, therapy, specialist, and ongoing temporary care and rehabilitation.

We promote a diverse and inclusive community where everyones voice counts and you can #BeKnown for whoever you are.

Details

Date posted: 26 September 2025

Grade: Consultant

Salary: £109,725 to £145,478 a year Pro Rata Per Annum

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Full-time

Job responsibilities

We are a team of geriatricians expanding services across the hospital and into the community to enable more older people to benefit from specialist geriatric assessment. Services include acute in-patient care on an elderly care ward, ortho-geriatric services, medical and surgical liaison, front door assessment, and outpatient clinics. A falls clinic operates at a community hospital, with oversight of intermediate care beds in the community hospital and associated facilities.

Our priorities include establishing an acute frailty assessment unit to take direct admissions from the community, falls and frailty clinics in peripheral sites, closer working with community matrons and advanced clinical practitioners in frailty, establishment of a virtual ward, and using new technology for remote assessment of patients in care homes. The role offers opportunities to shape the future of frailty care beyond traditional inpatient settings, with work across hospital and community settings or a combination of both to aid admission avoidance for frail and elderly patients.

Qualifications and experience

• Entry on the GMC specialist registers in General Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine or be eligible for entry (within six months of attaining Certificate of Completion of Training) at the time of interview and hold a licence to practice
• Full GMC registration with a licence to practise
• MBBS or equivalent

Clinical expertise and leadership

• Clinical training and experience equivalent to UK CCT in General/Geriatric Medicine
• Ability to offer expert clinical opinion on a range of problems in adult medicine
• Ability to take full and independent responsibility for clinical care of patients
• Ability to manage and lead a multidisciplinary team
• Ability to contribute to development of services
• Experience of clinical governance
• Ability and willingness to work within the Trust and NHS performance framework and targets

Teaching and knowledge

• Experience of supervising junior trainees
• Ability to teach clinical skills to students and trainees

Desirable

• Experience of teaching basic clinical skills to undergraduates
• Experience of teaching other professional groups
• Travel to rural locations

Additional information

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks apply. Applicants should have current UK professional registration. This post may require sponsorship as applicable.