Locum Gastroenterology Consultants

Job overview

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust requires two Locum Consultants for 12 months to join the Gastroenterology team. The posts will be based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital site with occasional cross-site working at University Hospital Lewisham. These posts are being offered on a locum basis initially to support the Trust’s expanding Gastroenterology service. However, there is a strong possibility that they will become substantive positions in line with the Trust’s commitment to developing sustainable, high-quality services for our patients.

The Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust has two acute sites: Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) and University Hospital Lewisham (UHL). The hospital covers the London Boroughs of Greenwich and parts of Bexley, with a combined population of more than 300,000 people. Each site has a busy endoscopy department, each performing around 9,000 procedures. Lewisham is the lead for Bowel Cancer Screening across the six local boroughs.

This post is a 10 PA appointment and the post-holder will be required to do 3 endoscopy lists and 3 clinics per week. Post holders will also participate in the on-call GI bleed rota.

Main duties of the job

The Gastroenterology Department at QEH currently includes 6 consultants, 2 specialist registrars, 2 clinical fellows and 3 specialist nurses with responsibilities for inflammatory bowel disease, viral hepatitis and endoscopy. At UHL there are 6 consultants (some of whom work part time), two registrars, a specialist doctor and two specialist nurses (IBD and viral hepatitis). A number of specialist gastroenterology services have been established at the Trust including ERCP, oesophageal physiology, capsule endoscopy and fibroscanning. Facilities at QEH include a fully refurbished endoscopy unit with five endoscopy rooms, a new decontamination facility and recovery area.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• a.    Clinical Responsibilities

The successful applicant will undertake three gastroenterology clinics with a general profile of 12 slots (5 new and 7 follow ups) and three endoscopy sessions consisting of 12 points per list (both mixed lists).

The main duties and responsibilities of the post include:

• To undertake high quality diagnostic and therapeutic upper and lower GI endoscopy
• To participate in the provision of a high quality out-patient Gastroenterology service, including patient administration
• The post-holder will attend the weekly multidisciplinary meetings and monthly governance meetings b.    Medical Education & Teaching
• To possibly contribute to the General Medicine educational programme
• Act as a standard Consultant trainee for SpRs in Gastroenterology c.    Clinical Audit and Clinical Governance
• Attend and actively participate in the regular gastroenterology governance meetings.
• Undertake high quality audit projects and participate in the collection of data required to meet national quality standards. Under the supervision of consultants, junior doctors on the gastroenterology firms are expected to actively participate in high quality audit and present their data at national and international meetings. Junior doctors are encouraged to participate in research projects and publish case reports. The approach of the current consultants results in many of the junior doctors on the gastroenterology firm achieving at least once publication in a peer-reviewed journal or presentation at a regional or national meeting. d.    Continuing Professional Development
• Participate in continuing professional development at local and national level
• Implement audit and research findings as appropriate in clinical practice
• Prepare and participate in an annual appraisal in accordance with Trust policy
• A willingness to undertake additional professional responsibilities at local, regional or national levels e.    Policy, Planning and Management

The appointee will be responsible for the leadership of his/her team as appropriate within the specialty. Specific leadership responsibilities for areas of the service will be agreed on an individual basis and will be detailed in the postholder’s job plan.

The appointee is expected to:

• Be responsible to the Clinical Director for the effective and efficient use of resources under his/her control, to contribute to the planning and development of the service and to participate in directorate/departmental meetings.
• Be an active member of the Gastroenterology Team ensuring the delivery of the Service Plan and the targets in the NHS Plan.
• Contribute to the development of clinical and organisational protocols and guidelines
• Assist in ensuring that the Trust Clinical Governance Strategy is implemented as developed by the Clinical Practice Committee, Risk Management Committee and Education Committee.
• Contribute to good communications between the department and the other relevant staff/departments within the Trust, outside agencies including Social Services, General Practitioners, other Gastroenterology Departments in neighbouring Trusts and the Emergency Services.
• Support the Trust to deliver quality patient care
• Assist in the development of the Annual Service Plan for the Directorate and Division and participate in the strategic planning of the service
• Comply with all Trust policies