08:30 Arrive at work to add new patients to the list and discuss any issues that have arisen over night with the nurses.
09:15 Board round led by myself and an F2 (foundation year two doctor) taking it in turns to discuss each patient with the rest of the ward team (made up of nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and pharmacists) and make plans for the day. Board round is a key time to allow everyone to have an opportunity to speak and to prioritise particularly unwell patients and urgent jobs.
09:30 Ward round: twice weekly consultant led rounds where it was my job to tell the consultant about each patient, to ensure unwell patients were seen first and no one missed. Hopefully the round would be finished by midday to give time for lunch. On days with no consultant the F2 and I conducted our own ward round ensuring that all patients - especially new patients – were seen. This gave us the opportunity to develop clinical assessment and decision-making skills.
13:00 Catching up with jobs from the ward round, writing discharge letters to GPs and prescriptions for patients.
14:30 Visiting time, mostly spent speaking to patients and relatives about their condition, care and discharge planning.
16:30 End of visiting time, review of job lists to ensure all jobs done, update list and home by 17:30. However, I may be called to review a sick patient at any time, making the day unpredictable and variable.