POSITION: Consultant Anaesthetist /
Borders General Hospital, Melrose, Scottish Borders
Job Description and particulars for the post:
Consultant Anaesthetist(s)
Reference / MED707 / Please quote on all correspondenceGrade / Consultant
Location / Borders General Hospital
Hours / PA’s / Full-time basis available – 10 P.A.s. OR part-time if preferred
Applications welcome from candidates interested in job share.
Salary Scale / Consultant scale - £76761 - £103490 per annum with scale placing as appropriate to experience and qualifications. Availability supplement for on-call duties also payable.
Closing Date / 17 August 2015
Interview Date / Week Commencing 28 September 2015 or 05 October 2015
Your Application / Thank you for expressing an interest in the above post within NHS Borders. Please find all the relevant information attached to begin the application process.
Should you require further information regarding this post you can contact the Medical Staffing team or make informal enquiries with the department using the contact details below.
To ensure we can process your application as easily as possible please complete all the information required within the Application Pack and return with your full C.V.
Contact Details / Telephone / 01896 826167
Email /
Application Process / To apply please submit a copy of your Curriculum Vitae along with the completed Application Pack (below), together with a daytime telephone number where you can be contacted, to Medical Staffing, Borders General Hospital, Melrose TD6 9BS. Tel: 01896 826167. Fax: 01896 826159 or e-mail to: .
If emailing your CV please telephone 01896 826167 to confirm safe receipt.
Visits and Enquiries / Informal visits can be arranged and informal enquiries regarding this post will be welcomed by:-
Dr Chris Richard / Head of Anaesthetics and Intensive Care / 01896 826000 (page 6334)
01896 826322 (Dept Secretary)
Date post is vacant / The post is vacant and a start date will be agreed with the successful candidate.
NHS Borders
Website / For further information regarding NHS Borders, please visit our website:- HUwww.nhsborders.org.ukU
The Department / The facilities include:
· An operating theatre suite with five theatres
· A recovery area
· An adjacent Critical Care Unit with space for nine beds (six staffed at Level 2/3, three staffed at Level 1)
· A Day Procedure Unit with operating theatre
Six offices and secretarial support are provided for anaesthetic staff. There is an Anaesthetic Seminar room, which acts as a focus for meetings and education within the department.
All departmental staff have access to computers with both internet and intranet facilities. Each clinical and office area has such access, including the Seminar Room and Critical Care Unit.
There is an excellent hospital library facilities within the Hospital campus . NHS elibrary is available via the Internet.
The departmental staff comprise of:
· Fourteen Consultant Anaesthetists
· Six Speciality Doctor / Associate Specialist/ Staff Grade Anaesthetists (one post currently vacant)
· Two Specialist Trainee Anaesthetists higher level (usually ST 5 or above)
· Two Core Trainee Anaesthetists (ST 2/3 or LAT equivalent)
· One Pre-Registration Foundation Doctor (FY1)
All anaesthetic machines throughout the hospital were replaced in 2005.
A new patient monitoring system throughout the theatre suite, recovery room and intensive therapy unit was installed in 2013.
Audit and research are actively encouraged and all members of the Department contribute to SASM and SICS national audits. In addition, various projects reviewing the following are in progress:
· Outcome of introduction of Pre-assessment service
· SIRS / Sepsis management
· Critical care outreach services
· Outcome of introduction of ERAS for orthopaedic and colorectal surgery
· Patient safety in Operating Theatres
· ITU sleep study, Gynae ERAS
· Hip Fracture ERAS
· Chronic Pain Service, Service Improvement Plan
POST INFORMATION
The Post / The successful candidate will contribute fully to elective and emergency duties of the Department and may have the opportunity to develop a special interest.
Reporting Arrangements / You will report to the Head of Anaesthetics, who will agree your job plan on an annual basis.
Health and Safety / You are required to comply with NHS Borders Health and Safety Policies.
