Job overview

Applications are invited for the post of Locum Consultant Vascular Surgeon. The post attracts 8.5 PA of direct clinical care and 1.5 Supporting Professional Activities.

The successful candidate will join a team of vascular surgeons (including this post) to provide a comprehensive elective and emergency vascular service for the whole of Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes, a population of around 1m. The post will be based at Bedford Hospital where all major vascular surgery will be performed with appropriate radiological, anaesthetic and ITU support. The out of hour rota frequency is 1:6.

There is an active surgeon led endovascular program for aortic and peripheral interventions and experience in endovascular skills is essential for this post. An interest in lower limb endovascular interventions and diabetes related foot disease is highly desirable.

The vascular services are organised in hub and spoke model and the appointee will provide outreach services at the Luton & Dunstable and/or Milton Keynes Hospital.

The current vascular surgeons work as one team. Therefore, the candidates must have excellent communication skills and demonstrable leadership and team working abilities. They will be expected to comply with local pathways, protocols and guidelines and must share our values of fairness, openness and transparency and respect for colleagues, patients and carers.

Main duties of the job

Based at Bedford Hospital, BLMK Vascular Unit provides a supra district vascular service to Bedford Hospital, Milton Keynes and Luton & Dunstable Hospital catchment areas and is a designated complex arterial intervention centre. The hub will be relocating to L&D Hospital as of December 2025. The department provides the full spectrum of elective and emergency surgery, including endovascular aneurysm repair, urgent carotid endarterectomy, distal bypass and hybrid open/endovascular procedures for peripheral arterial disease, and endo-venous treatment for superficial venous disease.

The on-call surgeon is freed of all elective commitments; instead, assuming the responsibilities for the care of all vascular in-patients including elective postop and new vascular emergencies. The on-call surgeon is required to do daily ward rounds including the weekends and provide specialist input to the treatment of patients admitted in the care of other specialties . Diagnostic (CT) angiograms are available 24/7 for aortic and peripheral emergencies and vascular laboratory services within the normal working time, five days a week.  The junior vascular team comprises of two middle grades, one core trainee, one FY2 and 3 FY1 doctors. The general surgical on-call team provides cover for vascular patients out of hours.

Working for our organisation

The hospital has approximately 400 bed, serving a population of approximately 320,000 across Bedfordshire and surrounding areas (with a 900,000 catchment for vascular services). Its core local authority populations are Bedford Borough (170,000) and Central Bedfordshire (300,000). The hospital has over 2500 members of staff (making it the largest local employer in Bedford). The hospital enjoys strong community support with over 200 volunteers at the hospital and over £6 million being raised by the independent Bedford Hospitals Charity over the past 10 years. The support from the charity has enabled the hospital, for example, to build a dedicated cancer centre, the Primrose unit. It is has recently funded a new MRI scanner, operational since early 2018.

A recent merger between Luton and Dunstable, and Bedford Hospitals has created opportunities for consolidation of resources and exciting developments in infrastructure and personnel.

It is an exciting time to join the newly formed Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. We run two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Our 7,500 staff provide high quality care for a growing population of around 700,000 across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas.

 

You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. Travel between hospital sites may be required. We have state-of-the art facilities placing us at the heart of cutting edge health care. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.