Consultant Urologist - Robotic Renal Surgery

Job overview

The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust is seeking to appoint a Consultant Urologist with a specialist interest in Robotic Renal Surgery, including robot-assisted partial and radical nephrectomy, to support the expansion and consolidation of its renal cancer service.

This post is designed to appoint a robotic renal surgeon, working alongside existing robotic capability, to deliver high-quality, consultant-led renal cancer care and to support the Trust’s ambition towards centralisation and service resilience.

Main duties of the job

To provide specialist consultant-level care in robotic renal surgery, including robot-assisted partial and radical nephrectomy, and will contribute to the delivery of a high-quality, consultant-led renal cancer service. They will be responsible for providing senior clinical input into the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, monitoring and timely discharge of patients admitted under the care of the urology team. The post holder will work closely with the renal MDT to ensure timely, evidence-based decision-making and will play a key role in maintaining and developing the Trust’s robotic renal surgical capability. Be a role model to the junior medical staff, providing supervision, support and feedback.  They will also ensure that internal processes such as theatre list planning and imaging are co-ordinated and managed in a timely manner. Contribute to the undergraduate and postgraduate medical education programmes, ensuring that high professional standards are embedded, and become the norm for new doctors.

They will ensure that patients and their careers are involved in the development of their treatment plans, ensuring that they are adequately prepared for surgery where required, and receive regular feedback on their progress and any implications for their future prognosis.  They will also provide timely feedback for other clinicians involved in the care of the patient, ensuring seamless transition between secondary and primary care, and feedback to other co-dependent teams.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We are seeking a highly motivated Consultant Urologist with advanced robotic surgical skills, particularly in robot-assisted partial and radical nephrectomy, to join a growing urology service with core urology skills in flexible cystoscopy, haematuria, and LATP as well as robotic complex urology work.

Desirable and essential criteria

Essential Criteria:

GMC registered

• FRCS Urol and CCT urology
• Evidence of formal training and competence in robotic urological surgery
• Experience in robot-assisted partial and radical nephrectomy

Desirable criteria:

• Post CCT fellowship Ability to independently perform complex renal cancer surgery Experience of working within a renal cancer MDT Experience contributing to development or expansion of a robotic renal Interest in service development, audit, and outcomes reporting in robotic surgery Surgery, Urology & Vascular Directorate

The Trust has a clinically led structure. The Surgery, Urology & Vascular Directorate forms part of the Surgical Division, which is under the leadership of Mr Babar Elahi (Chief of Surgery) Kelly Pettifer (as the Acting Director of Operations) and Sara Davis (Divisional Chief Nurse)

The Surgery, Urology and Vascular Directorate itself is under the Clinical Directorship of Mr Atiq Ur Rehman, with Charlie Heaton as Directorate Manager (Emily Bennett as the acting DM at present) and Holly Murphy as Matron, Urology is under the Clinical Leadership of Mr A Abedin, a consultant Urology Surgeon. Mr Ali Shahzad is MDT and renal MDT lead.

JOB SUMMARY

Consultant Urology Renal Consultant

Key Responsibilities:

They will provide specialist consultant-level care in robotic renal surgery, including robot-assisted partial and radical nephrectomy, and will contribute to the delivery of a high-quality, consultant-led renal cancer service. They will be responsible for providing senior clinical input into the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, monitoring and timely discharge of patients admitted under the care of the urology team. The post holder will work closely with the renal MDT to ensure timely, evidence-based decision-making and will play a key role in maintaining and developing the Trust’s robotic renal surgical capability. They will be a role model to the junior medical staff, providing supervision, support and feedback. They will also ensure that internal processes such as theatre list planning and imaging are co-ordinated and managed in a timely manner.

The post holder will ensure that patients and their careers are involved in the development of their treatment plans, ensuring that they are adequately prepared for surgery where required, and receive regular feedback on their progress and any implications for their future prognosis.  They will also provide timely feedback for other clinicians involved in the care of the patient, ensuring seamless transition between secondary and primary care, and feedback to other co-dependent teams.

The specialty of urology is rapidly developing, and the post holder will be expected to contribute to the ongoing development of the emergency and elective service in association with the Clinical Service Lead.

Be part of the Renal surgical team and contribute to multidisciplinary team and work with the service lead towards centralisation of Renal surgical service.

