Consultant Anaesthetist - Peri Operative Medicine

Job summary

We are a large and friendly department with over 65 Consultants, 11 SAS, up to 35 Trainees and post CCT Fellows. We are very proud to be a MDHU Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit with 4 Military Consultants and a variable number of Military trainees of various grades. We have 4 qualified AAs in a bespoke programme designed for the benefit of, and led by the department. The department also hosts 3.5 WTE Acute Pain Nurses, Peri-Operative team, 20 WTE Pre Operative Assessment Nurses and 4 Administrative and Clerical staff

As a department we have a reputation for being cohesive, innovative and providing excellent education and support to our trainees, Trust Grades and Consultants. We were delighted to be one of the first Departments in the UK to achieve ACSA accreditation from the RCOA and reaccredited again in 2023. We have also had a successful Getting it Right First Time GIRFT visit and were particularly commended for our Surgery School and our Surgical High Care Unit.

AAC Panel Date: Wednesday 12th March 2025

Main duties of the job

The hospital has 30 operating theatres and 5 remote suites where anaesthetic services are delivered. The department provides anaesthetic services to all sites in the Trust and supports subspecialties including:

Major General: Colorectal, Upper GI (including Oesophagectomies), Bariatrics, Gynaecology, Urology. Including robotic surgery (4 robotic theatres)

Major Head and Neck and ENT (including free flap surgery)

Orthopaedics, including significant amount of regional anaesthesia

Renal transplant and Renal Vascular access surgery

Plastics

Paediatrics

Obstetrics

Pain

Non-theatre: Interventional Radiology, CT/ MRI, Gastro/Endoscopy and Cardiology.

Periop Medicine: Anaesthetic Preassessment clinic, dedicated Bariatric/Upper GI clinic and MDT, CPET, daily Surgical High-Care Ward round and Surgery School (www.surgeryschool.co.uk)

The department runs numerous courses and particularly prides itself on its reputation within the region for teaching. We run a nationally-recognised difficult airway course (PAWS), numerous simulator courses (we have a high-fidelity Simulation Suite on site), Regional Anaesthesia courses and exam preparation courses.

Our Intensive Care Unit is a separate 24 bedded department within the same Care Group and 7 of the 14 Consultant Intensivists have anaesthetic sessions.

Job responsibilities

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust provides a range of acute services at Queen Alexandra Hospital (QAH). QAH is a very large, busy district general hospital and has gone through a major redevelopment in 2009, when three pre-existing hospitals were brought together to create a modern and spacious new block, where anaesthetics, obstetrics and intensive care departments are now all housed. There are over 7,500 full time equivalent staff, including Ministry of Defence employees, who are fully integrated into the activities of the hospital. The Emergency Department is one of the busiest in the UK, treating in excess of 180,000 patients each year. Similarly maternity services are responsible for the delivery of around 6,500 births per year, making it one of the largest maternity services on the south coast. The Trust is also home to the Wessex Renal and Transplant Unit and it holds prestigious Cancer Beacon Status for the Head and Neck Cancer Services. Queen Alexandra Hospital has around 1,200 beds, including cots (NICU), 30 theatres and superb critical care facilities with a 24 bedded ICU.