# Consultant in Cardiology WSI in Imaging > NHS job listing from Job Clerk for Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust. ## Canonical URLs - **HTML:** https://www.jobclerk.com/job/consultant-in-cardiology-wsi-in-imaging/2c2756d3-6445-4de3-aed6-ba14d0213731 - **Markdown:** https://www.jobclerk.com/job/consultant-in-cardiology-wsi-in-imaging/2c2756d3-6445-4de3-aed6-ba14d0213731.md ## Summary - **Status:** Live - **Employer:** Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust - **Town:** West Bromwich - **Region:** Midlands - **Country:** England - **Profession:** Medical doctor - **Speciality:** Cardiology - **Grade:** Consultant - **Salary:** £109,725 - £145,478 per annum - **Contract type:** Permanent - **Closing date:** 2026-07-20T23:59:00.000Z - **Posted:** 2026-06-15T10:01:29.234Z - **Source information URL:** https://www.healthjobsuk.com/job/UK/Birmingham_Black_Country/Smethwick/Sandwell_West_Birmingham_NHS_Trust/Cardiology/Cardiology-v7925674 - **Application URL:** https://apps.trac.jobs/job-advert/7925674?ShowJobAdvert=&feedid=9002 - **Employer website:** https://www.swbh.nhs.uk ## Job Content ### Job overview Consultant in Cardiology WSI in Imaging We are seeking to recruit an innovative and progressive Consultant with an interest in imaging (CMR, CTCA, DSE etc) to join our Cardiology team. The appointee will cover our new hospital Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH) during the on call with outpatient clinics at City hospital Birmingham and/or Sandwell General Hospital. Applications are welcomed from candidates with CCT (or equivalent) with an interest in imaging who are on the General Medical Council’s Specialist Register in Cardiology or who will be within six months of obtaining their CCT at the time of interview. In addition, applicants should demonstrate within their application that they are fully trained in general Cardiology, can manage Cardiology oncalls and can perform the imaging modality independently. This job is a substantive post. ### Main duties of the job The appointee will perform first class imaging (CMR, CTCA, DSE etc) for elective outpatient cases and urgent inpatients where required.  The candidate will also perform on-calls for Cardiology wards and general cardiology 1 in 10 (with internal cover). The appointee will cover clinics (general Cardiology & specialty), ward rounds and administration duties and will also provide flexible imaging cover. The post will be based primarily at MMUH for ward rounds, and oncalls. Based on the imaging modality, the sessions will be either in MMUH, Sandwell General Hospital or Birmingham City Hospital. The Trust has reconfigured its services in preparation for the implementation of the Right Care Right Here Programme and the post-holder therefore is required have outpatient work continuing on at least one of the other sites. The appointee will take equal responsibility with existing Consultants for the proper functioning of the clinical service, working with clinical and managerial colleagues towards achieving and maintaining national maximum waiting times and developing clinical pathways. ### Detailed job description and main responsibilities Dr Vinoda Sharma is currently Specialty Lead for Cardiology; Dr Stavros Apostolakis is the Clinical Director for Admitted Care, of which Cardiology forms a part; Dr Chetan Varma (also an Interventional Consultant Cardiologist) is the Group Director for Medicine and Emergency Care. MMUH has Medical Admission Units adjacent to the Emergency Departments. The Trust runs a ward-based system for general medical patients. Cardiology day time duties: The cardiology consultants provide a seven day service for cardiology patients at MMUH. The appointee will participate in day time general cardiac duties as Cardiologist of the Week (COW) at MMUH Cardiology department on a 1 in 10 rota (8am-6pm weekdays), reviewing and managing Cardiology patients, and 8am -2pm on the weekend of the COW week.  On the MMUH AMU, there is a daily consultant ward round on the acute medical unit (after initial assessment by the RMO and medical on-take team) in which patients needing prolonged specialist cardiac or catheter lab management are transferred the Cardiology A2 ward. All the patients requiring cardiology management are reviewed by the cardiology team with daily ward rounds on the cardiology wards, acute medical unit and ward referrals. All suspected acute coronary syndrome patients will be seen, as well as those with significant arrhythmias and those with heart failure.  AMU Cardiology referrals in MMUH are covered by the Interventional Cardiologists who perform a 1:8 cover Monday to Friday from 08:00-12:30 noon. On call weekend interventional cardiologists do a Saturday morning list for acute ward patients. Out-patient Clinics at Sandwell and City Hospitals At Sandwell Hospital, the out-patient department is directly adjacent to the cardiology department and therefore access to exercise testing, echocardiography and rhythm management facilities. At City Hospital, the Birmingham Treatment Centre also provides out-patient facilities adjacent to the Cardiology Department. The appointee would have two cardiology clinics per week. There may be a requirement for the appointee to do outpatient work outside the hospital in line with the “Right Care Right Here” programme.  At present there were a total of about 18000 outpatient attendances per year in the cardiology Dept.  