Be the clinician patients need when their care can't wait.
Urgent care is General Practice at its most immediate.
Patients don't always know what they need when they reach us. They may have been referred through NHS 111, redirected from an Emergency Department or walked into an Urgent Treatment Centre looking for help.
What they need is an experienced doctor who can listen, assess, make confident clinical decisions and get them to the right care.
At IC24, we're looking for Urgent Primary Care Doctors to work across our Urgent Treatment Centres in East Kent, including William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent and Canterbury Hospital in Canterbury and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate.
You'll work as part of a multidisciplinary urgent care team, providing safe, timely and effective care while helping patients access the most appropriate treatment for their needs.
If you enjoy the variety of General Practice, the pace of urgent care and the clinical challenge of never quite knowing what is coming through the door next, this could be the role for you.
What you'll focus on
→ Assessing and treating patients who need urgent care
You'll provide face-to-face assessment, diagnosis and treatment for patients presenting with a broad range of acute illness, minor illness and injury.
Patients may come to you through NHS 111, as walk-ins or following redirection from an Emergency Department.
You'll assess what's happening, decide what needs to happen next and ensure patients receive appropriate treatment, referral and safety-netting.
→ Making confident clinical decisions
Urgent Treatment Centres require sound clinical judgement.
You'll often be working with patients you haven't met before, sometimes with limited background information and sometimes when they're anxious, unwell or experiencing difficult circumstances.
You'll need to be able to assess risk, manage uncertainty and make safe decisions under pressure, recognising when a patient can be treated and discharged and when they need escalation or an alternative care setting.
→ Working at the heart of urgent care
You'll work in a fast-moving clinical environment where patient needs can vary considerably from one consultation to the next.
You'll see a broad mix of acute illness, minor illness and injury, using your General Practice and urgent care experience to determine the most appropriate course of action.
Some patients will need assessment, treatment and discharge. Others may need further investigation, onward referral or escalation into another part of the healthcare system.
Being able to recognise that difference – and make the right decision safely – is a fundamental part of the role.
→ Working as one multidisciplinary team
Good urgent care depends on people working well together.
You'll work alongside nurses, advanced practitioners, reception colleagues, other doctors and allied healthcare professionals, as well as colleagues across Emergency Departments, NHS 111, community services and primary care.
Within our East Kent Urgent Treatment Centres, you'll work as part of the wider East Kent UTC Alliance, alongside colleagues from EKHUFT, Invicta Health CIC, Thanet Health CIC and IC24.
You'll communicate clearly, share clinical expertise and work collaboratively to make sure patients move smoothly through the system.
→ Providing the right care in the right place
Not every patient who arrives at hospital needs Emergency Department care.
You'll help assess, prioritise and redirect patients where clinically appropriate, supporting people to access the right level of care while helping reduce unnecessary pressure elsewhere in the system.
Whether you're treating and discharging a patient, referring them to another service or escalating their care, the patient and their safety will be at the centre of your decision-making.
→ Maintaining excellent clinical standards
You'll work within IC24's clinical governance framework and prescribing formulary, maintaining accurate and timely clinical records and working in accordance with GMC guidance and relevant national and local clinical standards.
You'll maintain your CPD and essential learning and have opportunities to contribute to audit, learning events, education and quality improvement.
This is urgent care - and variety comes with it
No two sessions will necessarily look the same.
You'll see patients across ages and backgrounds, presenting with everything from relatively straightforward minor illness to more complex physical, mental health or social circumstances.
Some sessions will be busy. Priorities can change quickly. You'll sometimes need to make important clinical decisions with limited information and balance the needs of several patients at once.
You'll probably thrive here if you:
Enjoy the variety and unpredictability of urgent care
Are confident assessing undifferentiated patients
Can make sound clinical decisions under pressure
Are comfortable managing risk and uncertainty
Have strong face-to-face consultation and triage skills
Communicate clearly and compassionately with patients, relatives and carers
Enjoy working within a busy multidisciplinary clinical environment
Can adapt when service demands change unexpectedly
Are comfortable working independently while knowing when to seek support
If you prefer a predictable caseload and a slower-paced clinical environment, an Urgent Treatment Centre may not be the right fit.
But if you enjoy thinking on your feet, value clinical variety and get satisfaction from helping patients at the point they need care most, we'd like to hear from you.
What you'll bring
You'll:
Hold current GMC registration
Be an MRCGP Graduate
Have relevant clinical experience within areas such as Primary Care, Emergency Medicine, A&E or previous Out of Hours experience
Have experience of face-to-face clinical consultation
Be confident assessing and managing undifferentiated patients
Be comfortable making autonomous clinical decisions and managing risk
Have strong communication and clinical record-keeping skills
Be able to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team
The environment you'll work in
Urgent care operates around the needs of our patients, so flexibility is an important part of this role.
Hours include evenings, weekends, overnights and Bank Holidays.
You'll work within our East Kent Urgent Treatment Centres, alongside colleagues from across the wider urgent and emergency care system.
It's a responsive clinical environment where demand and priorities can change quickly. You'll need to be comfortable adapting while maintaining safe, effective and patient-centred care.
Who are we?
We are Integrated Care 24 (IC24), the leading not-for-profit Social Enterprise providing innovative and patient-focused primary and urgent care services.
IC24 is committed to improving access to health and social care for our patients and reducing demand on secondary care services.
We provide services to over six million patients, including GP Out of Hours, NHS 111, Primary Care and Integrated Urgent Care services.
Every day, our people help patients access the care they need, when they need it most.
Locations
William Harvey Hospital, Ashford
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital, Margate
Kent and Canterbury Hospital, Canterbury
What's in it for you?
Hourly pay of £58.69 per hour plus enhancements for unsociable hours
Enhanced Bank Holiday rates
Opportunity to join the NHS Pension Scheme
Free 24/7 independent counselling service
Learning and development opportunities
Free membership to our reward and discount platform
Access to Blue Light Card and other NHS Discount Schemes
We celebrate brave ideas and brave people.
Due to the nature of this position, employment is subject to proof of eligibility to work in the UK, completion of a satisfactory enhanced DBS disclosure with barred list checks and three years of references.
We have a duty to safeguard, protect and promote the welfare of those who use our services and our employees. This means we take every step we can to protect from harm, abuse and damage.
We are committed to providing equal opportunities for all and encourage applications from ethnic minorities, those with disabilities, LGBTQ+ communities, neurodiverse individuals, and other under-represented groups. We’re dedicated to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they belong.
If you need any workplace adjustments during the application or interview process, or have accessibility requirements, please contact the recruitment team.
Please note: We may close this vacancy early if we receive a high number of applications, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible
Salary description
£58.69 - £58.69 per hour