University Hospitals of Bristol and Weston NHS Trust
Spotlight on
Bristol and Weston NHS Trust
The Southwest of England is home to The University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, a large trust that delivers over 100 clinical services to the surrounding areas. The Trust employs over 13,000 members of staff across ten sites, which include a mix of Bristol clinics/hospitals, as well as Weston General Hospital.
A Brief Overview of
The Trust
The Trust itself is actually quite recently formed. While many of the hospitals and clinics have been around for many years, the Trust merged in April 2020, bringing Weston General Hospital and several Bristol Hospitals together.
Run by chief executive Eugine Yafele and with affiliations with the University of Bristol, it serves a population of over half a million.
Covering such a large area and offering a wide range of clinical services, the UHBW trust has plenty of opportunities for doctors from many backgrounds. No matter your speciality, you will find fantastic employment options at one of UHBW’s hospitals or clinics. Plus, you get to enjoy the excellent locations these hospitals offer – including one of the UK’s most thriving cities.
Two outstanding locations
Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a culturally rich, bustling city in the Southwest of England. It’s located around 120 miles west of London and has the River Avon running through its centre. It’s the eighth largest city in the UK and is often voted as one of the best places to live, likely because of its lively, welcoming culture and beautiful architecture!
Bristol is an extremely diverse city, with 28.4% of the population being from an ethnic minority group (in 2021). The people of Bristol are incredibly friendly and welcoming – even though it is a city, the place is known for its absence of major crimes. The community is on the younger side, as a lot of the Bristol community is made up of students; around 8.3% of the population.
You’ll find a wide variety of cuisines in the city of Bristol – mainly thanks to its diversity! Whether you fancy Lebanese, French, Japanese, or Chinese cuisine, you are sure to find it in one of Bristol’s many restaurants. The city also offers a great range of food shops to stock your cupboards – including international supermarkets like Alfu International Supermarket, which sells a range of Asian, Turkish, and Middle Eastern ingredients.
Two outstanding locations
Weston-Super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare is a beautiful seaside town in the county of Somerset and is home to Weston General Hospital. Compared to Bristol, Weston is a quieter, more reserved town, offering a more relaxed way of living. It still has lots to offer, though. As a seaside resort, you’ll be on the edge of a beautiful coastline with access to a stunning sandy beach all year round. On top of that, the town is family-friendly, affordable, and offers excellent transport links to bigger cities (particularly Bristol and Bath) and the amenities found there. If you choose to live in Weston-super-Mare, you’ll get the best of both worlds.
The community in Weston is a bubbly, friendly one. It has a population of around 82,000 and is reasonably multicultural, with over 4% of the population being of an ethnic minority background. A range of religions are practised there, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism.
The small town has a lot of great eateries, head to Duets restaurant for some delicious seafood, Brunello Lounge for international dishes, and Panache Fine Indian Restaurant for some tasty Indian cuisine. In terms of supermarkets, you’ll find Tesco Superstore, Asda Superstore, and Waitrose. On top of that, there’s an Ade-Ife Food Store for African ingredients.
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A variety of
Accommodation
Bristol
It is recommended that you use either Zoopla or Rightmove to find a property to rent or buy in Bristol (and the UK in general). You will find a range of properties on these websites to meet your needs, including small flats and large family homes. As a city, rental costs are a little higher than the surrounding areas, with the average rent for a one-bedroom property standing at £1,543 and the average rent for a three-bedroom property being £2,170 (according to Home). Of course, these prices can vary greatly – if you want a city centre location, expect to pay more.
Weston-super-Mare
Renting property in Weston is cheaper than Bristol and although you should still look on the websites mentioned above, you should also talk to estate agents on the high street. For a one-bedroom property, the average rent is £783, whereas the average rental price for a three-bedroom property is £1,378. Keep in mind that, as Weston is smaller than Bristol, there won’t be as many properties on the market at any given time. This is where talking to estate agents will come in handy – they can let you know about properties about to come on the market and often send out notices to people on their books before putting up wider adverts. You do not need to pay to sign up to estate agents and you can sign up with as many as you like.
Amazing
Transport Links
Getting around Bristol couldn’t be easier. As well as being a cycle-friendly city, the place offers a range of affordable bus journeys. There are also rentable E-Scooters placed around the city, making exploring the area a lot quicker (and fun!).
Regarding getting in and out of Bristol, it takes just over an hour to get from Bristol to London on the train. If you want to travel north, it will take just over three hours to get to Manchester.
Weston-super-Mare has easy-to-use public transport, including a train station and a bus network, it’s also great for cycling. Within the town, cycling is mostly paved so it’s great for beginners and as the town has beautiful scenery you could also head onto more challenging routes on the Mendip Hills.
It’s also simple to get in and out of the town – if you want to travel to Bristol, it takes around thirty minutes. To travel to Bath, the train takes about fifty minutes. As noted, from either city you can head to most other places in the UK.
Easy Access to
Places of Worship
As Bristol is such a diverse city, you can find a wide range of places of worship. This includes Bristol Jamia Mosque, Bedminster Road Gospel Hall, and Park Row Synagogue. There will also be many faith groups and support systems that you can join up with if you wish, though looking locally or contacting your place of worship is probably the best way to find these.
In Weston-super-Mare, there is the Weston Islamic Education Centre, which is open seven days a week for people to practice Islam. There are also a range of Christian churches, including St Paul’s Church, Holy Trinity Church, and Christ Church. However, the closest Synagogue is Park Row Synagogue in Bristol.