Modern IT systems (UNITY) support delivery of service to improve rapid turnover and communication with primary care and all our patient records are electronic. Cardiac Intervention/Pacing MMUH is equipped with state of the art Siemens Artis Icono Biplane catheter labs adjacent to each other with a brand new third catheter lab which opened in March 2026 and is dedicated to pacing and devices. Cath lab coordination is supported using the dedicated Labyrinth@ IT system and dedicated nurse Cath Lab Coordinator.  One cath lab runs routinely from 8am-6pm and Saturday mornings from 9am -12pm, with the second lab running 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.  Cath labs run mixed lists of acute and elective patients. The Trust has a longstanding PCI programme and has undertaken coronary intervention with off-site surgical support from neighbouring cardiac surgical facilities for over 2 decades. A primary angioplasty service for acute myocardial infarction was established in the early 2000s, with 24 hours, 7 day service running since January 2005. Bradycardia pacing has been carried out on the Trust sites for over 30 years and biventricular pacing (CRT) and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation since 2006.  We now have a dedicated subcutaneous ICD service run by Dr Shah and Dr Maher. Angiograms and pacing are supported using the Change Healthcare@ system, images being visible on any PC within the Trust at any time by the cardiology team as well as Cath reports and BCIS returns. Cardiac Imaging There are well-developed cardiac imaging services (CMR, echocardiography, stress echo and CTCA) at both City and Sandwell Hospitals and an established Heart Failure Service with strong links over both Sandwell and City campuses.  With the demonstration of the great benefits of the specialist nursing service in Sandwell in avoiding excess hospital appointments and readmissions, the local Sandwell and West Birmingham CCG have recently funded 9 new specialist nurse posts to develop an equally good service in West Birmingham. Research is carried out into a number of aspects of heart failure. Cardiac diagnostics is a busy department with 12 sonographers (8 with BSE accreditation), performing more than 12,000 TTEs.  The department also performs more than 600 stress echocardiograms and more than 100 TOEs per year. We offer a range of stress echocardiography services including dobutamine stress echo, treadmill exercise stress echo and supine bike exercise stress echo. A comprehensive nuclear cardiology service is well established on the City site under the direction of Dr A Notghi and Dr M Pandit. Coronary CT is performed at Sandwell with a Siemens Somatom Definition Flash 256 slice scanners, capable of acquiring a full CT coronary angiogram in a single heartbeat with minimal x-ray exposure. The Cardiac CT programme is expanding rapidly, currently we do 2000 scans a year, but this is predicted to increase in Midland Metropolitan Hospital and with further implementation of the latest NICE guidance for the management and investigation of stable chest pain. Cardiac MRI is performed with a Siemens Avanto 1.5 Tesla MR scanner at the Sandwell site. The service is on an expansion curve and it is anticipated the current list of  approximately 500 scans a year to increase further in the next 12-18 months. It is anticipated that stress perfusion CMR will become incorporated into the normal workflow at MMUH. Participation in any of the imaging services would be welcome from a suitably qualified applicant. The single-site Acute Hospital (MMUH) benefits from co-located specialist services which supports the new Emergency Department with dedicated imaging facility and Assessment Units. It provides state-of-the-art treatment and care for patients from Sandwell and across the region and will become the civic heart of the area and a point of pride for the community. The working week for a full-time consultant is comprised of 10 programmed activities (PAs) each of which has a nominal timetable value of 4 hours with 1. 5 PAs for SPAs.  Programmed activities that take place outside the hours of 7am and 7pm Monday and Friday or at weekends or on public holidays will have a timetable value of three hours rather than four.  For this post direct clinical care (work relating directly to the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness) includes a minimum of 1 imaging session per week, emergency work (including whilst on-call), outpatient activities (minimum of 2 clinics per week), multi-disciplinary meetings about direct patient care, and administration directly related to the above.  Supporting professional activities (that underpin direct clinical care), include participation in training, medical education, continuous professional development, formal teaching, audit, clinical management and local clinical governance activities. For more information on the job role and responsibilities, please refer to the Job Description attached. For an informal discussion, please contact: Dr. Chetan Varma, Consultant Cardiologist and Group Director for Medicine on 0121 507 5841, Email: \[email protected\] Dr Vinoda Sharma, Consultant Cardiologist and Specialty Lead on 0121 507 5841      Email: \[email protected\] ## Job Details Consultant in Cardiology WSI in Imaging We are seeking to recruit an innovative and progressive Consultant with an interest in imaging (CMR, CTCA, DSE etc) to join our Cardiology team. The appointee will cover our new hospital Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH) during the on call with outpatient clinics at City hospital Birmingham and/or Sandwell General Hospital. Applications are welcomed from candidates with CCT (or equivalent) with an interest in imaging who are on the General Medical Council’s Specialist Register in Cardiology or who will be within six months of obtaining their CCT at the time