Job summary
Applications are invited for a Senior Clinical Fellow to work within Neurosurgery. The Fellowship will be based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, which is one of the busiest hospitals in the UK. In the financial year 2022/23 the Neurosurgery department treated: 246-day cases, 1052: elective cases and 1235: emergencies. Outpatient activity over the same period included: 4426 new and 14,700 follow-up patients.
The hospital has been designated as a level one trauma unit, leading to increased emergency work in the department. QEHB already has special expertise in the management of all forms of trauma, through its links with the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM) located in the hospital. There are 16 neurosurgical trainees and an in-house fellowship in spinal surgery. However, currently there are no Royal College recognised fellowships in cranial neurosurgery.
The Queen Elizabeth vestibular schwannoma (VS) service has the highest number of VS referral in England according to VS National Audit. The Skull base service provides approximately 100 transphenoidal approaches for pituitary, 50 craniotomies for anterior skull base, and 50 craniotomies for lateral skull base cases per year.
The neurovascular service provides 30-40 open neurovascular procedures (aneurysms, AVMs, cranial dAVFs), 250-300 endovascular neurovascular procedures and 150-200 mechanical thrombectomy procedures.
Main duties of the job
The Fellowship curriculum is consistent with the four domains of Good Medical Practice:
*Knowledge, skills and performance
*Safety and quality
*Leadership, communication, partnership, and team-working
*Maintaining trust
Our aim is to help you reach mastery in skull base, or vascular neurosurgery, so that you can perform complex cases with autonomy and clarity of purpose.
By the end of the fellowship the trainee will be able to demonstrate:
*Theoretical and practical knowledge related to Skull Base Neurosurgery and / or Neurovascular Surgery.
*Appropriate technical and operative skills
*Clinical skills and judgement
*Generic professional and leadership skills
*An understanding of the values and responsibilities that underpin Skull Base Neurosurgery and /or Neurovascular Surgery.
*The specific attributes needed to be a Skull base surgeon or/and neurovascular surgeon
*A commitment to their on-going personal and professional development and practice using reflective practice and educational processes having as high priority developing the successful candidate as a trainer and future leader.
*An understanding and respect for the multi-professional nature of the care of patients with skull base and/or neurovascular pathologies
*An understanding of the responsibilities of being an employee in the UK NHS
About us
We are recognised as one of the leading NHS Foundation Trusts in the UK. Our vision is to Build Healthier Lives, and we recognise that we need incredible staff to do this.
Our commitment to our staff is to create the best place for them to work, and we are dedicated to:
Investing in the health and wellbeing of our staff, including a commitment of offering flexible working where we can;Offer our staff a wide variety of training and development opportunities, to support their personal and career development objectives.
UHB is committed to ensuring that our staff are treated fairly and feel that they belong, by creating a kind and inclusive environment. This is about equity of opportunity; removing all barriers, including discrimination and ensuring each individual member of staff reach their true potential, achieve their ambitions and thrive in their work. This is more than words. We are taking action. Our commitment to an inclusive culture is embedded at all levels of the organisation where every voice is heard, driven by our diverse and active staff networks, and at Board level by the Fairness Taskforce led by our CEO. We nurture a culture which empowers staff to challenge discriminatory behaviours and to enable people to bring their 'whole self' to a kinder, more connected and bold place to work.
University Hospitals Birmingham is a Smoke-Free premises hospital.
Job description
Job responsibilities
This is a ST6+ and above fellowship. At entry to the fellowship the Fellow will have demonstrated generic competencies in the assessment and peri-operative management of patients with Neurosurgical pathology and will be competent to support the on-call team functioning at the level of senior registrar (senior tier of the rota). Candidates of exceptional aptitude who are at an earlier stage of their career and appropriate for the first tier of the rota may also be considered on a case-by-case basis. Understanding the basics of Skull base and Neurovascular surgery are a requirement for application. The ability to detect and mange post-operative cerebral swelling, hydrocephalus, intracranial haematomas, and intracranial sepsis, post-operative seizures and post-operative metabolic & endocrine disorders will be required. You will become confident managing intra operative complications such as vascular injury and post operative complications such as tension pneumocephalus, CSF leak, Facial palsy, bulbar dysfunction, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and brainstem injury.
