Job summary
The post holder is responsible for training in machine perfusion service to the Royal Free London Liver Transplant and National Organ Retrieval Service (NORS) Teams. Duties include but are not limited to:
- Participate in, usually on a 1:3 basis, a 24-hour on-call rota to ensure 24/7 coverage for perfusion technology in the transplant and NORS teams.
- Train to operate the ex-situ machine perfusion when required during ex-situ liver assessment and conditioning.
- Train to operate the Cardiohelp machine when required during in situ normothermic regional perfusion.
- Train to operate the venovenous bypass machine when required during liver transplantation.
- On occasion, if required, provide cross cover and undertake cold organ perfusion as a member of the Royal Free NORS team.
- Take part in machine perfusion audits and be a part of ongoing NORS and Transplant meetings. Utilise analysis of audits to inform and facilitate service development.
- Liaise closely with practitioners across the Royal Free London, NHSBT, and other national transplant centres to accumulate specialist expert knowledge and act as a point of reference for others. Maintain an interest in the speciality and demonstrate a willingness to learn and develop the service in.
Main duties of the job
Cold perfusion of the DCD and DBD during retrieval as part of the RFH NORS team
Normothermic and hypothermic ex-situ machine perfusion of the liver
Normothemric in situ regional perfusion during DCD retrievals
Audits
HTA commitments
Liver Transplant patient follow up
Data entry, data collection and data analysis
Clinical research
About us
Our trust has over 17,000 staff serving 2 million patients every year. It comprises Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital, North Middlesex University Hospital and more than 30 services in the community. This larger scale organisation provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to continue our pioneering work, particularly in finding ways to deliver even better care to our patients.
Our mission is to deliver world class care and expertise in our clinical services, underpinned by world class teaching and research and we will continue to measure our progress against our five governing objectives: excellent outcomes, excellent patient and staff experience, excellent value for taxpayers' money, being safe and meeting our external duties, and building a strong organisation.
Everyone is welcome at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. We're proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME, gender equality, staff carers and people with disabilities and lived experiences to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.
Click here to view our videoWelcome to the Royal Free
Job description
Job responsibilities
The post holder will work Monday to Friday, 09:00 17:00. On call shifts relate to weekday hours from 17:00 to 09:00 and all hours at weekends.The post holder will participate in an on call rota to cover all machine perfusion services which will in total average at no more than a 1:3.
The practitioner will undertake Normothermic Regional Perfusion and specifically:
- Maintain readiness to respond to on call notification from the duty Royal Free transplant co-ordinator, and be prepared to travel to the Royal Free within 1 hour of call out at any time during the 24 hour period for DCD NRP retrievals.
- Arrive at the Royal Free and collect the necessary consumables kit and ice boxes containing the organ preservation solutions from the NORS room, and transport these to the muster point at the A&E entrance to the hospital, before the agreed departure time.
- Maintain contact with the duty Royal Free transplant co-ordinator as appropriate.
- Travel via ambulance with the rest of the NORS team to the hospitals where the organ donors are located and remain there with the team for the whole duration of the procedure.
- Follow the team into the operating theatre suite at the donor hospital, with the consumables kit and organ boxes, and set up the organ perfusion lines, and collect required blood and tissue samples as required throughout the procedure.
- Fill in the necessary documentation required by NHSBT and Royal Free Transplant services, under supervision of the lead surgeon.
- Set-up, prime, operate and troubleshoot the Cardiohelp ECMO machine, piccolo express machine, heater/cooler machine, gas adaptors and EPOC arterial blood gas machine to facilitate NRP retrieval
- Direct where necessary the team in terms of the needs for DCD NRP retrievals. Following the RFL NRP SOP robustly
- Take donor blood samples where indicated, operate the Piccolo Express machine for LFTs, take blood gases and record analytic results.
- Use scientific judgements to correct the parameters of the donor blood where necessary in line with SOP guidelines.
- Ensure a copy of NRP data sheet is recorded with each retrieved organ and the SNOD
- Discard of the disposable set in line with donor hospital waste disposal guidelines
- Assist in any other technical tasks in the operating theatre during the organ donor procedure as required by the lead surgeon. Liaise as necessary with the NHSBT Specialist Nurse Organ Donation (SN-OD) who will be in theatres arranging transport or distribution of the donated organs.
- At all times, perform duties with professionalism and respect within the organ donation process, the donor hospital and the local staff members.
- On return to the Royal Free, return the consumables kit and boxes back to the appropriate store room and repack the consumables kit box in readiness for the next call out
- Return the completed perfusion forms in the designated letter box. This must be done immediately as the forms must be processed by Transplant & SS Directorate staff for return to NHSBT within 2 days.
