Job overview

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of the cardiothoracic anaesthetists and intensivists team at one of the country’s principal teaching hospitals – St Georges University Hospital. St George’s hospital is the tertiary centre for cardiac, thoracic and vascular surgery and acute cardiology for SW London and Surrey. The department provides anaesthesia and critical care for these services. With up to 1000 cardiac surgical cases per year and a very busy thoracic and vascular surgical programme, we are one of the London teaching centres for cardiothoracic anaesthesia training.

Complex and high risk surgery is undertaken daily in the 3 dedicated operating theatres, providing intensive training opportunities for speciality registrars, CESR candidates, or candidates who want to expand their experience in cardiothoracic anaesthesia. There is also a busy programme of challenging cardiology catheter lab procedures including electrophysiology and structural heart disease (TAVI, Mitralclip, and PFO closure).
The intensive care unit and the stepdown unit admit elective and emergency cardiac surgical patients, vascular surgical patients and an increasing proportion of acute cardiology patients – including primary PCI and out of hospital arrests. It is a 21 bedded ICU and our emphasis is on clinical excellence and high quality patient-centred care.

Main duties of the job

The department boasts over 100 substantive consultant anaesthetic staff. The department has diverse interests both surgically and geographically. The anaesthetic service is spread throughout 24 inpatient operating theatres in 3 wings, and there is a separate day unit with a further 5 theatres. Outside of theatres, the department is involved in interventional radiological services for cardiac, neurosurgical, endovascular and chronic pain services as well as MRI and CT scanning. The anaesthetic department provides emergency care in Accident and Emergency, in particular in support of the Major Trauma Centre status of the Trust. An acute pain team is attached to the department and receives anaesthetic input.

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.