of interview. In addition, applicants should demonstrate within their application that they are fully trained in general Cardiology, can manage Cardiology oncalls and can perform the imaging modality independently. This job is a substantive post. ## Job Description The appointee will perform first class imaging (CMR, CTCA, DSE etc) for elective outpatient cases and urgent inpatients where required. The candidate will also perform on-calls for Cardiology wards and general cardiology 1 in 10 (with internal cover). The appointee will cover clinics (general Cardiology & specialty), ward rounds and administration duties and will also provide flexible imaging cover. The post will be based primarily at MMUH for ward rounds, and oncalls. Based on the imaging modality, the sessions will be either in MMUH, Sandwell General Hospital or Birmingham City Hospital. The Trust has reconfigured its services in preparation for the implementation of the Right Care Right Here Programme and the post-holder therefore is required have outpatient work continuing on at least one of the other sites. The appointee will take equal responsibility with existing Consultants for the proper functioning of the clinical service, working with clinical and managerial colleagues towards achieving and maintaining national maximum waiting times and developing clinical pathways. ## Responsibilities Dr Vinoda Sharma is currently Specialty Lead for Cardiology; Dr Stavros Apostolakis is the Clinical Director for Admitted Care, of which Cardiology forms a part; Dr Chetan Varma (also an Interventional Consultant Cardiologist) is the Group Director for Medicine and Emergency Care. MMUH has Medical Admission Units adjacent to the Emergency Departments. The Trust runs a ward-based system for general medical patients. Cardiology day time duties: The cardiology consultants provide a seven day service for cardiology patients at MMUH. The appointee will participate in day time general cardiac duties as Cardiologist of the Week (COW) at MMUH Cardiology department on a 1 in 10 rota (8am-6pm weekdays), reviewing and managing Cardiology patients, and 8am -2pm on the weekend of the COW week. On the MMUH AMU, there is a daily consultant ward round on the acute medical unit (after initial assessment by the RMO and medical on-take team) in which patients needing prolonged specialist cardiac or catheter lab management are transferred the Cardiology A2 ward. All the patients requiring cardiology management are reviewed by the cardiology team with daily ward rounds on the cardiology wards, acute medical unit and ward referrals. All suspected acute coronary syndrome patients will be seen, as well as those with significant arrhythmias and those with heart failure. AMU Cardiology referrals in MMUH are covered by the Interventional Cardiologists who perform a 1:8 cover Monday to Friday from 08:00-12:30 noon. On call weekend interventional cardiologists do a Saturday morning list for acute ward patients. Out-patient Clinics at Sandwell and City Hospitals At Sandwell Hospital, the out-patient department is directly adjacent to the cardiology department and therefore access to exercise testing, echocardiography and rhythm management facilities. At City Hospital, the Birmingham Treatment Centre also provides out-patient facilities adjacent to the Cardiology Department. The appointee would have two cardiology clinics per week. There may be a requirement for the appointee to do outpatient work outside the hospital in line with the “Right Care Right Here” programme. At present there were a total of about 18000 outpatient attendances per year in the cardiology Dept. Modern IT systems (UNITY) support delivery of service to improve rapid turnover and communication with primary care and all our patient records are electronic. Cardiac Intervention/Pacing MMUH is equipped with state of the art Siemens Artis Icono Biplane catheter labs adjacent to each other with a brand new third catheter lab which opened in March 2026 and is dedicated to pacing and devices. Cath lab coordination is supported using the dedicated Labyrinth@ IT system and dedicated nurse Cath Lab Coordinator. One cath lab runs routinely from 8am-6pm and Saturday mornings from 9am -12pm, with the second lab running 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Cath labs run mixed lists of acute and elective patients. The Trust has a longstanding PCI programme and has undertaken coronary intervention with off-site surgical support from neighbouring cardiac surgical facilities for over 2 decades. A primary angioplasty service for acute myocardial infarction was established in the early 2000s, with 24 hours, 7 day service running since January 2005. Bradycardia pacing has been carried out on the Trust sites for over 30 years and biventricular pacing (CRT) and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation since 2006. We now have a dedicated subcutaneous ICD service run by Dr Shah and Dr Maher. Angiograms and pacing are supported using the Change Healthcare@ system, images being visible on any PC within the Trust at any time by the cardiology team as well as Cath reports and BCIS returns. Cardiac Imaging There are well-developed cardiac imaging services (CMR, echocardiography, stress echo and CTCA) at both City and Sandwell Hospitals and an established Heart Failure Service with strong links over both Sandwell and City campuses. With the demonstration of the great benefits of the specialist nursing service in Sandwell in avoiding excess hospital appointments and readmissions, the local Sandwell and West Birmingham CCG have recently funded 9 new specialist nurse posts to develop an equally good service in