Consultant Clinical Geneticist

Job overview

The successful applicant will join a thriving Clinical Genetics Service caring for the largest population served by a single Clinical Genetics department in the UK (over 6 million people, with considerable diversity and a substantial minority ethnic population).  The Clinical Genetics service is part of a comprehensive Genomics service co-located and working collaboratively with the West Midlands Genomics Laboratory, part of the Central and South Genomic Laboratory Hub.    The size and nature of the population and the close relationship with the GLH and several local universities, offer excellent opportunities for clinical research and service development.  We are an active training centre for both Clinical Geneticists and Genetic Counsellors.

The Clinical Genetics Department sits within the Medicine Division, one of 3 Divisions within the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, providing family-centric care for the West Midlands.  The Clinical Director is a member of the Trust Management Board. The service benefits from an established operational management team enabling development of the service in line with NHSE, Trust and wider strategic priorities while keeping patient care at the heart of all decisions.

Main duties of the job

The post-holder will support a clinical genetics service with 9 clinic sessions per month in line with professional guidance for the specialty. These will include dysmorphology, general paediatric and adult genetics and fetal medicine referrals from specific areas in the West Midlands region.

Clinic sessions take place in the Birmingham area and in regional centres across the West Midlands. As referral patterns fluctuate, and the aim is to maintain waiting times within national targets, the post requires some flexibility to ensure equity of service delivery across the region, and therefore individuals’ clinic patterns may be reviewed and revised periodically.

The successful candidate will be working in a large department with numerous well-developed areas of sub-specialty expertise.  Alongside the team of Clinical Geneticists, the clinical service is delivered by a large, well-established team of Genetic Counsellors with a range of specialist practice, an expanding team of Genomic Associates and Practitioners and an experienced administrative team.  There is a culture of mutual support and respect for complimentary skills within the West Midlands Clinical Genomics Service, enabling a truly multidisciplinary and patient centred approach which enables professional satisfaction and wellbeing.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

This job outline highlights the main areas of responsibility for the post and is not exhaustive. It is expected that in line with the development of the Trust, additional responsibilities that are commensurate to the role will be added to this role outline to reflect the changing environment of the Trust as an NHS organisation.

• Duties in general genetics, with both adult and paediatric caseloads.
• The post holder will be responsible for the provision of the full range of genetic services to specific districts, but this will be kept under regular review with adjustments made in response to changing needs.
• It is anticipated that the job plan is likely to contain fixed commitments of 9 out-patient clinics per month and attendance at departmental clinical/audit meetings.
• It is expected that a consultant on 1 WTE will offer 400 clinic appointments per year consisting of a mixture of new and review patients.
• The post holder will be expected to take part in the duty rota, as the named consultant available to deal with urgent clinical enquiries and referrals.
• The appointee will share their time between diagnosis and counselling in general genetics, administration and teaching.
• The job plan will be arranged with the clinical director, the clinical lead and other consultants.
• Space, a laptop with access to all of the necessary departmental and Trust software and dedicated secretarial support will be provided, as well as support from the Genetic Counsellors.
• The post holder will be expected to take an active part in audit and clinical governance.