Healthcare Science Assistant Higher Level

Job overview

We are offering an opportunity for an enthusiastic and friendly  Treatment Planning Assistant ( non Patient facing) to join our Radiotherapy Physics team.

You will join the Radiotherapy Treatment Planning team, a section of Radiotherapy Physics that underpins the Radiotherapy service, which is located in an award-winning facility comprising 6 Linacs, 2 CT scanners, Xstrahl SXR, Papillon-50+ SXR, Flexitron HDR and state-of-the-art Varian (Eclipse) treatment planning system.

You will be joining an established team of Healthcare Science professionals, comprising Clinical Scientists and Technologists, and support staff.  The team prides itself on high staff retention and has a pragmatic approach to achieving safe and effective service delivery.  We are committed to providing a broad scope for the development of all members of staff.

The department was the first Radiotherapy Centre in the North of England to clinically implement the Varian Halcyon linac, to develop and benefit the patient service, and now has 2 of these units.  A Varian TrueBeam has recently been installed, to bring the complement to 4. In addition the department has recently installed SGRT across the fleet.

Building effective relationships with the multidisciplinary Radiotherapy department, and supporting the Lead Dosimetrist and wider planning team in the provision of the Radiotherapy Treatment Planning and Mould Room service, will be fundamental to achieving the standards expected.

Main duties of the job

• Schedule treatment planning tasks for a number of radiotherapy patients.
• Monitor the treatment planning task list, identifying and managing workflow issues (e.g. overdue tasks) to prevent unnecessary delays in the treatment planning process.
• Import patient imaging data into the radiotherapy treatment planning system and prepare the data for the treatment planning process, including performing image registrations and contouring some anatomical structures.
• Create treatment plan reports and enter these in the patient electronic management record.
• Prepare treatment plans for in-vivo dosimetry and treatment plan quality assurance measurements.
• Maintain stock control of consumable items used in the treatment planning process (e.g. thermoplastic masks, bolus material).
• Provide administrative and basic technical services within radiotherapy treatment planning to ensure timely, safe and effective treatment of patients.

This entry-level post provides valuable hands-on experience in a specialist clinical environment and may offer a progression route to a degree apprenticeship within the team to become a Clinical Technologist/Healthcare Science Practitioner, subject to availability and eligibility criteria.

To qualify for a future apprenticeship opportunity, applicants must not already hold a degree or higher qualification in a radiotherapy physics-related field.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For further details with regard to this vacancy opportunity, please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification.

We welcome applications from candidates who require Skilled Worker Visa sponsorship to work in the UK, and these will be considered alongside all other applications in line with our commitment to equality and inclusion.

Applicants can determine their potential eligibility for a Certificate of Sponsorship by reviewing the Skilled Worker Visa criteria set out by UKVI on the gov.uk website.

We reserve the right to close the  advert early in the event of high levels of interest. Therefore early applications are encouraged.