Medical Staffing within Unit / The following consultants are in post at present:
· Dr.Jonathan Aldridge (Lead, Critical Care Services)
· Dr.Jon Antrobus (RCA Tutor, ERAS Lead Orthopaedic Surgery)
· Dr.Robin Forbes (Chronic Pain)
· Dr Imogen Hayward (CAR, Obstetric Anaesthesia)
· Dr.Nigel Leary (Locum)
· Dr. Fraser Lindsay (Locum)
· Dr Cath Livingstone (Chair Resuscitation Committee)
· Dr.David Love (Lead , Theatre Patient Safety)
· Dr.Heather Matthews (Pre-assessment Service)
· Dr.Simon McAree (ERAS Lead Colorectal Surgery)
· Dr.Jane Montgomery (Associate Postgraduate Dean)
· Dr.Chris Richard (Head of Service)
· Dr.Shona Smith (Lead, Acute and Chronic Pain)
The following career grades are in post at present:
· Dr.Janet Wilkie
· Dr.Cameron Smith
· Dr Lynne Prophet (NHS Borders E-Health Lead)
· Dr Eva Biczo
· Dr Oksana Coates
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Main Duties / In general, the new Consultant will share the work load of the other Consultant Anaesthetists providing anaesthetic services for general surgery (including paediatrics), urology, orthopaedic trauma surgery, gynaecology, dental and oral surgery, ENT and ophthalmology including Pre-assessment Clinic. The appointee will also assist in the ongoing development of critical care, obstetrics, acute and chronic pain, ERAS, Local Anaesthesia and Day Surgery. On occasion, consultants may need to conduct interhospital transfers of critical care patients, as part of elective or on-call duties.
WORK PROGRAMME AND OUTLINE JOB PLAN
As required under Section 3 of the Terms and Conditions of Service, the duties and responsibilities are supported by a job plan and work programme. On taking up post, the formal plan will be agreed by the Head of Service and the successful applicant and subject to an annual cycle of review. Please see appendix 1 for draft outline job plan.
The job plan will include specific responsibilities as well as specialty sessions. The content of the job plan will be dependent on the successful candidate’s specialty training and interests and would also be modified for part-time or job share postholders. The sessions may vary week to week and may include resident-on-call.
The default position in the job plan for a new appointment is 1 Supporting Professional Activity (SPA). On appointment, or at any time thereafter, SPA time will be negotiated for specific, clearly identified duties and these activities would be reflected in the job plan.
The following work programme will be adjusted as needed depending on the evolutionary demands of the service.
It is anticipated that the work programme will be as follows:
An average commitment of 4.5 – 6 clinical sessions per week, (once allowance is made for pre and post operative ward work, out-of-hours work etc. from a 10 PA / week contract), involving:
· elective and day time emergency theatre work
· critical care duties
· day procedure theatre work
· obstetrics and acute pain work
· chronic pain work
· emergency on-call duties including obstetrics
· preassessment clinic work
Agreed support programmed activities (SPA) per week may
include:
· undergraduate and postgraduate medical education
· audit and committee work
· appraisal and revalidation
· service management/development
Non-resident consultant on-call duties, covering resident on-call trainees or career grades, may be on a 1 – in 11 basis,
Non-resident consultant on-call duties, covering resident on-call trainees or career grades, maximum frequency of 1 – in 10 basis.
One half day per month (total ten per year) is allocated on a hospital wide basis for Postgraduate Education and Audit, of a multidisciplinary nature. Elective operating is cancelled for these sessions. This is additional to the contractual study leave allocation of 30 days over 3 years.
Departmental morbidity and mortality meetings occur weekly on Wednesdays between 08.00 – 08.45 in the seminar room. In addition, both a departmental ITU Outcome meeting and a Journal Club are held on a monthly basis, the latter off site in the evening.
Borders General Hospital
The Borders General Hospital is the district general hospital serving the Scottish Borders Region. It has 320 beds with 87 acute medical beds of which 12 are in a higher dependency area with monitoring and telemetry facilities. The hospital offers services in General Medicine, Haematology, Palliative Care, Medicine for the Elderly, Stroke Medicine, Paediatrics, General Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery, Ophthalmology, ENT, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Dermatology. There is a 9 bedded Critical Care Unit run by the Anaesthetic Department and an active outreach programme for critically ill patients.
Within the Department of General Medicine there are 3 in patient wards and the 30 bedded Medical Assessment Receiving Unit (MARU - Ward 6). One of the wards includes a combined High Dependency and Coronary Care Unit which has 12 monitored beds and facilities for 6 telemetry units. Services provided by BGH Consultants include Cardiology, Respiratory Medicine, Diabetes and Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Neurology and Rheumatology. Visiting consultants provide clinics for Oncology, Renal Medicine and Clinical Genetics.
The recent opened 8 bedded Margaret Kerr Unit provides Specialist in-patient Palliative Care Facilities.
