Arran Health Group - Information

JOB SATISFACTION

General Practice on Arran is a varied and interesting job in a beautiful environment with a great quality of life.

This is an opportunity to work somewhere where your have time to address patient problems. The job is much more than morning, noon and afternoon clinics .As well as traditional style general practice GPs are involved in a very wide range of enhanced and hospital services. It is the chance to use the skills you were trained with and, if wanted, to develop areas of special interest. It is the chance to work in a community that is proud and supportive of its health services.

THE TEAM

There are six (five WTE) principal GPs and three salaried GPs working in three small practices and at the community hospital in Lamlash – Arran War Memorial Hospital.

The division into three sites is largely historical and the practices work very closely together. We contract with the Health Board as a single body – Arran Health Group.

The healthcare team includes midwifes, hospital nurses, community nurses, physiotherapists, an occupational therapist, social workers, a homecare team, community psychiatric nurses, radiographers, practice nurses, admin staff and managers.

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

Brodick is a training practice and we have a very successful GP Rural Fellow Programme. This allows newly qualified to work on the island for a year while having the opportunity to undertake additional training for rural practice. All three previous fellows have stayed woking on the Island moving into Salaried or Principal posts. The first Brodick Registrar has recently been appointed as our fourth fellow. 

PRIMARY CARE, COMMUNITY HOSPITAL, ENHANCED SERVICES

We are committed to a primary care led health service and providing 24 hour care for our patients. In addition to traditional general practice we provide a wide range of quality services local to the patient.

These include:

·        Hospital in-patient services

·        Accident and Emergency

·        Fracture clinic

·        Ultrasound

·        Emergency anaesthetic cover

·        BASICS (immediate care funded as an enhanced service)

·        Police surgeons

·        Dispensing

·        A wide range of enhanced services

WHERE

The practices are based in Brodick, Shiskine and Lamlash and provide branch surgeries in Whiting Bay, Lochranza, Pirnmill, Kilmory and Corrie villages. We are progressing through a programme of improvement to the healthcare facilities on the Island.

The first stage of this has been expansion of facilities in Brodick with the addition of an extra consulting room, library, meeting room.

Work on first class new buildings in Shiskine and Whiting Bay is due for completion in February 2007

The business case for a new hospital in Lamlash is due in 2007/8.

ARRAN WAR MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Arran War Memorial Hospital is sited on a hill overlooking Lamlash Bay and Holy Island. 

The hospital is a vital cog in the community and a source of pride. As a result it receives great support from them. This is well demonstrated by the work of the Hospital Supporters League and ARCAS (Arran Cancer ….). Recent purchases by the charities for the hospital include a videoendoscopy suite and a new ultrasound. The charities and Red Cross provide transport for patients to and from the hospital and mainland hospitals. They own a flat for relatives at our District General Hospital and maintain a room at the hospital in Lamlash.

HOSPITAL SERVICES

The community hospital role adds a lot of interest to the job and offers great job satisfaction. There are twenty-two inpatient beds and the GPs are responsible for patient care. Due to the nature of life on an island a wider range of conditions are cared for than might be seen in mainland community hospitals. This includes conditions such as Acute Coronary Syndrome and Pneumonia, in addition to stepdown care. Many patients, particularly the elderly, do not wish to travel to mainland hospitals if possible.

Parmedics staff two emergency ambulances and there is one patient transport vehicle on the island. Transfers to mainland hospitals are either by Ferry or Helicopter. Arran has no airstrip and therefore emergency evacuations are undertaken by the helicopters of the Scottish Ambulance Service or Royal Navy. On average there is around one helicopter transfer per week.

GPs also provide Ultrasound, Accident and Emergency clinics, Minor Surgery and Emergency Anaesthetic cover at the Hospital. There are good opportunities to put skills to use or develop new ones.

There is a midwife led maternity unit with about 10 deliveries each year.

We have 24 hour Radiographer cover and a computerised x ray system with instant link to the District General Hospital in Kilmarnock. This allows for a quick opinion from seniors in Accident and Emergency or other specialties.

Visiting consultants provide outpatient services for Psychiatry, Paediatrics, Dermatology, General Surgery, Urology, Orthopaedics and Care of the Elderly.

There is a fully equipped theatre and videoendoscopy suite and there are regular endoscopy and theatre lists.

OUT OF  HOURS CARE

Seven GPs plus the GP Rural Fellow (0.6 wte) take part in the on-call rota.

We opted in to out of hours after the changes to the GP contract and receive additional payment for continuing to provide this service. We had long negotiations with the health board over the future of OOH care on the island and in addition to payment arrangements there is a commitment to redesign including the introduction of Emergency Nurse Practitioners. The first of these is already in post and another two nurses are at an advanced stage in their training.

We currently operate a First on-call/Second on-call system.  This allows weekends to be split easily and whilst the second on-call GP is rarely called it ensures availability for trauma and emergencies.  On call is from home.

Current Vacancies:

There are currently no vacancies.