General medicine: NHS Consultant Interview Questions
The general medicine questions that sit on top of the consultant appointments core: clinical scenarios, the system and governance questions specific to the specialty, and presentation titles.
Updated 7 November 2026
The structures these questions are marked on
- SAFER See the patient, Assess systematically with ABCDE, Fix what you can and decide, Escalate with a clear request in SBAR or ISBAR, Review: the patient told, the handover, the documentation and what you would do if the first plan failed. Full guide →
- The What it is in a sentence, Why it matters with a fact, What it means for this organisation and specialty, What I would do at my level and how I would measure it. Full guide →
- STAR Situation in a sentence, Task: what you had to do, Action: what you did in the first person, Result: the outcome with a number where there is one. Add Reflection for STARR. Full guide →
Clinical scenario
Decide and explain the decision. Own the complication plainly, describe the change and how you checked it worked. Be honest about gaps in your training and how you will close them; panels respect candour and distrust claims of complete readiness.
You arrive for the post take ward round and forty patients have been admitted overnight. How do you run it?
See the sickest first: a quick triage with the registrar to find who needs you now. Assess at a pace, making decisions rather than lists. Fix: senior decisions on every patient, discharges identified early, ceilings of care set where needed. Escalate the ones who need intensive care or specialty input. Review: hand over the jobs clearly, and look afterwards at why the take was that size.
A frail 88 year old is deteriorating on the ward and the family want everything done. How do you lead it?
See the patient yourself. Assess the reversibility and what the patient would have wanted. Fix: the treatment that helps, and a clear ceiling of care. Escalate to the family conversation, which you lead, with the nurse present. Review: documentation, the resuscitation decision, and support for the team.
The medical registrar calls you at home at 2am about a patient they are worried about but cannot quite explain why. What do you do?
Take it seriously, because experienced registrars are often right. Ask the specific questions, decide whether you need to come in, and if in doubt, come in. Say what you would want them to do before you arrive and how you would support them afterwards.
A patient has been on the ward for weeks waiting for a care package. What is your role?
Clinical review to confirm they are medically fit, then the system: discharge coordinators, social care, step down options, and escalation through the trust's flow meetings. Document the harm of delay and support the patient and family.
How would you set up or expand same day emergency care for medical patients here?
The patient groups suited to it, the space, the staffing, the pathways with the emergency department and primary care, and how you would measure admissions avoided and safety.
System knowledge
Read the trust's strategy, annual plan, CQC report and staff survey before the interview and quote their themes back. For waiting lists and productivity, name the levers a consultant actually has and how you would measure progress. Keep proposals to what one person can deliver in a first year.
What are the biggest pressures on acute medicine in this trust, and how would you help?
Flow, corridor care, delayed discharges, winter, workforce gaps on the medical rota, and the shift to community care. Know the trust's position and give one realistic contribution.
What do you understand by the move from hospital to community care, and what does it mean for general medicine?
The 10 Year Health Plan, virtual wards, frailty services, integrated care. Say what you think works and what the hospital still has to do.
Governance, safety and quality
Describe the incident, your part, how the patient or family were told, what the investigation found and what changed. For QI, give the problem, the measure, the change, the result and whether it stuck. An answer with no mistake in it is the worst answer.
Tell us about a death you reviewed that changed how the team works.
A structured judgement review or a mortality meeting case, what it found, the change and how you know it stuck.
How would you reduce harm from falls and delirium on the medical wards?
The evidence based bundle, multidisciplinary ownership, measurement, and how you would keep it going after the project ends.
Presentation
Answer the title set, not a general one. Signpost a structure with a recommendation, use facts about this trust, finish inside the time, and prepare for the questions that follow. Most panels now limit or ban slides, so practise speaking without them.
- Your vision for general and acute medicine at this trust over the next five years.
- Improving flow through the medical take without additional beds.
- Caring for frail older patients outside hospital: what general medicine should lead.