The Birmingham & Midland Eye Centre (BMEC), founded in 1823, is one of the largest tertiary level Ophthalmic Hospitals in Europe, providing highly specialised expertise in clinical care, research and education. We are a Centre of Excellence for the treatment and care of patients across the West Midlands as well as receiving referrals both nationally and internationally.

An exciting training opportunity has arisen for a Clinical Fellow to join our expanding world-class team at BMEC, part of Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust. We are increasing our current consultant team of 33, 2 associate specialists, 13 specialty doctors and 17 fellows enabling us to meet the growing ophthalmic demands of our ever changing demographic. Are you ready to join our outstanding medical team; many of whom are internationally renowned for cutting-edge research and care innovation and work collaboratively within its integrated A & E, Ward, Theatre, Outpatient and Diagnostic teams? The post holder will be working with an extended team of specialist nurses, allied health professionals, technicians and photographers to further support new ways of working and expand the quality services BMEC already offers.

Birmingham and the surrounding conurbation offers a very high quality of life with excellent residential areas, schools and everything one would expect to find in Britain's second city.

Closing date: 08/08/2022

Interview date: W/C 15/08/2022

Main duties of the job

Oculoplastic surgery specific

• Clinical duties include: general ward care, surgery, outpatient clinics and after hours emergency cover for Oculoplastic services.
• Manage patients who present with or develop complications as a result of their condition during their admission and seek senior help when required.
• The Fellow is expected to participate in new and on-going projects and present at national and international meetings. The Fellow will be expected to undertake at least two projects leading to publication during the Fellowship.
• All research undertaken should conform to the rules of Good Research Governance and all research projects involving patients or their records (including those originating elsewhere) must have approval from the Research Ethics Committee and Research and Development Directorate.
• Liaising with junior doctors, other Consultant Ophthalmologists, Consultant Plastic/Maxillofacial/ENT Surgeons, Consultant Dermatologists and Pathologists and the Oculoplastic Consultants.

About us

We have three strategic objectives:

People: To cultivate and sustain happy, productive and engaged staff;

Patients: To be good or outstanding at everything we do;

Population: To work seamlessly with partners to improve lives;

We run services from Sandwell, City and Rowley Regis Hospitals, Birmingham & Midland Eye Centre, Birmingham Treatment Centre, the Lyng and Leasowes Intermediate Care Centre. Our GP practices and community teams provide care in schools, healthcare centres and at home.

Our next milestone is opening the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH), a once in a career opportunity to shape care transformation within and beyond the hospital walls. MMUH will host the busiest Emergency Department in Europe, with state of the art facilities and future development of a Learning Campus.

Developing and caring for our People is fundamental. We were one of the first Trusts to provide the Real Living Wage, as well as a Live and Work scheme to support people at risk of homelessness into paid work and training. We offer a range of staff benefits, health & wellbeing support and will help you to bring your ambition to life through our bespoke training and development programmes. As People is one of our three strategic objectives, we make a continued commitment to prioritise support for all our colleagues.

Job description
Job responsibilities

We have an excellent reputation as the centre of post-graduate training in Ophthalmology for the West Midlands region. We are the hosts of the Ophthalmology Academy Unit of the University of Birmingham and have one of the biggest Ophthalmology research portfolios in the country. BMEC prides itself on the development of staff, appreciating that our staff are key in delivering high quality care to all patients and our aim for this post is the increase the clinical knowledge and skills of the post holder in order to support their growth. Being a tertiary referral centre in a teaching hospital, BMEC has lots of experience of training hundreds of Ophthalmologists across the UK and Overseas over the years.For more information on the job role and responsibilities, please refer to the Job Description attached.

General Information/requirements

General

• At all times practice in line with the General Medical Council guidelines of Good Medical Practice.
• Work with your educational supervisor to ensure adequate assessment of your practice throughout the year to inform the appraisal process.
• Engage in the development of local and Trust policy relating to patient care.
• Attend and contribute to departmental teaching sessions as required. The post holder will be required to participate fully in the education and training of medical students, trainee doctors, paramedical, nursing and other appropriate personnel.
• Keep up to date with external and internal CPD (continuing professional development) as detailed in the Royal College of Ophthalmology guidelines and in line with needs identified at annual appraisal

• Take an active role in non-clinical self-development for example, acquiring leadership roles and responsibilities within the Trust.
• Take part in regular audit of ones own and others practice and contribute data to individual outcome measures as requested by the Trust, including Trust performance activity such as incident reporting.
• Engage with the revalidation process.
• Comply with Trust policies and maintain statutory and mandatory training.

Your directorate will have an induction period for new employees, overseen by your educational supervisor, incorporating assessment of your abilities against the job description and an understanding of your ability gained at interview. A record of key assessments will be kept and the induction period will be competence-based that is it does not have a fixed time period to determine when competency is deemed adequate. Failure to achieve satisfactory assessment within one month of starting the post will require a meeting with the post holder, educational supervisor, (and/or clinical supervisors) and clinical director to produce an action plan for managing the situation. This plan may then be reviewed and approved by the Responsible Officer.BMEC treats both common and rare eye disorders, including cataract, cornea, glaucoma, diabetes-related eye diseases, inflammatory eye diseases and immunosuppression, inherited genetic conditions, neuro-ophthalmology, age related macular degeneration, oculoplastics, complex orbital surgery, vitreo-retinal and much more. All aspects of eye surgery are also carried out by the consultants working at the trust, either substantively or as visiting consultants. Along with state of the art laser and diagnostic equipment, the centre provides the full range of general and specialist outpatient services

For an informal discussion, please contact:

Clinical Director: Mr Yajati Ghosh EMAIL ADDRESS: yajati.ghosh@nhs.net

Oculoplastic Consultant: Miss Faye Mellington EMAIL ADDRESS: faye.mellington@nhs.net

Person Specification
Eligibility
Essential

• oFull GMC Registration at time of appointment with a current license to practise.
• oEvidence of achievement of Foundation competencies by time of appointment in line with GMC standards in Good Medical Practice
• oEvidence of completion of core ophthalmology training (certificate of completion of training, CCT or equivalent) at time of appointment.
• oEvidence of achievement of ST5/6 (or equivalent) competencies in Ophthalmology at time of application, supported with evidence from assessments of clinical performance and multisource feedback
• oEligibility to work in the UK and ability to demonstrate evidence

Relevant experience in speciality
Essential

• oCCT in Ophthalmology for UK candidates. Experience of Oculoplastic and Lacrimal Surgery within an approved training programme.
• oAppropriate experience of supervised and unsupervised surgery as per college guidelines

Clinical skills
Essential

• oCore knowledge base in Ophthalmology, with previous exposure to Oculoplastic and Lacrimal surgery.
• oAble to take a detailed history, carry out a full examination and arrive at a differential diagnosis

Specialty specific skills related to the post
Essential

• oAt least five years experience in Ophthalmology
• oAttendance at relevant courses
• oAble to operate independently and critically assess own surgical skills

Desirable

• oAble to perform cataract surgery unsupervised

Training and Research
Essential

• oHave evidence of experience as a trainer/teacher
• oUnderstand principles and value of research
• oHas published and presented research papers and posters in the relevant subspecialty

Desirable

• oIs committed to publishing within the field of Oculoplastic surgery

Basic Qualifications
Essential

• oMBBS or equivalent medical degree

Desirable

• Additional Postgraduate qualification

Higher Qualifications
Essential

• oFRCOphth/FRCS(G), FRCI/FRCSEEd(Ophth), MRCOphth/MRCSEEd(Ophth) or equivalent

BMJRef: BMJ-87395/381-SS-4418354