Job overview

Applications are invited for a locum consultant oncoplastic breast surgeon for 10PAs.

The appointee will join a team of four consultant breast surgeons, one consultant breast and endocrine surgeon and one consultant endocrine surgeon. There is an established surgical team of five Consultant Oncoplastic Breast Surgeons that provide the full range of surgical procedures for both benign and malignant breast disorders. This ranges from simple breast lesion excisions to more complex procedure e.g. local pedicled flaps and immediate or delayed breast reconstructions, including free flap surgery. The Breast Service has developed close links with the Plastics team to offer immediate and delayed micro-surgical autologous breast reconstruction. 

Breast cancer makes up 15% of the total Trust cancer activity and diagnoses over 600 new breast cancer cases a year. The current job plan is focused on delivering elective breast services through weekly outpatient, day surgery and main Theatre sessions. The job does not attract a general surgery on-call commitment. 

The appointee will support cross cover for key clinical duties, to help provide resilience and maintain cancer performance.  They will also have the opportunity to lead on an RMP funded project to improve cancer waiting times and patient experience, focusing on the pathway from diagnosis to treatment.  

Main duties of the job

The Breast Cancer Service offers diagnosis, surgery and chemotherapy all on the St George’s Hospital site. The service is co-located with the South West London Breast Screening Service and is part of a combined breast symptomatic and screening unit. The Breast symptomatic service provides a full range of oncoplastic surgical procedures for both benign and malignant breast disorders.

All breast referrals are seen within 2 weeks of referral and can be seen in any of the daily one stop Breast Clinics that take place at St George’s Hospital, or weekly at QMH Roehampton.  The diagnostic process is undertaken by a team of consultant breast surgeons, advanced nurse practitioners, breast diagnosticians and surgical trainees. In addition to the traditional full consultation with an experienced diagnostician, this one-stop model of care provides imaging and biopsies on-the-day as well.
 
The Breast service has an established Breast Cancer Multi-disciplinary Team. The Multi-disciplinary Team meet every Wednesday to discuss all newly diagnosed patients, patients undergoing treatment and those with recurrent disease.

Dependant on the type, size and staging of the tumour, treatment options for breast cancer will vary.  There is collaborative care between specialists in breast surgery with expertise in reconstructive surgery, medical and clinical oncology, psychosocial treatment and palliative medicine, as well as easy access to all principal treatment modalities.

Working for our organisation

St George’s, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and Health Group cares for a population of four million people in South West London and North East Surrey. Our sites include St George’s Hospital, one of 11 major trauma centres in the UK and the largest healthcare provider and major teaching hospital in the area; St Helier Hospital, home to the South West Thames Renal and Transplantation Unit and Queen Mary's Hospital for Children; and Epsom Hospital, home to the South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre (SWLEOC). 

 After years of collaboration, our two Trusts became a hospitals group in 2021. While remaining as two separate Trusts, being a hospitals group will help us to collaborate more closely on research, and the development, education, and training of our 17,000-strong workforce.