We are pleased to offer the opportunity for an enthusiastic anaesthetic Locum Consultant with well-rounded training to join an existing team of 26 Consultants, 13 Speciality Doctors, two associate specialists and four Senior Clinical Fellows. This post will be on a fixed term basis for 12 months.

The indicative job plan for this role includes six weekday day time clinical sessions, SPA and on-call duties. Please see the job pack for further details.

If you are interested in the post you must provide your GMC number to rgh-tr.medical.staffing@nhs.net once you have completed this application - the email subject line must be your application number (AR_)

Main duties of the job

Main duties will include delivery of perioperative anaesthetic care to patients for a variety of surgical specialities offered by the Trust. On-call duties include being the responsible anaesthetic clinician for emergency theatres, labour ward and critical care.

About us

We are a large and friendly department and are supported by an excellent administration team. Several of our team members hold roles outside of anaesthetics such as in research and medical education. We also work alongside a large cohort of trainees in anaesthesia.

The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust is a combined acute and community provider delivering a range of health care services to people in Rotherham and across South Yorkshire.

We are ambitious about our future and the part we will play in meeting the health and social care needs of the local community and the wider region. Our innovative and forward thinking approach means we are at the forefront of care delivery for people at home, in the community and in hospital.

At the heart of the Trust are more than 4,500 members of staff who are working out of the main Rotherham Hospital site and a number of community locations. A range of specialist services are delivered across the South Yorkshire region and nationally.

Prospective candidates are encouraged to visit the department for an informal tour and discussion.

For more information about the post or to arrange a visit, please contact: Helen Turner on: Tel: 01709 424550 (Anaesthetics Administration Manager). For informal enquiries, please contact Rob Charles, Anaesthetic Consultant & service organiser on Tel: 01709 428094

Job description
Job responsibilities

Introduction

We currently have a 26 substantive Consultant Anaesthetists. In addition, there are 12 full-time Anaesthetic Specialty Doctors, two Associate Specialists and six clinical fellows. The trainee establishment consists of eight stage 1 trainees, together with four stage 2 or 3 trainees all rotating from the South Yorkshire Anaesthetic Training Rotation. The department also has one Foundation Year 2 doctor on a 4-month rotation within critical care.

Elective Surgery

Elective surgical lists are either half or full day and run for either 4 or 8 hours. Anaesthetists are allocated an extra hour per half day for pre-op assessment and post-op care. Surgical specialties include: general surgery (including laparoscopic colorectal surgery), orthopaedics and trauma, gynaecology, urology, ENT, maxillofacial, breast surgery, ophthalmology. We have an excellent Day Surgery Unit and one of our colleagues is the Past-President of the British Association of Day Surgery (BADS).

We have an excellent regional anaesthesia service with higher and advanced training modules.

We have an excellent paediatric exodontia anaesthesia service and a community dental sedation service. In addition to the above we are the referral centre for ECT and we also provide a regular cardioversion service.

We have a resident Professor and a strong anaesthesia and critical care research portfolio participating in many international and national portfolio studies with input from funded trust research nurses.

Obstetric Anaesthesia and Analgesia

Rotherham has a busy obstetric unit. In 2018 there were approx. 3000 deliveries. 15 sessions per week are currently covered by nine Consultant Anaesthetists. Weekday consultant cover is from 07:40 - 21:00. Overnight cover is provided by the registrar on-call and the general anaesthetic consultant on call. The weekend days have anaesthetist covering Labour Ward and helping in theatres and ICU if needed.

Acute Pain

An enthusiastic and dynamic team of nursing staff run our nationally renowned acute pain service throughout the Trust. There is a well-established ward-based epidural service for orthopaedics, general surgery, urology and gynaecology with on-going developments focusing on enhanced recovery, management of acute pain in the patient with chronic pain and analgesia for fractured necks of femur.

The pain team has particular expertise in the management of rib fractures and our protocols have been published and presented nationally. The pain team also provide an acupuncture service which has reduced the incidence of post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV).

Training & Teaching

In addition to service commitments, there are excellent opportunities for the appointee to become involved in anaesthetic training, module development, educational supervision and appraisal. The department has an excellent reputation for teaching and training. The department offers training modules in all the surgical specialities available at the Trust, as well as Critical Care Medicine. All consultants are encouraged to participate in teaching and tutorials, in addition to practical aspects of training in the operating theatres and intensive care.

The Critical Care Unit is recognised for basic, intermediate level RCoA training and Stage 1 of the FICM training program. One of our ICU Consultants is FICE accredited and all the remaining ICU Consultants are working towards FICE accreditation.

