ACCOTS Duty Co-ordinating Consultant

Job description

Job responsibilities

Adult Critical Care Transfer Services

Job Description Duty Consultant

Post

Duty Consultant for Adult Critical Care Transfer Service

Grade

Consultant

Background

Adult Critical Care Transfer Services (ACCTS) are commissioned by NHS England to provide regional coordination, triage, decision support and transfer care for critically ill patients who require transfer between hospitals. The term critical care in this Job Description is used in line with the definition provided in the NHS England Adult Critical Care service specification and is commensurate with the care provided to patients in designated critical care areas within hospitals.

Patients require critical care transfer for the following reasons:

Escalation: patients requiring specialist care not available in the referring hospital, including, but not limited to, burns, cardiac, interventional radiology, major trauma, neurosurgery, severe acute respiratory failure, stroke and vascular. A small but important number of these patients are classified as time critical transfers.

Repatriation: to maintain adult critical care flow and return patients closer to their home and family.

Continuation of Care: transfer of patients to a facility or location that is better suited to provide their ongoing care but is not an escalation. This is usually a step down in the overall acuity of care.

Capacity: transfer from areas of high to low operational activity to ensure equity of access to high quality critical care, as seen during periods of surge and super-surge.

Role purpose

Duty Consultants are responsible for delivering the following operational elements of the ACCTS:

Triage, coordination, decision support

For all referrals to the ACCTS, supporting referring and receiving hospitals and clinical team(s) to prioritise, maximise the utilisation of resources.

Supervision and delivery of clinical care

Ensure each patient referred to, and transferred by, the ACCTS receives appropriate resuscitation, stabilisation and continued critical care. This may be by direct clinical care working as part of the transfer team and/or oversight and supervision of other clinical teams.

Teaching, training and continued professional development

Support the induction, onboarding, signoff and ongoing training of all clinical staffing groups. Maintain continued professional development through attendance at regular education, training and governance days.

Governance and quality improvement

Maintain personal knowledge and currency of systems, processes, Standard Operating Procedures and policies to ensure you operate safely and effectively and maintain high standards of care whilst working in the ACCTS. Active engagement with, and contribution to, the ongoing development and improvement processes of the ACCTS.

Leadership

As the senior clinical leader of the ACCTS each shift, you are expected to act as an ambassador when interacting with service users and stakeholders. You are an exemplar of the values, behaviours and attitudes that the ACCTS upholds. There may be opportunities for additional leadership roles within the service, recruited on a separate basis.

Main duties and responsibilities

Triage, coordination, decision support

Act professionally at all times when interacting with service users.

Receive referrals, provide clinical and logistical advice where required, and allocate appropriate transfer resource or signpost alternatives when out of scope.

Follow service Standard Operating Procedures around referral handling and deployment and specialist clinical pathways.

Manage the tasking of clinical transfer teams.

Maintain high quality clinical records.

Undertake and engage with induction and maintenance training associated with referral handling, triage and decision support.

Supervision and delivery of clinical care

Provide clinical leadership and support to the multidisciplinary transfer team.

Work collaboratively with the multidisciplinary transfer team and service users to develop and implement treatment plans for patients.

Ensure service and regional Standard Operating Procedures pertaining to clinical pathways, conditions and service operations are followed.

Ensure the safe, timely and efficient transfer of critically ill patients within the ACCTS operating region.

Recognise that shifts are unpredictable and that referrals and transfers may extend beyond the duty period.

Teaching, training and continued professional development

Engage with day-to-day service education and training programme.

Support the induction and ongoing development of multidisciplinary transfer team members.

Contribute to service training days, as required.

Maintain personal competency and currency in the delivery of adult critical care.

Governance and quality improvement

Maintain personal currency in the systems, processes, Standard Operating Procedures and policies of the ACCTS.

Assist in the development and maintenance of Standard Operating Procedures.

Attend and present cases at team Clinical Governance days.

Contribute to service quality improvement, audit and research programmes.

Leadership

Be an ambassador for the ACCTS whilst handling referrals, interacting with service users and delivering clinical care.

Demonstrate excellent non-technical skills, model the service values and behave in a professional manner at all times.

