Consultant in Cellular Pathology

Job description

Job responsibilities

JOB TITLE: Consultant Cellular Pathologist

EMPLOYMENT STATUS: Substantive

PROFESSIONALLY ACCOUNTABLE TO: Group Medical Director

MANAGERIALLY ACCOUNTABLE TO: Associate Medical Director

SALARY SCALE: Consultant £94,615.64 - £170,025.92

(Dependent on experience. However, points 18-20 are by application and panel agreement only)

BASIC PROGRAMMED ACTIVITIES: 10

LIEU PAs: Not applicable

TOTAL PUBLIC PROGRAMMED ACTIVITIES: 10

ON-CALL COMMITMENT: None

1. THE POST

This job description is intended as a guide to the general scope of duties and is not intended to be definitive or restrictive. It is expected that some of the duties will change over time and this description will be subject to review in consultation with the post-holder.

This is a whole time Consultant Cellular Pathologist post. The employing body is the Health and Community Services (HCS) of the Government of Jersey. The post consists of 10 public programmed activity sessions. It is based at the General Hospital in St Helier.

This post that has arisen due to the retirement of one of the 3 consultant Cellular Pathologists currently in post.

The post-holder will work alongside two other whole-time consultants Cellular Pathologists. These will be the key working relationships and it is expected that the workload will be distributed evenly within the team. There is no requirement for cervical cytology reporting. The consultants do not sub-specialise within cellular pathology, and it is expected that all the consultants will share responsibilities as the lead pathologist for specialist MDT meetings. Work that requires a specialist second opinion is referred off-island.

2. DUTIES

2.1 General

The duties are shared equally between the three pathologists. Responsibility for the distribution of work lies with the Head of Department.

In general, one week in three, the post-holder will be expected to perform daily surgical cut up. There is assistance from trained laboratory staff. The consultant remains responsible for the entire cut up and will normally report all the cases that they cut up in the week.

Laboratory staff will process cytological specimens and biopsies and simple surgical cut up cases. These are divided among the consultants for reporting on a rotational basis. FNA and EBUS clinics are attended by trained laboratory staff. No specimens are reported by biomedical scientists.

There is no requirement for reporting cervical cytology.

Turnaround times are expected to be maintained within locally agreed and national set parameters. The consultant is expected to report to RCPath standards, including minimum data set reporting and clinical coding. A comprehensive repertoire of immunohistochemical and specialist tinctorial techniques is available on site. Immunofluorescence, ER, PR and Her2 assessments, OncoType DX and molecular tests are currently referred to UK mainland laboratories.

One week in three, the post-holder will be responsible for overseeing the mortuary and for performing and reporting post-mortem examinations including cases for the Deputy Viscount (the Coroner). The exceptions are forensic cases, which are normally dealt with by a visiting consultant forensic pathologist; cases requiring an independent pathologist; and paediatric cases. The post-holder must be confident and credible to give evidence at inquests.

The post-holder will participate in multidisciplinary team meetings. These are normally divided between the consultants by rotation and agreement. Each meeting usually lasts less than one hour.

The successful candidate should be adaptable, flexible and innovative in order to meet the ongoing challenges within the service. The responsibilities of the role may change from time to time. They will need to continue to meet all regulatory arrangements relating to registration, licensing and revalidation.

The post-holder should ensure appropriate documentation and coding is used to provide consistent audit and monitoring of the service.

The post-holder will be expected to comply with infection prevention and control requirements, including the latest COVID-19 guidance and policies.

2.2 Governance

The pathologist is expected to participate in relevant quality assurance schemes as agreed within the team and is expected to support the continuing professional development of the team as well as maintaining their own CPD record. There is a requirement to participate in annual appraisal and regular job plan review. Any unresolved disagreement with job planning will be escalated to the Associate Medical Director.

2.3 Teaching and Research

There are no pathology trainees in Jersey, however there are FY1, FY2 and GP trainees in most medical and surgical disciplines. The post-holder may from time to time be expected to participate in the training of medical, scientific and other health staff to ensure that their training and learning needs are identified and facilitated.

Opportunities for participation in research are limited, however are supported when appropriate. The HCS has a policy for professional leave and is supportive of external duties for the good of the wider profession.

3. ON CALL ROTA

There is no on-call requirement.

4. THE SPECIALTY

4.1 Activity

Type of Activity                 Requests in 2021

Histopathology           8930 (including 520 diagnostic cytology cases)

Adult autopsies:

- medicolegal                                  83

- consent                                          0

Perinatal/paediatric autopsies       7 (referred)

4.2 Premises

The laboratory provides cellular pathology services to the hospital and primary care. The laboratory includes facilities for specimen reception, cut-up and processing, sectioning, staining, immunocytochemistry and diagnostic cytology. There are occasional frozen sections. There is access to a microbiological safety cabinet for cytology specimens.

Each consultant has an individual office, with a modern microscope including digital photomicrography. The main lab IT system is Omni Client, which integrates with the hospital patient management system. There is a digital dictation facility and administrative support for report typing and preparation for multi-disciplinary team meetings. Recent slides are stored close to the consultants’ offices. There is a cellular pathology library as well as access to the hospital library and e-journals.

Meeting rooms for MDTs are all within the building. MDT meeting facilities include teleconferencing to enable participation of external tertiary service providers.

There is a modern mortuary on site with a single examination table, self-contained changing rooms and showers.

There is a locker room with a shower. There is space on site for bicycles and motorcycles. Car parking is limited. There is a laboratory seminar room that doubles as a staff rest room with hot drink facilities and storage for food brought from home. There is a restaurant and kiosk selling snacks and drinks on site. The hospital site in St Helier has easy access to shops and other local amenities.

There are plans to build a new laboratory within the next few years as part of the Jersey ‘Our Hospital’ Project, with the building of a new hospital on the island.

4.3 Accreditation

The laboratory holds full UKAS ISO15189 accreditation.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Full and Specialist registration (and with a licence to practise) with the General Medical Council (GMC), or be eligible for registration within six months of interview.
• Applicants that are UK trained, must ALSO be a holder of a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT), or be within six months of award of CCT by date of interview.
• Applicants that are non-UK trained, will be required to show evidence of equivalence to the UK CCT
• FRCPath or equivalent
• Broad range of IT skills

Experience

Essential

• Evidence of thorough and broad training and experience in cellular pathology
• Able to take responsibility for reporting own workload without supervision

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

Health and Community Services

Address

Government Of Jersey

19-21 Broad Street

St. Helier

Jersey

Channel Islands

JE2 3RR

Employer's website

https://www.gov.je (Opens in a new tab)