Senior Clinical Fellow in Obstetric Anaesthesia

Job overview

A twelve-month post as a Clinical Fellow in Obstetric Anaesthesia is available at Oxford University Hospitals. This post is suitable for UK anaesthetic trainees within the last 2 years of training or immediately after completion of training. We also welcome applications from qualified anaesthetists from other countries who have completed at least 5 years of anaesthetic training and are eligible for registration with the GMC.

This post is an opportunity to join our team providing the obstetric anaesthesia service to a busy tertiary referral unit with >7500 deliveries each year. The post holder will be encouraged to participate in the multidisciplinary planning and management of high-risk cases, complete quality improvement work, and be involved in the training and supervision of more junior trainees.

Main duties of the job

The post-holder will be primarily based at the John Radcliffe Hospital, and it is a condition of the appointment that the post-holder will be willing to work at any of the Trust’s locations (John Radcliffe, Churchill and Horton Hospitals, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre).

The Obstetric Anaesthesia service is a key part of the multidisciplinary team managing high risk cases, and there is close liaison with Consultant Obstetricians and Consultant Obstetric Physicians at weekly maternal medicine MDT meetings. Specialist care for women with significant heart disease is planned at weekly joint obstetric medicine/cardiology MDT meetings. The unit is also a referral centre for the management of cases of placenta accreta spectrum, and Clinical Fellows are expected to be involved in the planning and delivery of care with supervision for these cases. There are many non-clinical activities available, including regular simulation sessions with OxSTaR (Oxford University simulation centre). Clinical Fellows are expected to complete at least one quality improvement activity during the year, and we will endeavour to support and encourage any specific interests.

The majority of clinical work will be obstetric anaesthesia with an average of two lists per month in other specialties. There are timetabled Fellowship days for non-clinical activity. The resident out of hours commitment is 1:8 with prospective cover.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The specific aims and objectives will be set by the Clinical Fellow in conjunction with their supervisors. The fellowship will allow development of advanced skills in obstetric anaesthesia including both planning and delivering anaesthesia to the most complex cases occurring in this specialist centre. There will be opportunities to work with distant, local and direct supervision.

On starting the post, the post-holder will work under the direct supervision of senior staff until they have successfully completed appropriate induction to the site of work. Every three months during the post (or more frequently if required) training will be reviewed by the nominated Clinical Supervisor. The post-holder is expected to keep accurate contemporaneous records of clinical activities or events, including pre-operative assessment, pre- and postoperative care, pain relief, and critical incidents, using the trust approved documentation. The post-holder is expected to keep a record of their training including a log book of cases and a record of other activity.

Please see job description for further details.