Person Specification

Essential

Desirable

Qualifications

Full GMC registration with license to practise.

Specialist register entry in a relevant specialty (Intensive Care Medicine, Anaesthesia).

Demonstrable training, competency and currency (ongoing regular exposure) to the delivery of in-hospital critical care.

Higher qualification in retrieval/transfer medicine (e.g. Diploma in Retrieval and Transfer Medicine or international equivalent).

Formal training or postgraduate qualification in leadership and management.

Relevant specialist courses (e.g. Advanced Life Support, European Trauma Course, point of care ultrasound, difficult airway management).

Knowledge & Experience

Compliance with GMC Good Medical Practice, appraisal and revalidation requirements.

NHS Consultant (or equivalent).

Experience in Intensive Care Medicine or Anaesthesia with an interest in Intensive Care Medicine.

Extensive experience within Intensive Care Medicine or Anaesthesia of independently assessing, resuscitating, stabilising and treating critically ill and injured adult patients (synonymous with Level 4 capability of the FICM curriculum and Stage 3 learning outcomes for Intensive Care within the RCoA curriculum).

Previous critical care transfer and/or retrieval medicine experience in a dedicated service (e.g. another ACCTS, retrieval service in Australasia, long-distance aeromedical retrieval service).

Clinical leadership and management experience.

Skills & Abilities

Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Excellent non-technical skills.

Able to demonstrate effective leadership of, and working within, a high performing small team.

Flexible and adaptable to changing situations.

Able to work under pressure and in emotive situations.

Excellent problem-solving and decision-making skills.

Ability to work unsupervised and manage own workload.

Effective time management and organisational skills.

Evidence of specific training in non-technical skills

Evidence of specific training in advanced communication.

Additional requirements

Fitness levels sufficient to carry out critical care transfer work (e.g. delivering clinical care to the patient on a critical care transfer trolley, carrying equipment short to medium distances, manual handling of patients).

Be comfortable working in the ambulance environment which includes confined space and motion.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Full GMC registration with license to practise.
• Specialist register entry in a relevant specialty (Intensive Care Medicine, Anaesthesia).
• oDemonstrable training, competency and currency (ongoing regular exposure) to the delivery of in-hospital critical care.

Desirable

• Higher qualification in retrieval/transfer medicine (e.g. Diploma in Retrieval and Transfer Medicine or international equivalent).
• Formal training or postgraduate qualification in leadership and management
• Relevant specialist courses (e.g. Advanced Life Support, European Trauma Course, point of care ultrasound, difficult airway management).

Knowledge&Experience

Essential

• Compliance with GMC Good Medical Practice, appraisal and revalidation requirements.
• NHS Consultant (or equivalent).
• Experience in Intensive Care Medicine or Anaesthesia with an interest in Intensive Care Medicine
• Extensive experience within Intensive Care Medicine or Anaesthesia of independently assessing, resuscitating, stabilising and treating critically ill and injured adult patients (synonymous with Level 4 capability of the FICM curriculum and Stage 3 learning outcomes for Intensive Care within the RCoA curriculum).

Desirable

• Previous critical care transfer and/or retrieval medicine experience in a dedicated service (e.g. another ACCTS, retrieval service in Australasia, long-distance aeromedical retrieval service).
• Clinical leadership and management experience

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Excellent non-technical skills.
• Able to demonstrate effective leadership of, and working within, a high performing small team.
• Flexible and adaptable to changing situations
• Able to work under pressure and in emotive situations
• Excellent problem-solving and decision-making skills
• Ability to work unsupervised and manage own workload
• Effective time management and organisational skills.

Desirable

• Evidence of specific training in non-technical skills
• Evidence of specific training in advanced communication

Additional Requirements

Essential

• Fitness levels sufficient to carry out critical care transfer work (e.g. delivering clinical care to the patient on a critical care transfer trolley, carrying equipment short to medium distances, manual handling of patients).
• oBe comfortable working in the ambulance environment which includes confined space and motion.

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

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

Address

ACCOTS - Castle Donington

Trent Lane Industrial Estate

Castle Donington

DE74 2NP

Employer's website

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