SPECIALIST MEDICINE

We have a multitude of exciting and complex areas to work within, with lots of opportunities for development and support from our Education and Practice Development teams.

Specialist Medicine welcomes Nurses (RN), Nursing Associates (RNA) and Health Care Assistants (HCA) from all backgrounds with varying levels of experience to come and be a part of our evolving team.

A diverse range of Specialities

Specialist Medicine comprises of General Medicine, Care of the Older Person, Neurology, The Stroke Unit, The Infectious Diseases Unit, Medical Day Case Unit (MDCU), UHL at Ashton, and multiple Clinical Nurse Specialist roles (CNS) based at the Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) and Leicester General Hospital (LGH).

If you would like to discuss joining the Specialist Medicine team, contact:

Rachael Lee-Shield
Matron of Recruitment and Retention
[email protected]
07977 957 214

General Medicine – Leicester Royal Infirmary and General Hospital

General Medicine covers the treatment and management of a range of long term illnesses but also short term acute medical conditions. These can range from poorly controlled diabetes to respiratory conditions or a sudden infection such as pneumonia.

Our General Medical wards are Ward 33, 34, Hampton Suite and 38 at the LRI and Wards 1 and 15 at the LGH. All of our wards are fast paced with a high number of admissions and discharges daily, they care for both male and female adult patients of all ages.

All of our General Medical wards work closely within their Multi- Disciplinary Teams (MDT), this includes; Doctors, Nurses, Therapists, Specialist Discharge Teams and other external agencies such as social services, with the shared goal of keeping the patient and family at the centre of all decision making.

There is opportunity to learn about a variety of complex medical conditions following the patient’s journey from admission to discharge.

Care of the Older Person

Our Care of the Older Person wards comprise of wards 23, 29, 30, 31 and 36 at the Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI)

All of our Care of the Older Person areas specialise in caring for patients over 65 with a variety of complex medical conditions such as Dementia or cognitive impairment, Parkinson’s Disease, skin conditions that require ongoing treatment, recurrent falls or an acute onset of Delirium potentially due to an underlying infection or continence issues.

The wards are fast paced and no two days are the same, caring for patients with complex needs with great opportunity for job satisfaction. The wards offer holistic care for patients through a Multi-disciplinary (MDT) approach including the Palliative Care Team, Admiral Nurses, Speech and Language Therapists, Dieticians and the Mental Health Liaison Service (MHLS).

We also work closely with the Meaningful Activity Facilitators (MAF). This team supports the wards in providing specialist care to patients with cognitive impairment, by involving the patients in activities tailored to their individual needs.

Neurology – Leicester Royal Infirmary and General Hospital

Ward 24 at the Leicester Royal Infirmary has 27 beds and cares for patients with a wide variety of Neurological conditions including Guillain- Barre Syndrome, Epilepsy, Motor Neuron Disease, Multiple Sclerosis and a multitude of other neurological conditions including headaches and visual disturbance.

The Brain Injury Unit (BIU) based at the Leicester General Hospital (LGH) has 9 beds and cares for patients who have had a traumatic Brain Injury potentially resulting in acute cognitive impairment. Patients that are nursed on BIU tend to require longer term inpatient stays due to the complexity of their brain injury and the associated long term effects.

BIU was the first ward at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) to achieve and maintain a “Blue Caring at its Best” status on the ward based performance assessment framework (Assessment and Accreditation) which is designed to foster a culture of safety by helping nurses monitor the quality of care being provided in their clinical area.

The Neuro Rehabilitation Unit (NRU) based at the Leicester General hospital has 15 beds and offers rehabilitation to those impacted by their neurological condition or injury. Patients transfer from both Ward 24 and BIU with some also transferring over from the Stroke Unit. NRU has a large team of Therapy Specialists who work tirelessly to rehabilitate the patients, to enable them to return to a new functional baseline. NRU has also achieved and maintained Blue status in their ward Assessment and Accreditation review.

The Neurology wards often care for patients with tracheostomy airways and take acute repatriations from other hospitals outside of Leicestershire.

Educational, clinical skills and rotational opportunities are available across all of these areas.

Stroke Unit

Our Stroke Unit consists of multiple areas across the Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) and the Leicester General Hospital (LGH).

On Ward 25 (LRI) there is an 8 bedded Hyper Acute Stroke Unit (HASU) for patients who have been admitted directly from the Emergency Department following a diagnosis of a Stroke, requiring further Acute monitoring and observation. Once these patients are fully assessed and there is a plan of care in place they are transferred out of HASU onto either Ward 25 or 26 to continue their Stroke care. Once medically stable the patients who have been set rehabilitation goals will be transferred either to a community hospital or Ward 3 LGH dependening on their address (city/county).