West Birmingham. Research is carried out into a number of aspects of heart failure. Cardiac diagnostics is a busy department with 12 sonographers (8 with BSE accreditation), performing more than 12,000 TTEs. The department also performs more than 600 stress echocardiograms and more than 100 TOEs per year. We offer a range of stress echocardiography services including dobutamine stress echo, treadmill exercise stress echo and supine bike exercise stress echo. A comprehensive nuclear cardiology service is well established on the City site under the direction of Dr A Notghi and Dr M Pandit. Coronary CT is performed at Sandwell with a Siemens Somatom Definition Flash 256 slice scanners, capable of acquiring a full CT coronary angiogram in a single heartbeat with minimal x-ray exposure. The Cardiac CT programme is expanding rapidly, currently we do 2000 scans a year, but this is predicted to increase in Midland Metropolitan Hospital and with further implementation of the latest NICE guidance for the management and investigation of stable chest pain. Cardiac MRI is performed with a Siemens Avanto 1.5 Tesla MR scanner at the Sandwell site. The service is on an expansion curve and it is anticipated the current list of approximately 500 scans a year to increase further in the next 12-18 months. It is anticipated that stress perfusion CMR will become incorporated into the normal workflow at MMUH. Participation in any of the imaging services would be welcome from a suitably qualified applicant. The single-site Acute Hospital (MMUH) benefits from co-located specialist services which supports the new Emergency Department with dedicated imaging facility and Assessment Units. It provides state-of-the-art treatment and care for patients from Sandwell and across the region and will become the civic heart of the area and a point of pride for the community. The working week for a full-time consultant is comprised of 10 programmed activities (PAs) each of which has a nominal timetable value of 4 hours with 1. 5 PAs for SPAs. Programmed activities that take place outside the hours of 7am and 7pm Monday and Friday or at weekends or on public holidays will have a timetable value of three hours rather than four. For this post direct clinical care (work relating directly to the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness) includes a minimum of 1 imaging session per week, emergency work (including whilst on-call), outpatient activities (minimum of 2 clinics per week), multi-disciplinary meetings about direct patient care, and administration directly related to the above. Supporting professional activities (that underpin direct clinical care), include participation in training, medical education, continuous professional development, formal teaching, audit, clinical management and local clinical governance activities. For more information on the job role and responsibilities, please refer to the Job Description attached. For an informal discussion, please contact: Dr. Chetan Varma, Consultant Cardiologist and Group Director for Medicine on 0121 507 5841, Email: \[email protected\] Dr Vinoda Sharma, Consultant Cardiologist and Specialty Lead on 0121 507 5841 Email: \[email protected\] ## Person Specification ### Qualifications: **Essential** - - Entry on the Specialist Register in cardiology (or entry expected within 6 months from the date of interview) **Desirable** - - Higher Degree - - Imaging Fellowship ### Other Requirements: **Essential** - - Full GMC Registration ### Clinical Experience: **Essential** - - Clinical training and experience equivalent to that required for gaining CCT in cardiology - - Ability to take full and independent responsibility for the management of acute cardiac emergencies - - Ability to take full and independent responsibility for the care of patients and independent in imaging (CTCA, CMR etc). **Desirable** - - Special interest that complements the existing consultants (e.g. Structural imaging, stress CMR etc.) ### Clinical Effectiveness **Essential** - - Experience of conducting clinical audit ### Teaching and Training experience: **Essential** - - Ability to teach clinical skills to medical and nursing staff and other disciplines **Desirable** - - Formal training in teaching ### Management and Administrative Experience: **Essential** - - Ability to organise and prioritise workload effectively ### Research, Innovation and Service Improvement Experience: **Essential** - - Ability to apply research outcomes to clinical problems **Desirable** - - Knowledge and experience of the application of information technology to cardiology - - Publications in relevant peer-reviewed journals in the last five years. - - Evidence of having undertaken original research ## Documents - [swb- sustainability (pdf, 49.1kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?edoc=2657) - [candidate briefing pack (pdf, 1.3mb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?edoc=2982) - [swb reward & recognition guide (pdf, 704.4kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?edoc=2604) - [consultant in cardiology wsi in imaging jd (pdf, 424.7kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?vdoc=10208304) - [consultant in cardiology wsi in imaging ps (pdf, 424.7kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?vdoc=10208305) - [flexible working document – healthier futures (pdf, 1.1mb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?edoc=2437) ## Agent Notes - This Markdown page is generated from the same Job Clerk job record as the HTML job detail page. - Use the canonical HTML URL for user-facing references. - Use the application URL when the user wants to apply on the source NHS site.