Job summary
- Main area
- Cardiothoracic
- Grade
- NHS Medical & Dental: Senior Clinical Fellow
- Contract
- Fixed term: 6 months (Contract: 6 months in the first instance, extendable by mutual consent to up to a maximum 24 months)
- Hours
- Full time - 40 hours per week (40 hours plus additional hours based on rota pattern)
- Job ref
- 196-MED4428
- Employer
- Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Royal Brompton Hospital
- Town
- South Kensington
- Salary
- £55,329 - £63,152 Basic salary plus additional supplements based on rota pattern
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- Today at 23:59
Employer heading
Senior Clinical Fellow in Thoracic Surgery
NHS Medical & Dental: Senior Clinical Fellow
Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.
Guy’s is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas’ has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions.
Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.
In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.
We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King’s College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.
Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good’. Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding’.
The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.
We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.
Job overview
Job Title: Senior Clinical Fellow in Thoracic Surgery
Location: Royal Brompton Hospital
To assist the consultant staff in the preoperative assessment, operative and postoperative management of patients under their care. In addition, clinical Trust fellows have a responsibility for administrative issues including staffing clinics, arranging operation lists, the organisation and staffing of lists and overseeing preoperative and postoperative care. This should include regular ward rounds and providing in and out of hours clinical cover when on-call.
Main duties of the job
To co-ordinate and supervise the admission and discharge of patients from the unit. Responsible for maintaining accurate notes, up-to-date cardiac and thoracic monthly audit and for recording patient details in the database. To take charge of all patients in the unit under the direction of the consultant surgeon to which you are attached. Co-ordinate and supervise the work of all the junior medical staff. Operating duties are directly or indirectly supervised and specific targets in operative experience as prospectively set out should be achieved.
The senior post holders will principally be assigned to one consultant but occasionally may be required to provide support to other firms. The junior post holders will rotate between the consultant firms and be fully involved in a range of cardiothoracic work. In addition to providing immediate cover to patients in recovery and on the general cardiothoracic ward, the postholder will provide cover for intensive care emergencies. Consultant cover will be available at all times.
Working for our organisation
RBH’s surgical programme makes it the largest cardiothoracic unit in the UK. RBH supports a wide catchment area having longstanding referral relationships with clinicians in Beds & Herts, Bucks, Berks, Surrey and the South West Peninsula, as well as providing tertiary and quaternary services to referrers across the UK.
At Royal Brompton there are currently 279 beds in the hospital: the surgical unit has up to 54 beds available, divided between 2 cardiothoracic wards with integrated HDU facilities. Of the remainder, 55 are dedicated to cardiology, 86 to respiratory medicine, 18 are adult ICU plus 4 further surgical overnight recovery beds, and for 50 paediatrics. There is also a 28-bedded private ward. There are 4 catheter laboratories, 6 operating theatres and separate bronchoscopy facilities.
At Harefield there are currently 137 beds in the hospital: the surgical unit has up to 44 beds available, divided between 2 cardiothoracic wards, and a 9 bed HDU. Of the remainder, 42 are dedicated to cardiology and respiratory medicine, 14 are adult ICU beds, and for 30 transplant patients. There is also a 10-bedded private ward. There are 4 catheter laboratories, 6 operating theatres (3 Cardiac, 2 Thoracic) and one bronchoscopy room.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Clinical
Attend and assist in the out-patient clinics, taking responsibility to ensure adequate staffing for the clinic and to facilitate its efficient running in any other way. Clinic letters must be dictated promptly.
Attend consultant ward rounds.
Make formal ward rounds daily including at weekends and holidays as part of the on-call responsibilities. These rounds should be considered a teaching opportunity for more junior staff.
Participation in the relevant rota will depend on clinical experience of the successful candidate. Out of hours responsibilities include:
- Night-time supervision of care of surgical patients including those in the Intensive Care Unit/Recovery Unit and communicate appropriately with the responsible consultant regarding major problems arising with that consultants’ patients.
- Weekend on-call responsibilities include ward rounds as well as participation in emergency operations and assessment of in-patients or outside referrals.
Advise on the discharge of patients under the care of the cardiothoracic surgical consultants.
