Training Lead in Echocardiography / Network Practice Educator

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key Roles

Professional

The post holder will be required to keep their professional, specialist scientific and clinical knowledge and skills up to date and to engage in and promote evidence-based practice within their field.They will be fully aware of, and work within, their professional scope of practice and within the standards of conduct, performance and ethics for their professional and regulatory bodies. The post holder will lead audit and practice reviews within their area of expertise. They will be expected to act as a role model and mentor to trainees and to junior colleagues.

Scientific

The post holder will be responsible for the evaluation and introduction of specialist scientific and technical knowledge and equipment within the echocardiography and training service across South London. They will provide scientific expertise to other health professionals including its analysis and interpretation within the clinical decision-making process. They will provide complex scientific information in an accessible manner to non-experts. They will be responsible for the monitoring and assurance of the scientific quality of their area and will develop and implement processes to demonstrate and maintain its quality. The post holder will require IT knowledge and skills commensurate with their role as a healthcare scientist specialist within their field.

Clinical

Their clinical knowledge and skills must be sufficiently advanced to underpin their role as a healthcare scientist specialist and should be equivalent to masters level plus further specialist training. The post holder will perform echocardiography at specialist scientist (expert) level while complying with local and national standards. The scientist will be able to request other diagnostic tests including other imaging modalities and pathology services.

They will be able to report their findings in an appropriate manner to patients, carers and health professionals. They will participate in discussions about ongoing monitoring, the use of other diagnostic tests and referrals. They will represent their specialist area at MDT meetings to give advice about findings and their interpretation to facilitate the best possible patient outcomes.

The post holder will possess the highly developed motor skills required in the physical acquisition of obtaining images directly from patients. They will be highly skilled at manoeuvring patients to ensure optimisation of images acquired while ensuring patient safety is foremost in the process. They will require a high degree of hand-eye co-ordination utilising and optimising the most appropriate imaging equipment. They will possess the intense concentration required to both perform and report on specialist images acquired in a time sensitive manner within a variety of pressurised clinical environments.

The post holder will need to be able to deliver complex information, which may be of a distressing nature, to patients and their families and to offer advice within their specialist scope of practice.

The post holder will require an understanding of biohazards and hazardous agents that are staff/patients/carers are exposed within cardiac science including contact with bodily fluids and radiation.

Leadership

The post holder will be scientifically responsible for training in echocardiography including when its provision is delegated to other healthcare professions. They will be responsible for the audit, review and measures required to ensure that the high-quality training is maintained. They will be the point of contact for other health professionals requiring advice or information about the echocardiography training or its management. As a specialist scientist the post holder will be a key role model in cardiac physiology both locally in South London and nationally.

The post holder will develop a strategy for the delivery of echocardiography training across South London. This will require excellent communication and change management skills to deliver a new landscape that innovates an ambitious plan to increase the quality and quantity of echocardiography training.

Education & Professional Development

To participate in the development of training pathways for healthcare science and other healthcare professionals ensuring that all staff are trained to a high and consistent standard in accordance with individual staff and network objectives.

To act as the principal work-based echocardiography assessor; providing professional advice to other work based assessors and promoting quality control and standardisation of the assessment process across cardiac sub-specialities.

Ensure the echo community is conversant with any changes in educational requirements for professional registration and plan accordingly.

To resource continuing educational opportunities for all sonographers; evaluating appropriateness of courses.

To be responsible for ensuring that an accurate record of progress against targets in the training pathways is maintained and available.

To work with the directorate management team to interpret and implement any policy documents as released that impact in training in echocardiography.

The post holder will ensure to continue professional development and will be responsible for keeping own skills up to date, including Immediate Life Support and any accreditations; and acquire new skills to support development of the wider service. To personally undergo such training as is deemed necessary to maintain efficient discharge of duties.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• BSc in cardiac physiology or relevant alternative
• Relevant Masters Qualification
• BSE / EACVI transthoracic accreditation or equivalent
• Initiated the process of professional registration with HCPC as a Clinical Scientist or equivalent

Desirable

• Higher training qualification (ie Cert Ed, FAETC)
• Clinical Assessment for Healthcare Scientists MSc module or equivalent
• Professional registration with HCPC as a Clinical Scientist

Experience

Essential

• Experience of delivering education and training within cardiac science to own and other professional groups
• Experience of lecturing to groups
• Extensive practical experience in all areas of transthoracic echocardiography at a level of independent practice including investigation, interpretation, reporting and recommending alternative investigations.
• Experience in the supervision or line management of staff

Desirable

• Experience of budget and wider management issues.
• Practical experience in specialist echocardiography (e.g. stress, bubbles, TOE or ACHD)
• Proven record of starting and developing a new service
• Published peer reviewed research
• Devising and performing own research projects at masters level or above

Skills

Essential

• Broad knowledge of echocardiography, including practice with a wide array of complex technical equipment.
• Experience of delivering education and training within area of expertise to own and other professional groups
• Able to prioritise and manage own work and those of the team / trainees
• Able to use specialised computer software such as ISCV and software programs such Excel and Word. Able to perform statistical analysis on data
• Able to communicate highly complex scientific information across professional boundaries and to patients including where there is a difference of opinion and evidence base
• Ability to undertake research and audit as a contributor

Desirable

• Able to perform a clinical examination of the cardiovascular system Able to take an advanced history
• Able to acquire and analyse 3D data sets for the assessment of disease on TTE.
• Formal training in Good Clinical Practice
• Knowledge of cardiac science across a broad range of subjects at a level which allows data interpretation and provision of an expert scientific opinion to contribute to patient management.

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Guy's & St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

St. Thomas's Hospital Westminster Bridge Road

LONDON

SE1 7EH

Employer's website

https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/careers/careers.aspx (Opens in a new tab)