Ward 3 at the Leicester General Hospital is the Rehabilitation Unit linked to our Acute Stroke Unit at the LRI. The Ward has 16 beds and takes both male and female patients who have set rehab goals from our dedicated Stroke Therapy team, to help them achieve and adjust to their new baseline prior to being discharged. Each area works closely with their MDT to provide the best outcome for their patients.

On the Stroke Unit there are Specialist Stroke Nurses and Stroke Clinicians, known as the Rapid Access Protocol team (RAP). The RAP team attend the Emergency Department (ED) with an aim to give potentially life-saving “clot busting” treatment to stroke patients within the first few hours of a stroke. There is a RAP nurse available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to assess and review Stroke patients throughout the hospital.

The Stroke Unit has a dedicated Stroke Specialist Education nurse to provide training and support to new and existing members of the team, to make sure they are competent with the clinical skills required on a Stroke Unit.

The Infectious Diseases Unit (IDU)

The Infectious Diseases Unit (IDU) is based at the LRI and has 18 beds including 10 negative pressure side rooms. The team cares for adult patients who are suspected or confirmed to have an Infectious Disease such as TB, Malaria, Hepatitis and also difficult to treat infections of the skin and kidney. IDU is the Regional Centre for people with suspected hemorrhagic fevers thus the staff are all given special infection prevention training to manage these cases.

There are a variety of Specialists nurses who provide clinic support for patients with various diagnosed infections and organise Intravenous (IV) therapy in the patient’s own home if required.

The Medical Day Case Unit (MDCU)

The Medical Day Case Unit (MDCU) is based on two wards (17 and 19) at the Leicester General Hospital. It is a Nurse led service that specialises in delivering high cost therapy treatments to patients with chronic health conditions such as Chrohns disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis and some neurological conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis. The service also provides a blood to service for patients referred by GPs or clinics; also cytotoxic medications and Joint injection clinics, epidural clinics, lumbar puncture (diagnostic and treatment) and Botox treatments for Dystonia are all delivered in the MDCU.

The MDCU is predominantly a Monday to Friday service with occasional clinics at the weekend to meet increased service demand.

UHL at Ashton (Hinckley)

UHL at Ashton is based in the Ashton Care home in Hinckley with 24 ensuite bedrooms. This is a short stay facility utilised by University Hospitals of Leicester for patients that no longer require acute medical care in a hospital setting. The Nursing and Therapy team based at Ashton are trained to work with the patients to provide the best care and experience to enable a safe and timely discharge. There is a criteria for patients that are suitable for transfer to UHL at Ashton.

Multidisciplinary Led Care

Ward 22 at the Leicester General Hospital is a new ward which opened in September 2022 to help with winter pressure within Specialist Medicine. It is a 16 bedded nightingale ward which accommodates both male and female adult patients. There is a set criteria for referral to Ward 22 which seeks to optimise a patients’ chance of living a more independent life, there is a strong ethos of MDT working to ensure a safe and timely discharge following a short period of rehabilitation.

Colleague Stories

Rachael Lee-shield, Education and Practice Development Sister, LRI and LGH

I am excited to educate and develop all of our new and existing staff members

“When I qualified as a Nurse, I started my career on the stroke unit progressing to deputy sister and onto Care of the Elderly as a ward sister. I have recently started as Education and Practice Development sister for SM, I am excited to educate and develop all of our new and existing staff members.”

Rachael Lee-shield, Education and Practice Development Sister, LRI and LGH
Fiona Vas, Ward 31 Deputy Sister , LRI

Specialist Medicine sees potential in overseas nurses and supports their development through career progression

“I came to UHL in 2019 through the overseas nurse’s programme, I had Children’s ITU experience from India but when I started to work in Care of the Elderly Medicine I loved it!, The ward has provided me with guidance and direction to progress into my Deputy sister role within 3 years of working within Medicine.”

Fiona Vas, Ward 31 Deputy Sister, LRI
Emma Johnson, Staff Nurse, Care of the Elderly Medicine, LRI

I love working as a Nurse in Care of the Elderly Medicine

“I qualified in 2017 and have been a part of Care of the Elderly Medicine ever since. My colleagues are friendly and supportive and we work together as a team to deliver holistic high quality care to our vulnerable elderly patients.”

Emma Johnson, Staff Nurse, Care of the Elderly Medicine, LRI
Tawanda Mapfumo- Staff Nurse- Ward 31- LRI

I became a Nurse because my passion lies with caring for older people

“Working on the Medical wards at the LRI as a one to one support worker alongside patients with cognitive impairment and challenging behaviour laid the foundations for my future career and I decided to become a Registered Nurse.”

