Senior Clinical Fellow in Critical Care

Job overview

The Critical Care department at GSTT has an international reputation for clinical excellence and a prominent research profile. As well as serving the local population we provide tertiary critical care to the region.

The critical care directorate comprises six clinical areas and totals 75 beds at the St Thomas’ site. There are 39 level 3 beds in the East Wing of the hospital (15 on EW1 ICU, 13 on EW2 ICU and 11 on EW6 ICU), an overnight intensive recovery unit (11 level 3 beds staffed by anaesthetists), a medical/surgical HDU on East Wing level 10 (15 level 2 beds) and cardiovascular surgical HDU (10 level 2 beds) on East Wing level 8. At the Guy’s site, there are 13 level 2/3 beds on the Guys Critical Care Unit (GCCU).

Our case mix is challenging with a large proportion of complex medical and cardiothoracic patients. We manage a wide spectrum of medical and surgical emergencies.

We are one of the largest severe respiratory failure centres in Europe by case load. The service was commissioned in 2012. This includes a 24/7 consultant-led ECMO/severe respiratory failure retrieval service. We conduct around 100 ECMO retrievals annually. There is also exposure to extra-corporeal CO2 removal.  There is ongoing going development of a VA programme for the management of reversible cardiogenic shock and eCPR. The post holder will also have significant exposure to general ITU patients and complex vascular, general surgery and cardiac surgery patients

Main duties of the job

This role is ST3- ST5 grade (Nodal point 4-5).

This post will provide the post-holder with unrivalled clinical experience and many opportunities for portfolio development including audit and research. The role occupies a central position in the Trust’s delivery of high class clinical care and carries significant responsibility.

ST 3-7 level trainees are required to provide direct clinical care in all of the Critical Care areas in the trust, namely:

• East Wing 1 and 2 Intensive Care Units
• Guy’s Critical Care Unit
• Victoria High Dependency Unit (EW10 Medical/Surgical HDU)
• Doulton High Dependency Unit (EW8 Surgical HDU)

In addition to providing direct clinical care the ST3-7 trainee is responsible for:

• Providing assistance and supervision for the ST1-2 trainees in critical care and their continuous assessment
• Timely assessment of critically ill patients within the hospital, including the Emergency Department (ED), Overnight Intensive Recovery (OIR) and ward areas.
• Leading the Clinical Response Team (CRT) with support from senior nursing and physiotherapy colleagues
• Safe transportation of critically ill patients within the Trust – this includes to and from the CT/MRI scanners and between the Guy’s and St Thomas’ sites.
• Transportation of critically ill patients to other hospitals.
• The ST3-7 trainee may be asked to provide clinical support in the Overnight Intensive Recovery Area (OIR) or the Lane-Fox Unit (chronic respiratory failure)

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical:

The postholder will, together with colleagues, be responsible for the provision of services to the Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust to include:

(a)        Diagnosis and treatment of patients of the trust in such hospitals, health centres or clinics or other premises as required.

(b)        Continuing clinical responsibility for the patients in your charge, allowing for all proper delegation to, and training of, your staff.

Training of junior staff:

The postholder will take responsibility for the training and direction of junior staff allocated to him/her under aegis of the training plan that that postholder has agreed with their supervising consultant.

Teaching:

The postholder will be expected to contribute as appropriate in the teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Clinical Governance:

All medical and dental staff are expected to take part in clinical governance activity, including clinical audit, clinical guideline and protocol development and clinical risk management.  They will be expected to produce evidence of their contribution in these areas and their audit of their own clinical work as part of their appraisal.