The best
Schools for Children
As a big city in the United Kingdom, Bristol has many schools for parents to choose from. For primary school-aged kids, Bishop Road Primary School and Brunel Field Primary School are considered some of the best (but there are plenty more fantastic ones in each area!). Regarding secondary schools, Clifton High School is rated extremely highly by parents as a private school (where you will have to pay for them to attend). For non-private secondary schools, St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School is an excellent choice.
Weston-super-Mare, despite being smaller than Bristol, has excellent schools. Out of the eight secondary schools, your kids would do very well at Priory Community School and Churchill Academy & Sixth Form – both of which have received an Outstanding rating from Ofsted. There are lots of great primary schools in the area for younger children, too, including Ashcombe Primary School and Mendip Green Primary School.
Accommodation
Reasonable costs of living and the options of a bustling city, seaside town or the beautiful countryside
Transport Links
London is just an hour away from Bristol by train and cities like Manchester and Birmingham are easily accessible too.
Diversity
With 10,000 employees, nearly 14% are from a black or minority ethnic background.
Hospital
10 Hospital sites including several highly specialised centres for Oncology, Neonatology, Ophthalmology, Paediatrics and Cardiology.
Education Support
The University of Bristol works alongside four Clinical Teaching Fellows to provide teaching and training.
Relocation
With their own internal pastoral and relocation team you're in safe hands with support all the way.
A Range of
Hospital Sites
UHBW promotes the values of supportiveness, respectfulness, innovation, and collaboration. The Trust believes in working together to provide the best patient care, all while ensuring staff members are well looked after.
The Trust includes ten hospitals and clinics in total, ranging from large hospitals like the Bristol Royal Infirmary to very specialised clinics like the Bristol Heart Institute Clinical Services.
The main two hospitals to consider are the British Royal Infirmary and the Weston General Hospital but be aware that the specialist clinics and units provide expert care to wider areas of the UK so there are many career opportunities in the Trust.
Bristol Royal Infirmary
BRI is a large teaching hospital in the heart of Bristol, offering accident and emergency, acute medicine, surgical, and critical care services. It hires lots of specialist doctors, from rheumatologists to radiologists.
The hospital underwent a massive redevelopment in 2011, costing around £80 million. This project resulted in a purpose-built intensive care unit and a helipad. Its state-of-the-art facilities utilise the best of modern medicine, ensuring the best patient care possible.
Weston General Hospital
Located in Weston-super-Mare, Weston General Hospital is a large hospital with an emergency department, cancer services, a chemotherapy unit, breast services, and even a Seashore Centre for children and young people. As such, the hospital offers a wide range of clinical services to people in and surrounding the Weston area.
The hospital is rated very highly by the local community for its efficient treatment and low waiting times as well as for the care and commitment of its staff.
10000
Staff Members
100
Clinical Services
10
Hospital Sites
What it's like
Working at UHBW
Working for the UHBW Trust varies depending on which department and hospital/clinic you work at. However, there are some similarities no matter which UHBW department you work in, thanks to the Trust’s supportive environment and dedication to high-quality facilities and patient care.
A Diverse and Inclusive Team
UHBW is as diverse as the city of Bristol itself. The Trust dedicates itself to preventing discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities for all staff members and those who apply for roles. You can read the Trust’s Workforce Diversion and Inclusion Strategy 2020 – 2025, which showcases its dedication to inclusivity. As Robert Woolley points out:
“We employ about 10,000 people in the Trust, of whom almost eight in ten are women, 1,394 are from a black or minority ethnic background, nearly 300 have a declared disability, and 275 identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning (LGBTQ)*.
I believe these are differences to be celebrated and that the Trust is enriched by all these diverse experiences.”
A network of
Highly Specialised Centres
The Trust has a number of different specialist hospitals which provide incredibly high levels of specialised care.
- The Bristol Eye Hospital is one of the few dedicated ophthalmology hospitals in the NHS and the team mainly consists of optometrists, ophthalmologists, and orthoptists.
- The Bristol Heart Institute Clinical Services is an area within the BRI which proves specialist medical care related to heart diseases and problems. It is also a leading UK centre for research into cardiovascular disease through clinical studies.
- The Bristol Royal Hospital for Children focuses entirely on neonatal and paediatric care and St Michaels is the Neonatal Hub for the Southwest.
- There is also the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre which has an incredibly specialised team of haematologists and oncologists. This centre is also at the forefront of medical developments in oncology.
Development and
Support for IMGs
Training and Development
The Trust puts a lot of focus on the long-term career goals of their employees and the development of their skills. Postgraduate study is actively encouraged and there is an active programme of talks and workshops on the latest clinical developments. The Trust employs four Clinical Teaching Fellows who work closely with other professionals to provide the teaching needed and work closely with the University of Bristol.
The Trust also has the Bristol Medical Simulation Centre where interactive simulation education is provided to all staff groups.
Relocation Support
With Bristol and Weston being such excellent places to live in the UK, alongside the many opportunities that University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust offer, it’s understandable that many IMGs want to work there. Of course, moving overseas isn’t easy, which is why the Trust makes it as easy as possible by sponsoring health and care visa applicants. They also have plenty of fantastic resources for IMGs, including a competitive relocation package.
The team here at BDI Resourcing will also make the move as easy as possible. We will guide you through the process, ensuring you tick all the boxes while helping you find the ideal position at UHBW.
How to
Apply
The University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust offers excellent careers to a wide range of doctors, including those who are still in training and those who are highly specialised in a particular field. When working for this Trust, you get to be a part of a dedicated, multicultural, talented team that always puts patients first. On top of that, you get to enjoy the stunning, thriving locations of either Bristol or Weston.
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