Surgical services at the Borders include 5 fully equipped theatres, a purpose-built Day Procedure Unit with operating theatre and an endoscopy unit. The Surgical Unit comprises two wards: Ward 7 with 31 in-patient beds and P.S.A.U an elective admissions/day case unit. Ward 7 also provides inpatient accommodation for ENT, Ophthalmology and Urology patients. Ward 9 provides inpatient accommodation for Orthopaedics.
The Emergency Department provides facilities for the reception, resuscitation, examination and treatment of patients who require emergency admission, or immediate care and discharge. The ED service is well integrated with the Borders Emergency Care Service (BECS), which is the Primary Care out-of-hours service for Borders. The department is managed by a consultant emergency physician with Specialty Doctors, Salaried GPs, training grade doctors (FY2s, GPST, orthopaedic and surgical trainees) managing ED patients supported by speciality medical staff from within the hospital.
There is an up to date laboratory service covering Haematology, Microbiology and Clinical Chemistry with ready access to more specialised investigations in Lothian laboratories and other laboratories in Scotland. The Radiology Department is well equipped for routine radiology, CT scanning, ultrasound, Doppler studies, nuclear medicine and MRI. CT coronary angiography and cardiac MRI are well established in the department.
There is an active post graduate programme under the direction of the Director of Medical Education with excellent facilities in the Educational Centre operated by Napier University.
Educational Facilities
There is an excellent staffed library within the Borders General Hospital grounds run by Napier University with good Internet access. The library is staffed Monday – Friday and security swipe card access in out of hours period, 7 days per week. As well as a range of textbooks and journals, there is access the heath e-library and to the online clinical enquiry and response service (CLEAR) from Healthcare Improvement Scotland and NHS Education for Scotland.
Post graduate and continuing medical education is actively encouraged and supported. There is a weekly clinical audit meeting, and a hospital wide monthly educational half day. There is a weekly x-ray meeting with the department of radiology.
The Scottish Borders
The Hospital is situated on the outskirts of Melrose in the Scottish Borders. The Borders covers a large and scenically beautiful area of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. Predominately rural, it is historically a unique part of the country, the home of the Border Reivers, where annually each town in the Borders maintain its links with the past during the season of Common Ridings. Seven-a-side rugby originated in Melrose, and the Melrose event in particular draws large crowds each year. The Borders has tremendous facilities for sport and leisure. Glentress and Innerleithen mountain bike parks are world renowned for both cross country and down hill biking. The beautiful Berwickshire coast provides options for sea kayaking, surfing, diving and sea fishing. In addition there are facilities for fishing, golf, swimming, horse riding, cricket, football, hiking and many other activities. The Borders has excellent cultural opportunities in terms of music and art societies, drama, and small theatres in Melrose and Selkirk as well as amateur opera. There are excellent restaurants, cinemas and shops. The Hospital also has corporate membership of an excellent Fitness Centre in Galashiels. There is a private nursery next to the hospital available for hospital employees’ children.
The Scottish Borders offers all the benefits of rural life with very easy access to major cities such as Edinburgh (37 miles) Glasgow (75 miles) Newcastle (75 miles). Edinburgh is renowned for its cultural activities in music, including opera and ballet, theatre, cinemas (including a film theatre) and visual arts, and of course every year there is the world famous Edinburgh International Festival and Fringe Festival. Glasgow also runs an annual festival in the early summer.
There are rail links to the rest of the country at Berwick Upon Tweed, and Carlisle and there is easy access to Edinburgh Airport (approximately 1 hour 15 minutes) and Newcastle Airport (approximately 1 hour 30 minutes). Local transport links are improving with the reopening of the Waverly railway line, Edinburgh Waverly Station – Tweedbank Station terminus (1 mile from BGH) confirmed on 5 September 2015.
House prices in the Borders Region are significantly less than in major cities and also less than many other rural parts of the country, particularly in the south. As part of our policy there is assistance with temporary housing costs and relocation allowances up to full inland revenue limits will be provided for the successful applicant.
Please see Websites:
Scottish Borders Tourist Board - www.scot-borders.co.uk
Southern Reporter - www.borderstoday.co.uk
NHS Borders www.nhsborders.scot.nhs.uk
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Attributes
/ Essential / DesirableQualifications / Primary Medical Degree.
Full registration with GMC with a licence to practice.
Possession of FRCA, or equivalent.
GMC Specialist Registration for Anaesthetics by date of taking up appointment or within 6 months of attainment of CCT at date of interview. / Higher degree (MD, Dphil, PhD) in relevant subject area.