The practitioner will undertake Normothermic Machine Perfusion and specifically:
- Participate in a 1:3 24 hour on call rota to cover machine perfusion in transplantation.
- Set-up, operate and troubleshoot the OrganOx metra machine when required for ex situ machine perfusion of the liver.
- Take samples in line with OrganOx SOP.
- Operate the piccolo express machine for LFT analysis, facilitate sampling to Biochemistry unit where necessary for LFT analysis and record results.
- Run arterial blood gases and correct in line with SOP guidelines.
- Communicate results to transplanting consultant.
- Facilitate the removal of the liver from the machine ready for transplantation.
- Discard of the disposable set in line with RFL waste disposal guidelines.
- Restock the consumables at the end of each case for subsequent call out.
The practitioner will undertake venous venous bypass and specifically:
- Set-up, operate and troubleshoot the Medtronic venous-venous bypass machine when required during liver transplantation.
- Relate flows and stability of the patient to transplanting consultant surgeon and consultant anaesthetist during the procedure.
- Facilitate the initiation and weening off of bypass intra-operatively.
- Discard of the disposable set in line with RFL waste disposal guidelines.
- Restock the consumables at the end of each case for subsequent call out.
In addition:
- Show an interest in, enthusiasm for and awareness of new and emerging techniques and technologies used in liver perfusion and transplantation, for example, but not exclusively, hypothermic machine perfusion technology in liver transplantation.
- Demonstrate a willingness to develop the Royal Free Liver Transplant perfusion service and undertake additional specialist training as may be required from time to time, for participation in new techniques and updating skills.
- Work cohesively with colleagues to provide a resilient 24/7 service and provide internal cover for sickness and holidays.
- Provide cross cover for the NORS logistics manager and cold perfusion team.
- Regulate practice of self and team through the Trust risk management procedures.
- Maintain a visible professional presence where patients, carers and staff can turn for assistance, advice and support and upon whom they can rely on to ensure that the fundamental and specialist aspects of care are delivered.
- Participate in projects and areas of work which reflect clinical, professional and Trust objectives, within the Transplant Directorate.
- Develop collaborative and educational partnerships with other Perfusion technicians or Perfusionists and professional bodies in the UK.
- To be aware of the research process and current trends.
- In collaboration with relevant practitioners, the audit agreed on clinical guidelines of practice, policies and benchmarks within the area of clinical responsibility.
- To undertake a regular audit of organ perfusion practice, maintaining a departmental database with details of all organs undergoing machine perfusion.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The post holder will work Monday to Friday, 09:00 17:00. On call shifts relate to weekday hours from 17:00 to 09:00 and all hours at weekends.The post holder will participate in an on call rota to cover all machine perfusion services which will in total average at no more than a 1:3.
The practitioner will undertake Normothermic Regional Perfusion and specifically:
- Maintain readiness to respond to on call notification from the duty Royal Free transplant co-ordinator, and be prepared to travel to the Royal Free within 1 hour of call out at any time during the 24 hour period for DCD NRP retrievals.
- Arrive at the Royal Free and collect the necessary consumables kit and ice boxes containing the organ preservation solutions from the NORS room, and transport these to the muster point at the A&E entrance to the hospital, before the agreed departure time.
- Maintain contact with the duty Royal Free transplant co-ordinator as appropriate.
- Travel via ambulance with the rest of the NORS team to the hospitals where the organ donors are located and remain there with the team for the whole duration of the procedure.
- Follow the team into the operating theatre suite at the donor hospital, with the consumables kit and organ boxes, and set up the organ perfusion lines, and collect required blood and tissue samples as required throughout the procedure.
- Fill in the necessary documentation required by NHSBT and Royal Free Transplant services, under supervision of the lead surgeon.
- Set-up, prime, operate and troubleshoot the Cardiohelp ECMO machine, piccolo express machine, heater/cooler machine, gas adaptors and EPOC arterial blood gas machine to facilitate NRP retrieval
- Direct where necessary the team in terms of the needs for DCD NRP retrievals. Following the RFL NRP SOP robustly
- Take donor blood samples where indicated, operate the Piccolo Express machine for LFTs, take blood gases and record analytic results.
- Use scientific judgements to correct the parameters of the donor blood where necessary in line with SOP guidelines.
- Ensure a copy of NRP data sheet is recorded with each retrieved organ and the SNOD
- Discard of the disposable set in line with donor hospital waste disposal guidelines
- Assist in any other technical tasks in the operating theatre during the organ donor procedure as required by the lead surgeon. Liaise as necessary with the NHSBT Specialist Nurse Organ Donation (SN-OD) who will be in theatres arranging transport or distribution of the donated organs.
- At all times, perform duties with professionalism and respect within the organ donation process, the donor hospital and the local staff members.
