Consultant Gastroenterologist

Job overview

We are seeking an enthusiastic and experienced Consultant Gastroenterologist with a specialist interest in Clinical Nutrition to establish our Nutrition Support Team (NST) within a leading tertiary cancer centre. This substantive part-time post (5 PAs) offers a unique opportunity to focus exclusively on nutrition support, with no general gastroenterology, endoscopy, or on-call commitments. Based within the Nutrition and Dietetics Department, the successful applicant will work in close partnership with the Head of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Complex Artificial Nutrition Support Dietitian to provide clinical leadership for patients with complex nutritional needs, including cancer-related intestinal failure, malnutrition, enteral feeding, and parenteral nutrition. Working within a highly skilled multidisciplinary team, you will collaborate closely with dietitians, specialist nurses, pharmacists, oncologists, palliative care teams, and surgeons to deliver high-quality, patient-centred care. This is an exciting opportunity to help shape and develop a specialist nutrition support service within a world-renowned cancer centre while contributing to education, research, service development, and quality improvement. The role offers a predictable job plan and excellent work-life balance, making it ideal for consultants seeking a specialist leadership role in clinical nutrition

Main duties of the job

The postholder will provide specialist gastroenterology expertise to the Nutrition Support Team, supporting patients with complex nutritional needs requiring parenteral nutrition, and complex enteral feeding and including those with cancer-related intestinal failure and advanced gastrointestinal complications. Working alongside the Head of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Complex Artificial Nutrition Support Dietitian, the successful candidate will lead Nutrition Support Team ward rounds, outpatient clinics, and multidisciplinary discussions, ensuring safe, effective, and evidence-based nutritional care. They will provide expert advice to clinical teams across the Trust, support decision-making regarding home parenteral nutrition, and contribute to complex discussions around artificial nutrition, including palliative and end-of-life care. The role includes developing and enhancing the Nutrition Support Service, promoting best practice in line with national guidance, leading audit and quality improvement initiatives, supporting research activity, and delivering education and training to medical, nursing, pharmacy, and dietetic colleagues. We are looking for a collaborative consultant with expertise in clinical nutrition, excellent communication skills, and a commitment to multidisciplinary working and patient-centred care

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The appointee will be based at The Christie and will provide senior input to wards and an outpatient clinic.

Clinical

• Provide specialist gastroenterology and nutrition input for inpatients and outpatients requiring complex nutrition support, including cancer-related intestinal failure, complex enteral feeding, and parenteral nutrition.
• Provide specialist input into the assessment and management of patients requiring artificial nutrition support, including parenteral nutrition (PN) and complex enteral feeding.
• Undertaking outpatient clinics (OPC) for patients on home parenteral nutrition, ensuring continuity of care and prevention of avoidable admissions.
• Lead two ward rounds (WR) and multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings within the Nutrition Support Team.
• Support shared care models with regional centres (e.g. Salford) to optimise patient pathways.
• Manage complex PN nutrition-related complications, including line sepsis, liver disease, fluid/electrolyte imbalance, and gastrointestinal failure.
• Actively contribute to multidisciplinary team meetings, collaborating with dietitians, nurses, pharmacists, oncology, palliative care, and other relevant specialties to ensure coordinated patient care
• Maintain effective communication and coordination with the patient's parent Team, ensuring shared decision-making and seamless care planning for complex artificial nutrition support.
• Support oncology and other clinical teams in ethical, patient-centered, and evidence-based decision-making for complex artificial nutrition support cases, including end-of-life care considerations
• Provide consultant-level advice to other clinical teams within the Trust.
• Ensure safe initiation and monitoring of parenteral and complex enteral nutrition.
• To support decision making in appropriateness for home PN and providing support and advice to medical teams for palliative and EOL patients.

Leadership & Service Development

• Contribute to the strategic development of the Nutrition Support Service in line with national guidance (e.g. BAPEN, NICE).
• Be an active member of the trust Nutrition Steering Committee.
• Promote and monitor standards of complex nutritional care for cancer and intestinal failure patients.
• Strengthen governance, audit, and quality improvement processes within the NST service.
• Provide leadership in decision-making around artificial nutrition in patients with advanced cancer, ensuring decisions are evidence-based, ethical, and aligned with patients’ values.
• Contribute to goals-of-care discussions, advance care planning, and end-of-life care decisions.
• Act as a source of specialist advice on ethical dilemmas related to artificial nutrition, capacity, and best-interest decision-making in collaboration with legal and ethics committees if required.
• Participate in the strategic planning of nutrition support services, including potential expansion into broader gastroenterology/later effects work.
• Engage with regional and national networks to promote best practice.

Education & Training

• Provide teaching on ethical principles in artificial nutrition support and complex decision-making
• Contribute to undergraduate and postgraduate education programmes.
• Undertake CPD and maintain GMC revalidation. Research & Audit
• Contribute to the development, implementation, and review of policies, guidelines, and audit programs to ensure compliance with best practice standards.
• Engage with research activity in clinical nutrition and gastroenterology and support the development of research capacity and innovation within the team.
• Present and publish findings at local, national, and international level.
• Participate in or initiate research projects, and contribute to audit, service evaluation, and clinical research in nutrition and cancer.
• Develop and participate in clinical trials and translational research related to artificial nutrition, cancer cachexia, and survivorship. Governance & Professional Standards
• Participate in annual appraisal, job planning, and revalidation.
• Comply with Trust and GMC standards on clinical governance, risk management, safeguarding, and data protection.
• Maintain continuing professional development in line with Royal College of Physicians guidance.
• Uphold equality, diversity, and inclusion principles in clinical and educational practice. Office Equipment & Secretarial Support
• The role will have a consultant office within our Supportive Oncology Directorate, shared with a colleague from Endocrinology.
• The role will also have access to secretary based within Dietetics and Nutrition.
• Any role specific clinical equipment required for the Gastroenterologist will be purchased as required.
• The consultant will be issued Trust laptop.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) The Trust supports the requirements for CPD as laid down by the GMC and royal colleges and is committed to providing time and financial support for these activities.

Job Planning The job plan outlines the requirements of the post and may be altered by joint agreement with the Divisional Clinical Director and Service Manager and in response to service needs. Job Plans are prospectively agreed subject to an annual individual job plan review (May – September). It is expected that the initial Job Plan discussion will take place within the first six months of employment at the Trust and then be aligned to the Trusts annual Job Planning review cycle.

The annual review will examine all aspects of the job plan (including any educational and supervision components) and will also include an assessment of professional development with defined goals for the future. For more information refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this Job Description and also the Trust’s Job Planning Policy

The consultant job plan will include a combination of Direct Clinical Care (DCC) and Supporting Professional Activities (SPA) delivered across the 7‑day week.

Weekend working will consist of programmed clinical activities that are job‑planned, scheduled in advance, and reviewed annually through the job planning process.

The pattern and timing of weekday and weekend programmed activities will be agreed on appointment and subsequently reviewed through the annual job planning cycle, taking account of service needs and consultant preferences.

Essential Training/Mandatory Training To ensure you maintain safe practice and understand Trust requirements, you must ensure your essential/mandatory training modules are maintained at all times using allocated core SPA time to complete them.

On call Commitments This role does not require participation in the on-call rota.

• The OPC includes review and coordination with regional centres (e.g., Salford) to manage home PN patients and prevent avoidable admissions.
• SPA time includes preparation for MDT, clinical governance, ethical case review, and research/education activities.
• The remaining PA time can be flexible to accommodate urgent clinical needs, additional late effects work, or service development.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.