Consultant Anaesthetist with Interest in Critical Care

Job responsibilities

The successful candidate for this new post will play a full part in the work of the anaesthetic department with specific emphasis on Critical Care.

The successful applicant must be trained in and be able to demonstrate in-depth experience of intensive care medicine and anaesthesia. Applicants must be on, or within six months of being eligible for the Specialist Register with accreditation in Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia.

KEY TASKS:

Maintenance of the highest clinical standards of critical care and anaesthetic practice.

To participate in the ongoing development of the Critical Care Complex.

To share with colleagues the responsibility for the delivery of anaesthetic services within the job plan process.

Along with active participation in both clinical governance and high quality audits, with an emphasis on Critical Care, it is expected that the candidate will be involved in teaching at the undergraduate and post-graduate level.

To ensure regular continued professional development and compliance with the Trusts mandatory training programme.

Critical Care:

The integrated Critical Care Service commits to providing a safe, efficient and high-quality clinical service to those patients that are either critically ill or recovering from critical illness as well as many perioperative patients. Elements of the service also provide vital clinical and educational support to sick patients and the staff looking after them outside the formal Critical Care areas.

The service, which is managed flexibly to meet demand, comprises:

Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU)

High Dependency Units (HDU)

Post-Anaesthesia Care Unit (PACU)

Critical Care Education and Outreach Team

Critical Care Follow-up Service

ITU & HDU are located in the same clinical area with PACU located in theatre recovery. Together these areas constitute the Critical Care Complex. ITU & HDU provide an environment in which the general adult critically ill population is managed. Selected brain-injured patients are transferred to tertiary centres for specialist Neuro-Critical Care. Assistance is provided to our paediatric colleagues with sick children being generally managed on a stabilise-and-transfer basis.

Current Critical Care Unit bed provision:

Level 3 = 6

Level 2 = 3

Post-Anaesthesia Care Unit ( 1.5 level care ) = 2

Combined admissions currently run at approximately 1100 patients per annum. The bulk of activity in ITU & HDU is related to medical emergencies and this constitutes approximately 70% of admissions. The Unit uses electronic patient record system (metavison) to facilitate safe caring for critically ill patients. In the next few months the electronic patient record will move from Metavision to E-care (Cerner)

Other significant activities of the Critical Care Service include:

Resuscitation & trauma teams

24 hour nursing advisory service

Inter-hospital transfers

Training and education

Governance

The core 24hr service (ITU / HDU / PACU) is provided by Critical Care nurses and physicians. All patients in ITU & HDU have a named consultant intensivist responsible for their care. The junior Critical Care physicians are resident on call and are supervised directly during the day by consultant intensivists. Out of hours the resident Critical Care doctors are supported by a dedicated consultant intensivist who is required to be able to immediately return to the hospital if necessary. Out of hours consultant cover for Anaesthesia is provided separately. The junior Critical Care physicians comprise a combination of Trust Grade Specialty doctors, ACCS trainees or Deanery funded anaesthetic trainees.

West Suffolk Critical Care is recognised by the Faculty of Intensive care medicine as a centre for advanced training. We are part of the Advanced Training dual CCTs rotation for senior trainees.

The successful applicant will join our team of 13 consultant Intensivists. Out of 13, 12 intensivists currently have clinical anaesthetic programmed activities and are members of a dynamic anaesthetic department. One of the intensivists is also an emergency medicine consultant and hence shares the job with ICM and A&E. Critical Care and Anaesthesia have their own clinical governance meetings. In addition to this, they also have joint clinical governance programme. The Critical Care service is actively involved in the activities of the East of England Adult Critical Care Network and has both medical and nursing representation.

Post Anaesthesia Care Unit (PACU)

In addition to their traditional 24h post-operative recovery function, PACU has the capacity to provide overnight care for 2 patients that require higher levels of observation or post-operative intervention. The PACU staff are able to work flexibly when ITU / HDU is full.

Outreach & Education Team

The Outreach and Education Team has developed over the past 5 years to become an integral part of the Critical Care Service. This is now a 24/7 service providing initial assessment and management of the sicker ward patient, facilitating appropriate ongoing care of the patient and providing valuable communication links between ward-based care and critical care.

Critical Care Follow-Up Service

The Follow-Up Service is an essential part of the patients recovery from critical illness. All patients that stay in Critical Care for more than 4 days are followed up on the wards and later in out-patient clinics. The Follow-Up team consists of a Consultant Intensivist, a senior sister and a senior physiotherapist in attendance at clinic. Additionally, the follow-up service conducts rehabilitation and education programmes that have had a positive impact for staff, patients and their families. The Follow-Up Service has been recognised for their work by winning a prestigious award in healthcare innovation.

