Locum Consultant Hepatologist

Job description

Job responsibilities

In relation to this post the Leeds Liver Unit, and within it the Department of Hepatology, provides one of the largest specialist hepatology services in the UK. The unit is commissioned to provide liver transplant services for a population of 11 million across the North of England, a tertiary service for complex hepatology including TIPSS and hepatocellular carcinoma, hosts operational delivery networks for Hepatitis C and Primary Biliary Cholangitis, and provides comprehensive secondary care hepatology services. The Liver Unit ward has a mixed medical and surgical bed base and provides the inpatient transplant service amongst others. There is a 7 bedded ambulatory care unit. The Department of Hepatology provides inpatient services to the gastroenterology wards for acute admissions of patients with liver disease and runs an inpatient consultation service to the rest of the trust.

Additional surgical services are provided through the Department of Transplant and Hepatobiliary Surgery, and there is a comprehensive range of diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy services including a dynamic and expanding ERCP and EUS service.

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE POST

This post is to cover a vacancy due to maternity leave and is for a fixed term of 6 months.

We are seeking to recruit a locum consultant hepatologist to help deliver the departments mission to provide a comprehensive high quality service for patients with liver disease within the secondary, tertiary and supra-regional services currently offered.

There is scope for the Job Plan to be tailored to the expertise and experience of individual candidates. There will be opportunities to gain experience in management of complex hepatological conditions and transplant hepatology and to develop a subspecialty interest.

During periods of inpatient work the consultant will be responsible for the management of ~20-25 inpatients with a mix of hepatological problems.

The department is committed to developing inpatient services within LTHT and working collaboratively with our colleagues in gastroenterology and other specialities to increase access to hepatology expertise in patients admitted through the acute hospital pathways. The post holder will be expected to contribute to and participate in this development.

There will be a requirement to contribute to the care of secondary care liver inpatients during Monday to Friday 09:00 17:00.

For candidates with appropriate training and experience there may be an opportunity to participate in the on call rota for tertiary and transplant hepatology. There will be an appropriate substitution of DCC activity and a supplementary payment in line with the consultant contract. The frequency of any on call weeks will be determined in line with that of other consultants within the department and will not exceed 1 in 8. Consideration will be given to a reduced clinical workload the week following an inpatient week if that includes on call working at weekends. Time off in lieu for weekend working will be considered for weekend working and current consultants have a day off before and after their week on call.

The post will be supported by means of a personal Trust PC in an office shared with other consultants along with a Trust laptop in order to enable home remote working when this is possible.

3. REQUIREMENTS OF THE POST

3.1 Service Delivery

General

The Trust expects consultants to deliver clinical service as agreed with commissioners and other stakeholders. This will include:

meeting the objectives of the post (see above)

continuously improving the quality and efficiency of personal and team practice

working with other staff and teams to ensure that the various criteria for service delivery are met, such as

o achieving the best clinical outcomes within the resources available

o waiting times

o infection control standards

Consultants in LTHT are line managed by their specialty Lead Clinician working in conjunction with a Business Manager. This specialty team is then managed alongside a number of other specialties in a Clinical Service (or Support) Unit (CSU) led by a Clinical Director as the responsible person, and supported by a full time General Manager and a full time Head of Nursing.

The Clinical Director and their team report operationally to the Chief Operating Officer (COO). The Clinical Director will work closely with the Chief Operating Officers team which includes the Medical Director for Operations, Nurse Director for Operations, Director of Operations, three Assistant Directors of Operations (ADOs) and a Performance Team, with each ADO aligned to specific CSUs.

Professionally, consultants report to Dr Philip Wood, Chief Medical Officer and Mr Richard Baker, Clinical Director, Abdominal Medicine and Surgery Clinical Support Unit.

Service specific

The Department has service leads supporting many of the specialised services including portal hypertension, viral hepatitis, hepatocellular cancer, auto-immune liver disease, young adult services and fatty liver disease and also a lead for Clinical Governance. The consultant will be expected to contribute to these clinics and see between 10-12 patients in each clinic including mix of new and follow up patients.

There is a rolling programme of guideline development and revision to which all consultants contribute.

There is a departmental commitment to on-going education to which all consultants contribute.

The candidate must particularly understand the need and expectation that they will provide flexibility within their future working arrangements to be able to develop the department and service as outlined above.

Person Specification

Additional Requirements

Essential

• Eligible for full registration with the GMC at time of appointment and hold a current licence to practice.
• Eligibility to work in the UK.
• Entry on the GMC Specialist Register via: - CCT (proposed CCT date must be within 6 months of interview) - CESR (or) - European Community Rights

Clinical, Academic, and Personal Skills

Essential

• Should have completed a recognised training programme in Gastroenterology /Hepatology
• Completion of advanced training post (or equivalent experience) in Hepatology

Desirable

• Post CCT training in hepatology

Qualifications

Essential

• MRCP (UK) or equivalent qualification.

Desirable

• Relevant higher degree

Experience

Essential

• Must be able to demonstrate a high level of clinical experience and competence in all aspects of general hepatology
• Must be able to recognise indications for liver transplantation.
• Evidence of continuous career progression consistent with personal circumstances.
• Must demonstrate higher training in the management of acute liver failure.

Desirable

• Must be able to demonstrate clinical experience at therapeutic upper GI endoscopy

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Leeds Teaching Hospitals

Address

St. James's University Hospital

Beckett Street

Leeds

LS9 7TF

Employer's website

https://www.leedsth.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)