Specialist grade in Microbiology and infectious sciences

Job overview

Stockport NHS Foundation Trust and Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS foundation Trust are seeking a full-time (10 PAs) substantive Specialist Grade Clinical Microbiologist / Infectious Sciences Doctor. This is a new specialist grade post, established in line with the 2021 SAS doctor contract reform. The post holder will bring a strong commitment to high-quality patient care, clinical governance, innovation, delivery of performance targets and training excellence.

This is a cross-site post, with duties at both Stepping Hill and Tameside General Hospitals, providing microbiological and infection prevention and control advice to both Trusts and associated community and primary care services.

The post holder will develop close working relationships with clinicians and staff across both sites, encourage the safe and optimal management of infection, and support specialty training, antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention and control. There is a clear expectation to develop a specialist clinical interest and take a leadership role within the team.

Participation in both the workday and out-of-hours consultant clinical microbiology rotas is expected across the component Trusts.

Stepping Hill Microbiology Laboratory holds UKAS accreditation and serves Stockport and the High Peak. Close clinical relationships are maintained through weekly MDT meetings.

For an informal discussion, contact Mark Gordon, Associate Director for Pathology, on 0161 419 4676.

Main duties of the job

The post holder provides laboratory liaison, expert microbiological and infection control advice, and antimicrobial stewardship across both Stepping Hill and Tameside General Hospitals, including clinical reviews on ward rounds.

Duties include sharing oversight of specimen processing with consultant colleagues, validating and interpreting results, and advising clinicians and GPs on diagnostic tests, antibiotic usage and patient management. The post holder participates in ICU ward rounds, antibiotic stewardship rounds and microbiology discussion meetings, and supports the IPCNs in day-to-day infection prevention and control.

They communicate results and technical advice to all service users, maintain confidentiality, report incidents per Trust policy, and attend Directorate and Trust meetings, including SAE/SUI meetings as required. The role involves contributing to policy and service development, assisting with UKAS compliance, developing a specialist clinical interest, and taking a leadership role to support safe, effective service delivery. The post holder also assists in training junior medical staff.

Participation in the workday and out-of-hours clinical microbiology rotas is expected, as part of the consultant out-of-hours rota (currently ~1 in 5 weeknights and 1 in 7 weekends), providing advice to Stockport, Tameside, Mid Cheshire and East Cheshire.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached job description where there is a detailed description of the Specialist Grade Microbiologist role.

The Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment and promote safeguarding by implementing the Trust’s policies and procedures, acting promptly on concerns, communicating effectively and sharing information appropriately.

If successful this vacancy will require an enhanced DBS check at a cost of £54.90. This cost will be deducted from your first Trust salary

In addition to this it will be a condition of your employment that you will join the DBS update service and pay the annual subscription fee of £16.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.