- On return to the Royal Free, return the consumables kit and boxes back to the appropriate store room and repack the consumables kit box in readiness for the next call out
- Return the completed perfusion forms in the designated letter box. This must be done immediately as the forms must be processed by Transplant & SS Directorate staff for return to NHSBT within 2 days.
The practitioner will undertake Normothermic Machine Perfusion and specifically:
- Participate in a 1:3 24 hour on call rota to cover machine perfusion in transplantation.
- Set-up, operate and troubleshoot the OrganOx metra machine when required for ex situ machine perfusion of the liver.
- Take samples in line with OrganOx SOP.
- Operate the piccolo express machine for LFT analysis, facilitate sampling to Biochemistry unit where necessary for LFT analysis and record results.
- Run arterial blood gases and correct in line with SOP guidelines.
- Communicate results to transplanting consultant.
- Facilitate the removal of the liver from the machine ready for transplantation.
- Discard of the disposable set in line with RFL waste disposal guidelines.
- Restock the consumables at the end of each case for subsequent call out.
The practitioner will undertake venous venous bypass and specifically:
- Set-up, operate and troubleshoot the Medtronic venous-venous bypass machine when required during liver transplantation.
- Relate flows and stability of the patient to transplanting consultant surgeon and consultant anaesthetist during the procedure.
- Facilitate the initiation and weening off of bypass intra-operatively.
- Discard of the disposable set in line with RFL waste disposal guidelines.
- Restock the consumables at the end of each case for subsequent call out.
In addition:
- Show an interest in, enthusiasm for and awareness of new and emerging techniques and technologies used in liver perfusion and transplantation, for example, but not exclusively, hypothermic machine perfusion technology in liver transplantation.
- Demonstrate a willingness to develop the Royal Free Liver Transplant perfusion service and undertake additional specialist training as may be required from time to time, for participation in new techniques and updating skills.
- Work cohesively with colleagues to provide a resilient 24/7 service and provide internal cover for sickness and holidays.
- Provide cross cover for the NORS logistics manager and cold perfusion team.
- Regulate practice of self and team through the Trust risk management procedures.
- Maintain a visible professional presence where patients, carers and staff can turn for assistance, advice and support and upon whom they can rely on to ensure that the fundamental and specialist aspects of care are delivered.
- Participate in projects and areas of work which reflect clinical, professional and Trust objectives, within the Transplant Directorate.
- Develop collaborative and educational partnerships with other Perfusion technicians or Perfusionists and professional bodies in the UK.
- To be aware of the research process and current trends.
- In collaboration with relevant practitioners, the audit agreed on clinical guidelines of practice, policies and benchmarks within the area of clinical responsibility.
- To undertake a regular audit of organ perfusion practice, maintaining a departmental database with details of all organs undergoing machine perfusion.
Person Specification
Skills
Essential
- Good written & verbal communications skills
- Computer skills
- Able to work as part of a team within set boundaries
- Able to priortise workload
Desirable
- Awareness of clinical issues within the theatre department
Qualifications
Essential
- Upper second-class honours degree in a science or medicine-related subject
Desirable
- HCPC or similar regulatory bodies or professional regulators in the UK healthcare system
Experience
Essential
- Significant clinical experience in theatres or a similar clinical environment
- Experience and knowledge in transplant and retrieval processes
- Auditing skills
- Proficient in data collection, data entry and Microsoft office
- Interest or experience in clinical research
Desirable
- Machine perfusion training from an appropriate institute with evidence of a substantial training period and achievement of compentency
- Mentorship, teaching or leadership Course
Other
Essential
- Disclosure & Barring Service check
- Occupational Health check
- Ability to work under pressure, manage difficult situations
- Ability to participate in on call rota
Person Specification
Skills
Essential
- Good written & verbal communications skills
- Computer skills
- Able to work as part of a team within set boundaries
- Able to priortise workload
Desirable
- Awareness of clinical issues within the theatre department
Qualifications
Essential
- Upper second-class honours degree in a science or medicine-related subject
Desirable
- HCPC or similar regulatory bodies or professional regulators in the UK healthcare system
Experience
Essential
- Significant clinical experience in theatres or a similar clinical environment
- Experience and knowledge in transplant and retrieval processes
- Auditing skills
- Proficient in data collection, data entry and Microsoft office
- Interest or experience in clinical research
Desirable
- Machine perfusion training from an appropriate institute with evidence of a substantial training period and achievement of compentency
- Mentorship, teaching or leadership Course
Other
Essential
- Disclosure & Barring Service check
- Occupational Health check
- Ability to work under pressure, manage difficult situations
- Ability to participate in on call rota
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.
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).
Additional information
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.
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).
