NW Thames Foundation School
Individual Placement Description
The information in this document is based on the experience of the FY2s that have recently
completed this post. The views expressed in this document are not necessarily those of the
West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust. It is important to note that this description
may be subject to change.
Placement
F2 Care of the Elderly
The department
One Consultant, one Registrar, two FY2s, two
FY1s.
Trust & Site
West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust.
Crane Ward is a 28 bed (12 male, 12 female and 4
side rooms) acute Care of the Elderly ward. There
are also occasional additional patients on the
Rehabilitation Escalation ward during bed crises,
when patients awaiting social placement are moved
to accommodate more acute patients.
The type of work to expect
and learning opportunities
Being one of two FY2s on Crane ward, it is very
rarely that you will both be on the ward at the same
time. The medical rota places one SHO on-call
while the other is on Crane ward.
The consultant does her ward rounds twice a week,
on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The registrar does a
ward round on Fridays. As an FY2, you will be
expected to do a ward round with at least one other
FY1 on Mondays, Wednesdays and occasionally
Fridays. This is an excellent opportunity to see a
large range of acute pathology and manage
patients beyond FY1 standard on your own. There
are 2 FY1s on the ward, so the FY2s tend to take
responsibility for the sicker patients and doing ward
rounds but generally the workload is shared quite
equally.
There is opportunity for procedures on the ward
occasionally including chest drains and lumbar
punctures, but these tend to be a rarity.
Dr. Tsam will encourage the FY2s (when the ward
is quiet and the FY1s are able to manage the
workload) to do some extracurricular work including
audits and revision for various exams. You may
also be able to run outpatient clinics with the
consultant/registrar. This doesn’t often happen, but
is definitely a hypothetical benefit.
You will be expected to attend weekly MDT
meetings with OT/PT/Social, X-ray meetings and
journal clubs.
It is unlikely that you will be able to attend FY2
Teaching on Wednesdays as the ward round
usually lasts till 14:00 – 15:00 if the patients are
generally relatively stable. If patients are unstable,
the ward round may carry on beyond 17:00 due to
high volume of patients.
On Fridays, you will be expected to attend a
handover session to the weekend day on-call team
with a list of patients, highlighting the patients who
would reviews.
One of the key tasks of being an FY2 on Crane
Ward is management. You will have to coordinate
and prioritise tasks for both the nursing team and
FY1s.
You will also be expected to talk to patients families
(visiting starts at 14:00). You will have to document
the conversations held very clearly in the notes.
Clinical Supervisor(s) for the
placement
Main duties of the placement
Dr. Linda Tsam
Typical working pattern in
this placement
08:30 – 15:00, ward round. The afternoon is spent
completing jobs identified during the morning ward
round. The FY2s tend to split into male and female
sides of the ward while the FY1s get on with the
jobs.
As noted above
The SpR round on Friday helps to put in place
plans for the weekend.
Additional meetings:
Monday:
12:00 - 13:00 Journal Club
Tuesday:
13:00 - 14:00 Grand Round Meeting
Wednesday:
09:00 – 09:30 Clinical Coding Meeting. FY2
Teaching at 14:00.
Thursday:
None
Friday: X-ray meeting 12.30-1.30
Saturday and Sunday:
Work 2 weekends per 4 month rotation
On call requirements:
1st on shift 08:30 - 21:00 (handover in A+E seminar
room). Report to AAU on 1st floor in between AMU
1 and 2 to collect bleep 481 from the night team.
Clerk all day. The SpR on call (b393) accepts all the
referrals.
2nd on shift 11:00 - 23:00. Collect bleep 434 from
AAU. Clerk until about 18:00 then attend the wards
if there’s any pressing concerns. If not keep
clerking. Post handover, the bleep goes to 2nd on
SHO on nights, and you will typically go back to
AAU/AMU to clerk another 1-2 patients before
23:00.
Employer information
West Middlesex University Hospital, Twickenham
Road, Isleworth, Middlesex, TW7 6AF.
The West Middlesex Hospital is an award winning
acute teaching hospital that provides a full range of
hospital services to the London Boroughs of
Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames. It serves a
local population of around 425,000 people and the
hospital has over 400 beds.
* Please note that at this Trust the role of the Educational and Clinical Supervisor is merged
into one role. One Educational Supervisor is allocated per placement.