Tawanda Mapfumo, Staff Nurse, Ward 31, LRI
Antonella Corbo- Ward Manager- Brain Injury Unit- LGH

With the amazing support I received, I have progressed from staff nurse to ward sister within 5 years

“After qualifying in Italy I came to the UK in 2016 through the international nursing programme; with the amazing support I received I have developed from staff nurse to ward sister. I am very proud to manage a Blue Caring at its Best Ward in Specialist Medicine.”

Antonella Corbo, Ward Manager, Brain Injury Unit, LGH
Jack Banks-Moore- Charge nurse- General Medicine- Ward 33 LRI

If you can work in Medicine, you can work anywhere!

“I transferred from a different Trust to begin my new journey as a charge nurse within Specialist Medicine at UHL. I have been made to feel so welcomed by everyone in SM and it is clear that they all adhere to the UHL values, we are one team and we work best when we work together.”

Jack Banks-Moore, Charge Nurse, General Medicine, Ward 33 LRI
Laura Lomas, Discharge Matron, Specialist Medicine

Specialist Medicine has given me ambition in my career and has given me the opportunities to succeed

“I started working in Specialist Medicine in 2011; I have had opportunities to work in various areas and roles. I am currently the Discharge Specialist Matron, where my focus is on operational challenges and safe and timely discharges for our patients within SM.”

Laura Lomas, Discharge Matron, Specialist Medicine
Donna Walker, Specialist Medicine Matron, Ward 23 LRI and Ward 3 LGH

I enjoy the meaningful recognition for staff working hard within specialist medicine!

“I transferred to specialist medicine after 20 years in a different specialty- It has been a huge change but I love the challenge and the fast pace of everyday working. I have been developed from ward sister to ward matron by my seniors believing in my potential.”

Donna Walker, Specialist Medicine Matron, Ward 23 LRI and Ward 3 LGH
Elizabeth Simbowo, Health Care Assistant, Care of the Elderly, LRI

Moving to an acute hospital setting from a Care home was the best decision for me

“I have been working as a HCA in Care of the Elderly Medicine for 9 years and I am proud to say that I have never looked back. I am now a HCA Buddy, A Dementia Champion and a Mouth Care Link nurse.”

Elizabeth Simbowo, Healthcare Assistant, Care of the Elderly, LRI
Amal Nair, Deputy Charge Nurse, General Medicine, LRI

The momentum at which my career progressed in Specialist Medicine was amazing

“I was an ITU nurse back home and I was worried how I would perform in a Medical ward set up but I felt incredibly blessed to have an awesome team supporting me over the past 3 years which has led to me taking a secondment opportunity as a deputy charge nurse in General Medicine.”

Amal Nair, Deputy Charge Nurse, General Medicine, LRI
Health Care Assistant, General Medicine, LRI

I have been a HCA for just over a year and what a year it’s been!

“Working as a HCA in Specialist Medicine has given me a unique opportunity to have a meaningful impact on the lives’ of patients I have cared for. I love my role as a HCA and working in medicine has allowed me to meet so many amazing and diverse people.”

Michael Reeve, Healthcare Assistant, General Medicine, LRI
Kieron Fletcher, Deputy Head of Nursing, Specialist Medicine, LRI and LGH

I chose to work in Specialist Medicine because of the opportunities for Career Development

“I have worked in different specialities within UHL but have remained the longest in Specialist Medicine due to the variety and challenges medicine presents. I started my Journey as a Charge nurse and have developed on to become Deputy Head of Nursing.”

Kieron Fletcher, Deputy Head of Nursing, Specialist Medicine, LRI and LGH
Ciara Cooke, Trainee Nursing Associate, Care of the Elderly, LRI

I love working with the Elderly and Palliative care is a passion of mine

“I was a Healthcare Assistant for 18 months before transferring onto the Trainee Nursing Associate programme. It is a flexible and affordable route for me to progress into being a Registered Nursing associate and eventually my dream of becoming a Nurse.”

Ciara Cooke, Trainee Nursing Associate, Care of the Elderly, LRI
Sheeja George, Registered Nursing Associate, Stroke Unit, LRI

Being a Registered Nursing Associate on the Stroke unit is extremely rewarding

“I began my journey on the Stroke Unit as a HCA in 2019 and was encouraged by management to do my Nursing Associate training, I qualified this year and work alongside the registered nurses to deliver high quality stroke care to our patients.”

Sheeja George, Registered Nursing Associate, Stroke Unit, LRI