Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Adult Critical Care Transfer Services

Job Description – Duty Consultant

Post

Duty Consultant for Adult Critical Care Transfer Service

Grade

Consultant

Background

Adult Critical Care Transfer Services (ACCTS) are commissioned by NHS England to provide regional coordination, triage, decision support and transfer care for critically ill patients who require transfer between hospitals.  The term ‘critical care’ in this Job Description is used in line with the definition provided in the NHS England Adult Critical Care service specification and is commensurate with the care provided to patients in designated critical care areas within hospitals. 

Patients require critical care transfer for the following reasons:

·       Escalation: patients requiring specialist care not available in the referring hospital, including, but not limited to, burns, cardiac, interventional radiology, major trauma, neurosurgery, severe acute respiratory failure, stroke and vascular. A small but important number of these patients are classified as time critical transfers.

·       Repatriation: to maintain adult critical care flow and return patients closer to their home and family.

·       Continuation of Care: transfer of patients to a facility or location that is better suited to provide their ongoing care but is not an escalation. This is usually a step down in the overall acuity of care.

·       Capacity: transfer from areas of high to low operational activity to ensure equity of access to high quality critical care, as seen during periods of surge and super-surge.

Role purpose

Duty Consultants are responsible for delivering the following operational elements of the ACCTS:

·       Triage, coordination, decision support

For all referrals to the ACCTS, supporting referring and receiving hospitals and clinical team(s) to prioritise, maximise the utilisation of resources.  

·       Supervision and delivery of clinical care

Ensure each patient referred to, and transferred by, the ACCTS receives appropriate resuscitation, stabilisation and continued critical care.  This may be by direct clinical care working as part of the transfer team and/or oversight and supervision of other clinical teams.

·       Teaching, training and continued professional development

Support the induction, onboarding, signoff and ongoing training of all clinical staffing groups.  Maintain continued professional development through attendance at regular education, training and governance days.  

·       Governance and quality improvement

Maintain personal knowledge and currency of systems, processes, Standard Operating Procedures and policies to ensure you operate safely and effectively and maintain high standards of care whilst working in the ACCTS.  Active engagement with, and contribution to, the ongoing development and improvement processes of the ACCTS. 

·       Leadership

As the senior clinical leader of the ACCTS each shift, you are expected to act as an ambassador when interacting with service users and stakeholders.  You are an exemplar of the values, behaviours and attitudes that the ACCTS upholds.  There may be opportunities for additional leadership roles within the service, recruited on a separate basis.

Main duties and responsibilities

·       Triage, coordination, decision support

·       Act professionally at all times when interacting with service users. 

·       Receive referrals, provide clinical and logistical advice where required, and allocate appropriate transfer resource or signpost alternatives when out of scope.

·       Follow service Standard Operating Procedures around referral handling and deployment and specialist clinical pathways.

·       Manage the tasking of clinical transfer teams.

·       Maintain high quality clinical records.

·       Undertake and engage with induction and maintenance training associated with referral handling, triage and decision support.

·       Supervision and delivery of clinical care

·       Provide clinical leadership and support to the multidisciplinary transfer team.

·       Work collaboratively with the multidisciplinary transfer team and service users to develop and implement treatment plans for patients.

·       Ensure service and regional Standard Operating Procedures pertaining to clinical pathways, conditions and service operations are followed. 

·       Ensure the safe, timely and efficient transfer of critically ill patients within the ACCTS operating region. 

·       Recognise that shifts are unpredictable and that referrals and transfers may extend beyond the duty period. 

·       Teaching, training and continued professional development

·       Engage with day-to-day service education and training programme.

·       Support the induction and ongoing development of multidisciplinary transfer team members.

·       Contribute to service training days, as required.

·       Maintain personal competency and currency in the delivery of adult critical care.

·       Governance and quality improvement

·       Maintain personal currency in the systems, processes, Standard Operating Procedures and policies of the ACCTS.

·       Assist in the development and maintenance of Standard Operating Procedures.

·       Attend and present cases at team Clinical Governance days.

·       Contribute to service quality improvement, audit and research programmes.

·       Leadership

·       Be an ambassador for the ACCTS whilst handling referrals, interacting with service users and delivering clinical care. 

·       Demonstrate excellent non-technical skills, model the service values and behave in a professional manner at all times.

Person Specification