Critical Care support staff team:

Critical Care Pharmacist

Critical Care Technician

Audit & Research Coordinator

Professional Development Nurse (PDN)

Radiology / Pathology / Physiotherapy / OT/ Nutrition / SALT / Cardiology (Echo)

Advanced Critical Care Practitioner

All sections of the Critical Care Service have a large commitment to on-going education and training activities and run a range of courses for other healthcare professionals that include ALERT & Transfer Training.

Qualifications

Essential

• Entry onto the GMC Specialist Register in Anaesthesia and Critical Care or within 6 months of CCT at time of interview
• FRCA or equivalent
• FICM or equivalent
• Full GMC registration
• Evidence of ongoing commitment to Critical Care Medicine and smooth career progression

Desirable

• ATLS, APLS, ALS, PALS
• Formal training in transfer of the critically ill
• Dual CCT in Anaesthetics and ICM

Management and Audit Training

Essential

• Evidence of current and ongoing participation in clinical audit activities relevant to Anaesthesia and Critical Care
• Understanding of mechanisms required when dealing with concerns about professional practice

Desirable

• Attendance on management course
• Ability to handle complaints and resolve problems appropriately
• Training and experience in management relevant to Anaesthesia and Critical Care

Appraisal, Clinical Governance and Standards

Essential

• Participation in recognised clinical appraisal system
• A working knowledge of patient safety issues
• Knowledge of the GMC Guide to Good Medical Practice and Maintaining Good Medical Practice

Desirable

• Familiarity with local critical incident reporting mechanisms A working knowledge of risk assessment
• Good knowledge of current Association and ICS guidelines

Experience

Essential

• Adequate experience in ICM recognised by the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine
• Rostered as senior resident or above in ICM in an acute unit
• Expert communication skills
• Ability to demonstrate a high level of anaesthetic clinical experience and competence across a range of surgical specialties
• Evidence of multidisciplinary team working

Desirable

• Experience in a wide range of critical care settings including neuro, cardiac and paediatric
• Participation in Critical Care follow-up programme or outreach teams
• Experience in following up patients after critical illness
• Breaking Bad News training
• Evidence of experience in Preoperative assessment clinics and multidisciplinary communication

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Depth and breadth of recent experience in Anaesthesia and Critical Care
• High standard of clinical care
• Diagnosis and decision-making in caring for the critically ill and able to work independently
• Understanding of ethical and medico-legal issues including confidentiality, consent, choice issues, data protection and documentation
• Familiarity with a wide range of anaesthetic and critical care equipment
• All applicants to have demonstrable skills in written and spoken English that are adequate to enable effective communication about medical topics with patients and colleagues which could be demonstrated by one of the following:-
• -that applicants have undertaken undergraduate medical training in English; or -have the following scores in the academic International English Language Testing System (IELTS)-Overall 7.5 Speaking 7, Listening 7, Reading 7, Writing 7.
• If applicants believe that they have adequate communication skills, but do not fit into one of the examples they need to provide evidence.

Desirable

• Ability to perform echocardiography & ultrasound diagnostics
• Ability to transfer ITU patients to MRI scan for investigation
• Stabilization for transfer of the very unwell paediatric patient
• Interest in perioperative medicine

Teaching and Training, Research and Publications

Essential

• Commitment to ongoing professional development
• Teaching the Teachers to Teach Course (or equivalent)
• Experience in Critical Care research
• Record of relevant publications
• Assessment and appraisal skills

Desirable

• Appraiser / Mentoring experience
• Presentation skills for a wide variety of audiences
• Demonstrable ability to teach and train and engage other professionals.
• Experience in organising training days / sessions
• Understanding the particular problems of research in a critical care setting
• Promote evidence-based medicine
• Completion GCP training

Personal Skills and Attributes

Essential

• Enthusiastic, self-motivated individual
• Good personal interactive skills with patients, relatives and colleagues
• Ability to perform well under pressure
• Team player
• Flexible and responsive to needs of the department, especially in relation to emergency workload
• Understanding of culture and diversity issues
• Well organised, time-efficient, skilled in prioritisation and delegation
• Clear clinical and ethical principles
• Ability to lead and motivate a team

Desirable

• Clarity of expression written and oral
• Effective communication and listening skills
• Skilled in use of IT, databases, spreadsheets
• Reflective approach to clinical practice

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).