Elective duties

• To deliver robot-assisted renal surgery, including partial and radical nephrectomy, in line with national standards and best practice.
• To contribute to robotic theatre list planning, ensuring optimal utilisation of robotic capacity.
• To support training of trainees and fellows in robotic renal surgery, where appropriate.
• To conduct outpatient and elective day-case and inpatient activity in line with the agreed job plan, and within the scope of the Trust’s clinical and operational policies and guidelines.
• To maintain effective and timely communication with patients and their carers, ensuring that they are actively involved in decisions around their care.
• To maintain effective communication with all other parties involved in the care of the patient, including GPs, community services, consultants from co-dependent specialties and other urological surgeons.
• To ensure that clinical letters and discharge summaries are completed promptly.
• The accurate and timely recoding of assessment and treatment plans in the medical records, which is compliant with Trust standards.
• Flexible provision of cover for planned and unexpected leave of consultant colleagues.
• Active participation and leadership within the Renal Cancer MDT, including presentation of complex cases and contribution to pathway development.
• To attend the weekly urology MDT meeting, and present cases in a clinically appropriate

timescale.

Emergency duties

• To oversee the assessment, diagnosis, treatment and ongoing monitoring of all emergency admissions.
• To provide senior decision-making for complex renal and urological emergencies, including post-operative robotic cases.
• Provide clinical leadership in relation to urology patients, ensuring that all patients are reviewed at least once a day, and that management plans are implemented within clinically appropriate timescales.
• Ensure that all urology patients outlying on other wards are reviewed, and that management plans are implemented within a clinically appropriate timescale.
• To oversee theatre list planning to ensure that patients receive treatment within a clinically appropriate timescale, from an appropriately skilled surgeon.
• Overseeing the effective communication of the diagnosis and treatment plans with patients and carers.
• The accurate and timely recoding of assessment and treatment plans in the medical records.
• To provide leadership and supervision of junior doctors during emergency on-call periods.

On-Call Requirements

The post holder is required to participate in on call rota which will increase to a 1:9 rota if approved.

Productivity

Consultants are expected to ensure optimum utilisation of the clinical sessions allocated to them (theatre lists and outpatient clinics), with both time and productivity. All these are measured on the speciality and reported against the peers and National figures using the GIRFT Model Hospital Data.

Consultants are expected to support the delivery of key access targets, including:

• 18-week referral to treatment for admitted and non-admitted patients
• 6-week diagnostic target
• Cancer waiting time standards (31 days for diagnostics and 62 days for treatment)

The six-week policy for annual leave and study leave will be adhered to.

PA details

The proposed programme of work comprises 10 programmed activities (8.5 DCC and 1.5 SPA), each of which has a nominal timetable value of four hours. The programme above is indicative, subject to change and will involve working flexible sessions to make up the 8.5 DCC PAS. Each clinical commitment is scheduled for 4 4-hour sessions and is eligible for 1 DCC and also allocated 0.25 DCC of associated admin generated from the clinical sessions. The SPA 1.5 SPA which will consist of Wednesday afternoon 1PA and 0.5 flexible.  The post holder will have no clinical commitments on Wednesday Morning and may undertake extra sessions depending on the departmental needs. There are no allied health care professionals supervising at this time; however, if it’s required in future, it can be allocated to the SPAS.

Direct clinical care (DCC)

DCC relates directly to the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness, and includes outpatient and elective theatre activities, and multi-disciplinary meetings about direct patient care. PAS that take place between 7 am to 7 pm Monday to Friday, weekends or on public holidays will have a timetable value of three hours.

SPA Details

Activities contained within Supporting Professional Activities (SPAS) are activities that underpin Direct Clinical Care (DCC). This includes participation in training, medical education, continuing professional development, formal teaching, audit, job planning, appraisal, research, clinical management and local clinical governance activities.

Following discussion in the Trust Joint Local Negotiating Committee, the Trust has clarified that the total number of SPAS will not exceed 2.5 SPAS per week for a consultant on a full-time (10 PA) contract. 1.5 SPA as a minimum will be allocated to cover revalidation activities including CPD.  Adjusting the balance between your DCCS and SPAS will not affect your total PAS, which should be agreed upon as part of the job planning process.

SPA time for teaching/training, research, audit lead or clinical lead roles, etc., should be carried out on Trust or NHS premises. These should be agreed upon and specified in the job plan with the allocation of time above the 1.5 SPA for CPD / revalidation, but up to the maximum of 2.5 SPAs in total.

A maximum of 1 SPA about CPD / revalidation per week can be worked flexibly offsite (with the approval of the Medical Service Head / Clinical Director), however, the expectation is that this offsite work should not be regularly timetabled.

• GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES

All staff are expected to adhere to policies and procedures in the Trust, which establish standards of good practice. Staff are expected to follow codes of conduct, which are relevant to their profession.

Organisational Values

The post holder will:

Care: You will listen, be respectful and treat others with compassion and kindness.

Respect: You will respect everyone you meet and encourage an inclusive culture where we respect the contribution everyone makes.

Responsibility: You will take responsibility for yourself and your team.