Senior Clinical Fellow in Microsurgery

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Job Summary:

The post holder will, be responsible for supporting the Consultants in the provision of general plastic surgery services to Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, through:

·        Assisting in the diagnosis and treatment of patients of the Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Hospitals Foundation Trust in such hospitals, health centres or clinics or other premises as required.

·        Having progressive charge of post operative care of patients.

·        Supporting SHOs and Trust Doctors to assess patients in the A&E department and to make appropriate decisions about their treatment.

·        Participating in clinical and other service activities with the object of ensuring a high standard of patient care. 

·        Participating in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and training.

As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.

Proposed timetable

An average week will normally include attendance at one or two half-day outpatient clinics, assisting in main Theatres for at least one full day, and in Day Surgery for one half-day, and two or three half-days operating on Trauma or Priority patients.  In addition, the post holder will be expected to participate in relevant on-call commitments and training, teaching and audit activities.  Registrars will be attached to one of the Consultants in the Department and this attachment will change on a rotational basis.

The post holder is required to follow Trust policies and procedures which are regularly updated including:

Duties and responsibilities:

Clinical:

The postholder will, together with colleagues, be responsible for the provision of services to the Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust to include:

(a)        Diagnosis and treatment of patients of the trust in such hospitals, health centres or clinics or other premises as required.

(b)        Continuing clinical responsibility for the patients in your charge, allowing for all proper delegation to, and training of, your staff.

Training of junior staff:

The postholder will take responsibility for the training and direction of junior staff allocated to him/her under aegis of the training plan that that postholder has agreed with their supervising consultant.

Teaching:

The postholder will be expected to contribute as appropriate in the teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Clinical Governance:

All medical and dental staff are expected to take part in clinical governance activity, including clinical audit, clinical guideline and protocol development and clinical risk management.  They will be expected to produce evidence of their contribution in these areas and their audit of their own clinical work as part of their appraisal. 

Mutual Obligation to Monitor Hours:

There is a contractual obligation on employers to monitor working hours through robust local monitoring arrangements supported by national guidance, and on individual doctors to co-operate with those monitoring arrangements.

European Working Time Directive (EWTD):

All posts and working patterns are under constant review in line with EWTD guidelines

Educational Programme:

This post is not pre-accredited to count towards training by the London Deanery or the JCST. However you can apply to the JCST for this post to be counted towards your training if you hold a national training number and are intending on taking an OOPT to take up the post. The postholder will be expected to attend and contribute to educational activities e.g. departmental meetings, x-ray meetings, pathology meetings, multidisciplinary meetings, journal clubs etc.

Appraisal:

All medical and dental staff are required to undertake appraisal. 

Additional Information:

The post holder is required to follow Trust policies and procedures which are regularly updated including:

Confidentiality / Data Protection / Freedom of Information

Post holders must maintain the confidentiality of information about patients, staff and other health service business in accordance with the Data Protection Act of 1998. Post holders must not, without prior permission, disclose any information regarding patients or staff.   If any member of staff has communicated any such information to an unauthorised person those staff will be liable to dismissal.   Moreover, the Data Protection Act 1998 also renders an individual liable for prosecution in the event of unauthorised disclosure of information.

Following the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2005, post holders must apply the Trust’s FOI procedure if they receive a written request for information. 

Information Governance

All staff must comply with information governance requirements. These includes statutory responsibilities (such as compliance with the Data Protection Act), following national guidance (such as the NHS Confidentiality Code of Practice) and compliance with local policies and procedures (such as the Trust's Confidentiality policy). Staff are responsible for any personal information (belonging to staff or patients) that they access and must ensure it is stored, processed and forwarded in a secure and appropriate manner.

Equal Opportunities

Post holders must at all times fulfil their responsibilities with regard to the Trust’s Equal Opportunities Policy and equality laws.

Health and Safety

All post holders have a responsibility, under the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) and subsequently published regulations, to ensure that the Trust’s health and safety policies and procedures are complied with to maintain a safe working environment for patients, visitors and employees.

Infection Control

All post holders have a personal obligation to act to reduce healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs). They must attend mandatory training in Infection Control and be compliant with all measures required by the Trust to reduce HCAIs.  All post holders must comply with Trust infection screening and immunisation policies as well as be familiar with the Trust’s Infection Control Policies, including those that apply to their duties, such as Hand Decontamination Policy, Personal Protective Equipment Policy, safe procedures for using aseptic techniques and safe disposal of sharps. 

Risk Management

All post holders have a responsibility to report risks such as clinical and non-clinical accidents or incidents promptly. They are expected to be familiar with the Trust’s use of risk assessments to predict and control risk, as well as the incident reporting system for learning from mistakes and near misses in order to improve services. Post holders must also attend training identified by their manager, or stated by the Trust to be mandatory.

Flexible Working

As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.

Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults

Post holders have a general responsibility for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults in the course of their daily duties and for ensuring that they are aware of the specific duties relating to their role.

Sustainability

It is the responsibility of all staff to minimise the Trust’s environmental impact by recycling wherever possible, switching off lights, computers monitors and equipment when not in use, minimising water usage and reporting faults promptly.

Smoking Policy

The Trust is committed to providing a healthy and safe environment for staff, patients and visitors. Staff are therefore not permitted to smoke on Trust property or in Trust vehicles

Review of this Job Description

This job description is intended as an outline of the general areas of activity and will be amended in the light of the changing needs of the organisation.   To be reviewed in conjunction with the post holder.

Other:

The list of duties and responsibilities given above is not an exhaustive list and you may be asked to undertake other duties in line with the overall purpose and nature of the post as may be required from time to time.

This job description reflects core activities of a post at a particular time.  The trust expects that all staff will recognise this and adopt a flexible approach to work. 

All staff are expected to contribute to the smooth running of their clinical service as required; in particular, to comply with the policies and procedures, Standing Orders and Financial Regulations of the trust.

Study Leave:

Study Leave will be granted at the discretion of the Clinical Lead.

Funding for CPD will be equivalent to that of the appropriate Training post.

Terms and Conditions of Employment:

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and this means that any criminal conviction must be made known at the time of application.