Theatre responsibilities
Ensure that the theatre cases are appropriately staffed.
Ensuring that junior staff are involved at an appropriate level wherever possible. Junior staff must be assigned to cases whenever ward responsibilities permits.
Ensuring that adequate junior level assistants are available to help open and close cases performed under the direction of, or with the assistance of, a consultant.
Ensuring that all cases are sent for promptly and facilitating the efficient transfer of patients if required.
Ensuring that communication is maintained with the relatives of patients.
Ensure that either the operating surgeon or senior level assistant involved in the operation complete all appropriate data entry tasks at the conclusion of the operation. In addition, the principal operator should be responsible for creating a suitable operation note, which accurately records the events of the procedure. If operations are delayed or cancelled, the post holders are responsible for communicating with the wards appropriately and explaining the situation to the patients.
Admission responsibilities
Communicate with the consultant staff regarding their respective theatre schedules individually and co-ordinate hospital admission in an integrated and coherent manner such that hospital beds are utilised most efficiently. This may require suggesting modifications to the planned admissions schedule to individual consultants on the basis of in-patient referrals, emergency cases or theatre cancellations. Participation in weekly planning meetings is required.
Waiting list management
Maintain knowledge of the active waiting list for your consultant and participate in their selection for admission and surgery in a manner that is equitable for patients as much as possible.
Be involved in the evaluation of patients referred to the service, particularly in-patient referrals.
Respond to queries from the patients and their GP’s (both by telephone and letter) regarding their position on the waiting list and anticipated time of operation.
Administration of service
As part of their overall responsibilities for the patients, post holders must ensure that medical records are adequately kept by the junior medical staff including daily notes on in-patients and prompt dictation of discharge summaries. Notes must be representative and appropriate to the patient’s true condition.
Medical audit
Post holders must ensure that all junior staff are present at the monthly medical audit meeting. Opportunities to present cases for discussion from the firm will arise and should be prepared for and presented by post holders or assigned to a colleague for presentation.
Research
Research is an integral component of the training programme. Post holders are encouraged and expected to participate in clinical or basic science research.
Teaching
Post holders are expected to take an active role in the postgraduate teaching activities. In addition he/she may be required to undertake teaching of medical students, nurses and other paramedical staff. Clinical research is continuously undertaken within the unit and the post holder will be encouraged to participate.
This job description lists key components of the job, but is not in any way exhaustive. The post holder must accept that he/she will also perform duties in occasional emergencies and unforeseen circumstances at the request of the appropriate consultant, in consultation where practicable with both junior and senior colleagues. However, it is recognised that additional commitments arising this way are exceptional and in particular that junior doctors should not be required to undertake work of this kind of a prolonged period or on a regular basis.
Person specification
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Learning & Development: Shows realistic insight into cardiothoracic surgery and the demands of a surgical lifestyle. Demonstrates knowledge of training programme & commitment to own development.
- Personal Attributes: Shows aptitude for practical skills, e.g. hand-eye co-ordination, dexterity, visuo-spatial awareness
Desirable criteria
- Personal Attributes: Shows aptitude for practical skills, e.g. hand-eye co-ordination, dexterity, visuo-spatial awareness
- Attendance at relevant courses
Skills
Essential criteria
- Technical Knowledge & Clinical Expertise: Capacity to apply sound clinical knowledge & judgement & prioritise clinical need. Demonstrates appropriate technical competence & evidence of development of excellent diagnostic skills & judgement
- Research Skills: Demonstrates understanding of the basic principles of audit, clinical risk management & evidence-based practice. Understanding of research basic research principles, methodology & ethics, with potential to contribute to research
- Judgement under Pressure: Capacity to operate effectively under pressure & remain objective in highly emotive/pressurised situations. Awareness of own limitations & when to ask for help
Experience
Essential criteria
- At least 12 months’ experience (at SHO/ST 1/2 level) in cardiothoracic, cardiac or thoracic surgery (not including foundation modules)
- Evidence of achievement of ST 1-2 equivalent competencies relevant to cardiothoracic surgery at time of appointment
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Sofina Begum
- Job title
- Consultant Thoracic Surgeon
- Email address
- [email protected]
List jobs with Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in Medical and Dental or all sectors