Dr Benedict Wildblood

Since being appointed in May 2020, Dr Wildblood has fully established himself as a substantive Consultant Physician and Geriatrician at the Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI).  Much of his early work involved caring for elderly patients with covid-19.  He has also been integral to the reforming and running of the Older Persons’ Assessment Unit. Geriatrics: Dr Wildblood’s core inpatient work is as a Consultant on the Older Persons’ Assessment Unit at BRI, where he lead a multi-disciplinary team providing comprehensive geriatric assessment to patients with frailty.  His role includes leading board rounds, working closely with allied health professionals, and providing holistic care. Dr Wildblood’s specialist areas include managing acute hospital admissions, cognitive impairment, falls including syncope, polypharmacy, discharge planning, and providing end of life care.  He has also had broad training experiences in medicine for the elderly, including posts in movement disorders, orthogeriatrics, stroke, and experiences at community hospitals. General Internal Medicine: Dr Wildblood enjoy working as a Consultant on the medical take.  He frequently manages patients with presentations including sepsis, pneumonia, heart failure and other cardiopulmonary diseases. He also has experience in high care settings, including coronary care unit, respiratory high care and a medical high dependency unit. Cardiology Liaison for the Elderly: Since founding the Patient focUsed Liaison Service for the Elderly in cardiology (PULSE) in 2020, Dr Wildblood has provided regular holistic care for elderly and frail patients in the Bristol Heart Institute.  His work includes assisting the cardiology team in decision making, managing patients undergoing procedures, advanced care planning and discharge planning. The main clinical benefit of this service is likely to be a significant reduction in bed days by reducing readmissions, as shown in a pilot study. Dr Wildblood enjoy working closely with the Structural Heart Valve Disease Team, where much of my role includes assessing patients’ suitability to undergo transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).  He participates in weekly multi-disciplinary team meetings with cardiologists, specialist nurses and cardiac surgeons. He also runs a weekly outpatient clinic, assessing patients’ frailty and comorbidities, with a view to making a plan for TAVI or otherwise. Dr Wildblood also reviews a range of patients with other cardiac conditions, including syncope, heart failure, ischaemic heart disease and devices.

Dr Wildblood’s clinical interests include acute medical care for the older person, comprehensive geriatric assessment and cardiology for the older person.

Dr Wildblood has presented much of his work on aortic valve disease in the elderly at regional and national level conferences. He has presented audit and quality improvement works in care of the elderly medicine at national and international level conferences. He has also presented educational projects at regional and national level conferences.

Dr Wildblood is deeply committed to medical education and regularly teaches undergraduates, trainee doctors, and fellow specialists across various settings. He serves as Royal College Tutor for Internal Medical Training at Bristol Royal Infirmary, overseeing the development and progression of around 40 internal medical and clinical fellow trainees. His responsibilities include managing rotas, reviewing competency progression, providing pastoral care, advising consultant supervisors, coordinating teaching, and liaising with the deanery. From 2020 to 2024, Dr Wildblood was the Fourth Year Tutor in Complex Medicine for the Older Person at the University of Bristol, supporting students during their clerkships through assessment, pastoral care, and participation in case reviews and tutorials. He holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education with distinction, with one module submission now used as an exemplar. As a qualified educational supervisor, he currently supports five doctors in training and also supervises multiple trainees across different levels. He frequently leads PACES teaching sessions, helping junior colleagues prepare for professional examinations.

2013 - A message to psychiatry trainees: keep your finger on the pulse, The Psychiatrist, Vol 37(2): 244. 2nd author in a letter published in a peer-reviewed online journal.

5

Patient-focUsed Liaison Service for the Elderly (PULSE). Dr Wildblood has founded, led and developed this service. This initially involved information gathering, business analysis and liaising with stakeholders, alongside running the service clinically. A pilot study showed the potential to save approximately 700 bed days through reducing readmissions, and this formed the basis for my business case, which was agreed in 2020. Dr Wildblood continues to analyse and develop the service, including providing services to cardiac surgery. He has also developed links with industry representatives, which are helping to further regional expansion and collaboration with other hospitals in South West England. Frailty Service Development. Whilst working at the Weston General Hospital, a consultant colleague and Dr Wildblood aided in the development of a case for an acute frailty service. His roles included collecting data, defining assessment pathways, educating allied health professionals and meeting with senior managers to present the benefits of service development. Their work formed a platform for another colleague to develop the Geriatric Emergency Medicine Service (GEMS), which was the 2019 south west regional winner for Urgent and Emergency Care’ in the NHS Parliamentary Awards. Royal College of Physicians College Tutor for Internal Medical Training. This role is described below. It involves significant leadership and management work, including rota coordination, hosting meetings and working with the medical education director.

12