There is an established teaching programme within the department, with an afternoon of tutorials on topics relating to anaesthetics and critical care medicine. A lunchtime ICU journal club and a 'mortality and morbidity' meeting is held once a month at the ICU Clinical Governance meeting.

Critical Care Unit

We admit around 630 patients a year, of which 35% are Level 3. Approximately 60% are emergency medical admissions, and around 15% are elective surgical patients. Our mean APACHE II score is 15.2, with a unit mortality of 12%, which is in keeping with other similar units in the ICNARC Case Mix Programme, and we have a risk-adjusted acute hospital mortality of 0.91 (2018-2019 ICNARC data).

There are currently 5 funded Level 3 (ICU) bed spaces and 8 funded Level 2 (HDU) bed spaces. The ICU and the HDU are co-located to make a Critical Care Unit. Theatres, Radiology and the brand new Urgent and Emergency Care Department (UECC) are in close proximity.

There are currently nine Consultants and one associate specialist, who have a special interest in critical care and provide consultant cover for the unit. Two consultants cover the unit each weekday, providing a total of 20 clinical sessions. These new posts were approved to help meet the GPICS standards for critical care.

Clinical Governance

The anaesthetic department also holds regular audit meetings (up to six meetings per annum). These include combined meetings with surgical specialities, mandatory training updates as well as mortality and morbidity reviews, case presentations and discussing new developments.

We undertake a regular morbidity and mortality review to share learning within the department and more widely within the trust.

The successful candidate will also be encouraged to become participate in the governance and service development. Supporting professional activity (SPA) time will be available in job plans to support involvement in these activities

Consultant Meetings

Anaesthetic & critical care permanent medical staff meetings are held bi-monthly on the day of the audit meetings.

We have a weekly departmental meeting on a Thursday Lunchtime, which is attended by all staff including trainees and representatives from theatres (eg) ODPs and management.

Out-of-hours emergency service

The emergency on-call anaesthetic team consists of:

• A CT 1/2 who provides anaesthetic cover for the acute surgical specialties.

• An ST3+ whose duties include the provision of medical cover for the ICU or labour ward, Paediatric resuscitation, as well as supporting the CT1/2 anaesthetist.

• SAS doctor whose duties include the provision of medical cover for the ICU or labour ward, paediatric resuscitation, as well as supporting the CT1/2 anaesthetist.

• A consultant generalist anaesthetist with responsibility for theatres and obstetrics.

• A consultant intensivist is on call on weekend days (0800-2000) in addition to the consultant general anaesthetist

• Weekdays a consultant intensivist and consultant Obstetric Anaesthetist is resident until 21:00.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• MBChB or equivalent
• Full registration and a licence to practise with the GMC
• On the GMC Specialist Register or within 6 months of CCT from the date of interview
• Hold FRCA or equivalent
• For applicants applying with an interest in Critical Care FFICM by examination and/or a CCT in Critical Care must be confirmed

Desirable

• Higher Medical Degree

Experience
Essential

• Satisfactory completion of ARCP process or equivalence.
• Subspecialty training Advanced ICM training or equivalent if applying for ITU post

Ability and Skills
Essential

• Further experience in specialist areas pertinent to post applied for. Some knowledge of the utilisation of IT in clinical practice

Management Skills
Essential

• Demonstrate effective team working skills
• Time management/organisational ability. An example may be they have developed and run training programmes.
• Proven knowledge of systems and process of NHS or equivalent
• Sense of understanding and commitment to corporate responsibility
• Demonstrate innovation and problem solving abilities
• Clear, fluent and articulate in verbal and written presentation

Desirable

• Ability to consolidate and organise change.
• Knowledge of the implementation of Clinical Governance within the directorate.
• Familiarity with issues of service
• IT skills

Research and Audit
Essential

• Trained in research methodology.
• Committed to evidence based practice.
• Evidence of audit and the implementation of change following the audit

Desirable

• Relevant research published in peer review journal

Education and Training
Essential

• Demonstrates a commitment to the delivery of high quality teaching and training to junior colleagues and multidisciplinary team

Desirable

• A qualification in teaching or instructor status relevant to anaesthesia e.g. ATLS, APLS

Leadership
Essential

• An understanding of and ability to demonstrate your ability to, Empower others, Lead through change, Influence strategically, Collaborative working, Drive for improvement and Integrity

BMJRef: BMJ-77037/165-C9165-22-05-091