Seventy junior doctors start work at Brighton and Hove’s biggest hospital trust tomorrow (Wednesday 3 August).
Almost 300 in total will begin work in a new department at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust this week.
And more than 200 others join a new department in the trust’s hospitals, such as the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, on rotation as part of their training.
The newest intake – the Foundation Year 1 (F1) doctors formerly known as house officers – will start with an induction day before starting work in their department.
They have already completed five years of study at medical school before starting their vocational training this week on a basic salary of £22,400.
Out of hours working – at nights and weekends – will typically take their income up to about £33,000.
They will spend four months in a department and be rotated through two more departments during their year as an F1.
And they will be expected to keep studying while working.
The second year of their training – Foundation Year 2 (F2) – also includes three four-month placements on a salary of £27,800.
The next phase is called specialty registrar training and can last up to six years.
Changes
The changes happen as Jonathan Hyde steps down as the trust’s first chief of surgery.
Peter Larsen-Disney, the trust’s chief of women and children, will take over until a permanent replacement is appointed.
Duncan Selbie, the trust chief executive, said: “As our first chief of surgery, Jonathan has made a huge contribution and two years on from his appointment surgery is in much better shape.”
During the transition Peter Larsen-Disney’s deputies will give day-to-day clinical leadership – Richard Howell for obstetrics and gynaecology and Ryan Watkins for paediatrics and neonatology.
Peter Hale has been made a permanent member of the trust’s chiefs’ group as clinical chief of 3Ts and director of degenerative diseases.
The 3Ts project involves modernising the Royal Sussex and turning the trust into the regional centre of excellence for teaching, trauma and tertiary care.
The need to modernise the hospital was brought home to the country’s top health civil servant last Friday (29 July).
Una O’Brien, the permanent secretary at the Department of Health, came to the Royal Sussex for her first hospital visit since being appointed.
Specialist registrar Dr Luke Hodgson and chief nurse Sherree Fagge took her on a tour to meet staff and patients in the Barry Building, Digestive Diseases Department and Accident and Emergency (A&E).
Mr Selbie said that she also took part in a clinician-led discussion.
One of the topics was the effort being made to understand the profit and loss of each of the trust’s 43 services to ensure that each of them has a good future.
