Case Study - Dr Louise Brown

Dr Louise Brown, a 36 year old Consultant in Respiratory and Acute Medicine, left the south to join a progressive team of influential experts in respiratory care in Manchester.

Although originally from Abingdon, a quiet market town in Oxfordshire, Dr Brown relocated to the North nine years ago, and has experienced some of the great advantages of working for the Pennine Acute NHS Trust.

Site Rotations

"I'm now permanently based in North Manchester, but being part of the Pennine Acute Trust means you have the flexibility to rotate between sites across the North East of Greater Manchester.

"During my training I benefited from the advantages of rotation. Being able to rotate across medical centres is a hugely valuable experience. You get to work with a number of leading consultants and benefit from learning from their individual knowledge and expertise. You can also see how things are done well and pick up best practice procedures to take with you wherever you end up working. Rotation was a hugely constructive part of my training.

"It was even during my rotation that I decided North Manchester was the place for me. I enjoyed and valued the work ethic, which was one of the main things which drew me back here to take up my role as a qualified consultant."

Personal Development Budget

It is not just the rotation scheme which she feels has helped her to develop her personal and professional skills. She continued: "Pennine Acute Trust provides access to a Personalised Development Budget, which has been extremely helpful. Being able to take time to go on courses and attend conferences means I can stay up to date with the latest research and evidence based medicine, day-to-day prescribing and how to manage cases, particularly on the acute unit.

"Ultimately I want to take a clinical lead role further down the line with lung cancer and there is a definite breadth of training here in this area. Through my Personal Development Budget I've recently been attending a number of conferences centred on lung cancer, which have informed me of the latest developments in the field which may affect my working practices in the future."

The Team

It's the people who really make the job worthwhile for Dr Brown. She explained: "What is really special about working in the department is the team here and the patients we care for. All of the staff are genuinely passionate about protecting the local population and the people they care for.

"The whole respiratory team is very much centred on a team ethic, which is one of the main reasons I was drawn to North Manchester. It's the personalities of the people here that make that possible and it means it's a great place to come and work every day.

"The team is very progressive, dynamic and welcoming. We are willing to make changes and support patients and junior registrars coming to the hospital. We also do a lot of bouncing ideas off each other and discuss cases which is really helpful."

Dr Brown feels her choice to select North Manchester General Hospital is not only helping her grow professionally but also deepening her specialism in the area she wanted to focus on. She concluded: "North Manchester provides many opportunities to develop your career and do worthwhile work within this area, as a lot of other Trusts don't offer the same facilities that are available here. I couldn't be happier, I continue to love the fun and friendly atmosphere of the people I work with."

If you’ve been inspired by Dr Brown’s story and would like to know more about working for The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, get in touch with us today by emailing medical.workforce@pat.nhs.uk

Case Study - Dr Jason Raw

Dr Jason Raw has successfully set-up three specialist clinics for patients with Parkinson’s Disease, thanks to the Pennine Acute Trust’s approach to Programmed Activity (PA).

The 42 year old family man from Leeds, who is based in Fairfield General Hospital, specialises in geriatrics and since qualifying has had a keen interest in improving services for patients with Parkinson’s Disease.

“Being a member of The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust gives you the freedom and flexibility to achieve your career aspirations - whether that’s working for a charity, in the community or developing service improvements for your patients.

“For me, Parkinson’s Disease has always been an area I wanted to provide specialist care in and the flexibility of Programmed Activity (PA) supported by the Trust helped me launch a new service to help patients with the disease. I started with just one Parkinson’s clinic in 2007 and since then I’ve grown that to three clinics, based at two different hospitals within the Trust.

“They allow me to see Parkinson’s patients from all over the North West, and even as far as Somerset, to monitor their symptoms and the progression of the disease. The clinics provide a place where patients can have regular access to advice and support.

“The Trust was extremely supportive of my ambition to launch the clinics to improve patient services. They worked with me to develop a personalised rota and gave me the advice, support and flexibility I needed to implement it. 

“The PAs they offer can be used for a variety of activities from personal development to research or leadership development, but for me my passion has always been to improve services for patients with the neurological condition and being able to bring this to fruition was a fantastic career achievement for me.”

The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust provides all the support consultants need to develop services and try new ideas to improve patient care for the people of the North West and beyond.

And it’s not just the Programmed Activity (PA) which Dr Raw believes attracts consultants to the Trust. The father of two said “I got a taste of working for the Trust during my training and I knew straight away I’d be back once I qualified. It has a close knit family feel, and it’s this friendly atmosphere which has kept me here for over ten years. Everybody knows everybody else and there is a warm and supportive environment. The Trust is also very understanding of people who have families or want to start a family, which means I have a great work-life balance and can enjoy spending time with my two young children.”

If you’ve been inspired by Dr Raw’s story and would like to know more about working for The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, get in touch with us today by emailing medical.workforce@pat.nhs.uk