Job responsibilities
This is a new post, designed to support the development of respiratory medicine services at the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital (LHCH). The post is integral to the delivery of intervention, cancer and general respiratory services.
The individual should demonstrate a high level of clinical expertise to support and facilitate high quality, individualised patient care, in collaboration with the multi professional team. This new role will form part of the cancer service, collaborating on strategic development of services as well as delivering direct patient care. The post holder will have medical oversight of the sleep service and will work in partnership with the Pulmonary Function team to delivery a high quality diagnostic service.
The post will be supported by a large, well established multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and other healthcare professionals to deliver integrated respiratory care. The aims of the service are to improve access to specialist respiratory care leading to an improvement in diagnostics, patient management and outcomes.
Physicians, to ensure that all doctors have an annual appraisal with a trained appraiser and supports doctors going through the revalidation process. The Trust supports the provision of a mentor for newly-appointed consultants.
The Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital (LHCH)
The LHCH (formerly The Cardiothoracic Centre - Liverpool) based on the Broadgreen Site is a standalone NHS Trust formed in the first wave in 1991. It achieved Foundation Trust status in 2010. It provides tertiary cardiothoracic services for Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales and the Isle of Man, and some secondary care respiratory and cardiac services for Mersey residents. The catchment area has a population of over 2.8 million and since 2009 it has been responsible for the primary care cardiovascular service to the Knowsley and St Helens area. In 2011 it was successful in winning the contract for community COPD services to Knowsley CCG, and has developed this into a multi-award winning service. The service expanded in 2015 and now also manages patients with bronchiectasis, asthma, interstitial lung disease, pneumonia and other respiratory disorders.
It is the only facility in Merseyside for thoracic and cardiac surgery, and houses the regional adult cystic fibrosis unit, the regional tuberculosis research unit, and also the rapid access arm of the Liverpool Lung Cancer Unit. There are state of the art thoracic imaging services, staffed by 5 full time dedicated thoracic radiologists. There is a fully equipped internationally accredited pulmonary and oesophageal function laboratory which also provides a primary care spirometry service for Liverpool.
The centre is an NHS Foundation Trust, which has seen a great deal of development in the last few years. As a result of major capital investment the centre is able to provide:
- 200 medical and surgical beds
- 42 medical beds;
- 69 surgical beds (including 4 HDU step-down)
- 34 bedded critical care unit (potential to expand to 40)
- 10 CCU beds; 24 surgical ITU beds (potential to expand to 30)
- 8 dedicated cardiothoracic surgical operating theatres
- Endoscopy suite
- Recovery room
- X-ray department with a multi-channel spiral CT Scanner and MRI scanner
- Pulmonary function and oesophageal laboratory
- 5 Cardiac catheterisation laboratories
- One dedicated pacing theatre and a shared pacing/aneurysm theatre
- Research laboratories
- Electronics workshop
- Pulmonary function and oesophageal laboratory
A fantastic state of the art Private patient suite opened June 2019. Planning has commenced for an expansion and redesign of the catheter lab suite as well as the cardiology ward to accommodate a direct NSTEMI service.
The LHCH employs 9 chest physicians: a further 2 colleagues from Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen also have specialist chest medicine sessions at the hospital. The Trust has also recently appointed a Professor of Thoracic Oncology. A further 7 Consultants from Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University NHS Trust and Aintree University Hospital NHS Trust provide sessions to deliver direct clinical care in the Community Respiratory service.
There is a large adult CF unit, and the LHCH is recognised as a specialist cystic fibrosis centre. It provides diagnostic sleep services for most of Liverpool and a treatment arm is in the process of establishment. It supervises the treatment of outpatient TB, including the provision of contact tracing, and the management of environmental mycobacterial disease throughout Merseyside and North Wales.
The Liverpool lung cancer service (A joint service between LHCH and LUFT) is the largest and best performing such facility in Merseyside. The Unit has championed straight to CT and virtual pathways. All outpatient lung cancer treatment for Liverpool residents is supervised at the LHCH by visiting oncologists from the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. It houses the regional mesothelioma specialist MDT.
There is a dedicated interstitial lung disease clinic each week, led by a consultant with support from a Specialist Registrar and a dedicated Specialist nurse. There is a specialist cardiac sarcoid tertiary service within the hospital. The ILD team and cardiologist with a special interest in sarcoidosis work closely together and many patients are under joint care. All patients benefit from a full specialist MDT discussion with support from specialist thoracic radiologists, we now run a dedicated South Liverpool ILD MDT meeting each month with support and attendance from colleagues at the Royal Liverpool and Aintree University Hospitals. This joint, collaborative working has allowed improved patient pathways and swift access to appropriate medication and clinical trial entry if appropriate. The Hospital also provides an occupational lung disease service.
LHCH provides all the community COPD services for an adjacent primary care area and the home oxygen services for South Liverpool. As well as primary care referrals for all other types of chest disease, a number of patients with difficult respiratory conditions are referred for expert diagnosis and treatment.
There is a fully equipped endoscopy facility as part of a newly opened multimillion pound state-of-the-art day-case unit (The Holly Suite), and the LHCH provides a physician-led endobronchial ultrasound biopsy, endobronchial valve insertion and stenting service for the region and beyond. An endobronchial ultrasound mini probe service has recently been developed. A cryobiopsy service to support the diagnostic interstitial lung disease pathways is in development and the new consultant would be welcome to support this service.
There is a chest physician on-call rota (non-resident) to service the inpatient requirements, the successful candidate is not expected to take part in this rota as it is anticipated that they will rarely have any inpatients at the trust. The new consultant will be expected to form part of a telephone advice rota for the community services.
The hospital provides a full range of invasive and non-invasive diagnostic cardiopulmonary facilities. There are five cardiac catheterisation laboratories for diagnostic procedures, PCI and electrophysiological work. A large, new, state of the art heart attack centre and additional cardiac laboratory space is currently being built. There is a separate pacing theatre. A further hybrid theatre is used for cardiac pacing, aneurysm surgery/aortic stenting and transapical TAVI.
During the last year, over 1000 pacing procedures, 200 catheters, 2300 PCI procedures (850 PPCIs) and 1000 EPS procedures were performed and more than 400 complex pacing/device procedures.
CONSULTANT MEDICAL STAFF
Respiratory Consultants
LHCH Employed
Prof MJ Walshaw Lung cancer & Cystic Fibrosis (CF)
Dr CRK Hind Occupational lung disease
Dr MJ Ledson Lung cancer, CF & Clinical Lead for Respiratory
Dr K Mohan Interventional Bronchoscopy, COPD & General Respiratory
Dr J Greenwood CF, ITU, General Respiratory & Director of Medical Education
Dr D Wat CF, Community Respiratory & Mycobacterial disease
Dr S Sibley ILD & Clinical Lead for Community Respiratory
Dr D Nazareth CF, General Respiratory & Mycobacterial disease
Dr E Hoodless Interventional Bronchoscopy, Cancer and Community Respiratory