In addition, the fellow will have demonstrated interest and aptitude in Skull Base and Neurovascular Surgery including the multi-disciplinary management of patients with skull base pathology and Neurovascular lesions. The fellowship will provide the opportunity to work with experienced teams who are supportive and happy to share their experience and thoughts on highly complex cases.
The Fellow will participate fully in the multidisciplinary management of Skull Base and Neurovascular patients. The Fellow will develop leadership and communication skills through engagement with mentoring. For appropriately skilled and experienced candidates there may be opportunities to "act up" as a consultant, including as part of the on-call rota, in a supportive environment. Such experience can be a vital bridge to achieving the skills, experience and confidence when starting out as a consultant neurosurgeon.
Refer to the attached Job Description for more details.
Job description
Job responsibilities
This is a ST6+ and above fellowship. At entry to the fellowship the Fellow will have demonstrated generic competencies in the assessment and peri-operative management of patients with Neurosurgical pathology and will be competent to support the on-call team functioning at the level of senior registrar (senior tier of the rota). Candidates of exceptional aptitude who are at an earlier stage of their career and appropriate for the first tier of the rota may also be considered on a case-by-case basis. Understanding the basics of Skull base and Neurovascular surgery are a requirement for application. The ability to detect and mange post-operative cerebral swelling, hydrocephalus, intracranial haematomas, and intracranial sepsis, post-operative seizures and post-operative metabolic & endocrine disorders will be required. You will become confident managing intra operative complications such as vascular injury and post operative complications such as tension pneumocephalus, CSF leak, Facial palsy, bulbar dysfunction, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and brainstem injury.
In addition, the fellow will have demonstrated interest and aptitude in Skull Base and Neurovascular Surgery including the multi-disciplinary management of patients with skull base pathology and Neurovascular lesions. The fellowship will provide the opportunity to work with experienced teams who are supportive and happy to share their experience and thoughts on highly complex cases.
The Fellow will participate fully in the multidisciplinary management of Skull Base and Neurovascular patients. The Fellow will develop leadership and communication skills through engagement with mentoring. For appropriately skilled and experienced candidates there may be opportunities to "act up" as a consultant, including as part of the on-call rota, in a supportive environment. Such experience can be a vital bridge to achieving the skills, experience and confidence when starting out as a consultant neurosurgeon.
Refer to the attached Job Description for more details.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Qualifications of ST 6+ level of training
- Full GMC registration with a licence to practice (or application process in progress)
- Clinical Experience
- Research / Teaching / Publications
- Proven teaching ability
- Willingness to undertake teaching of medical undergraduates & post-graduates.
- National / International presentations
- Evidence of relevant publications in peer reviewed journals.
Experience
Essential
- Recent experience and familiarity of UK hospital systems and practices (or equivalent).
- A minimum of 3 years at ST level in a substantive post within the UK or equivalent service
- Competent in all aspects of emergency neurosurgery
- Evidence of interest in surgical neuro-oncology
- Training in diagnosis and treatment of Neurosurgical conditions including emergency presentations.
- roven ability to work as a member of a team.
- Ability to organise and prioritise busy workloads effectively and cope under pressure.
- Ability to communicate effectively with patients, senior medical staff and other health professionals.
- Proficient and efficient handling medical problems
- Evidence of safe sound practical procedures
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Qualifications of ST 6+ level of training
- Full GMC registration with a licence to practice (or application process in progress)
- Clinical Experience
- Research / Teaching / Publications
- Proven teaching ability
- Willingness to undertake teaching of medical undergraduates & post-graduates.
- National / International presentations
- Evidence of relevant publications in peer reviewed journals.
Experience
Essential
- Recent experience and familiarity of UK hospital systems and practices (or equivalent).
- A minimum of 3 years at ST level in a substantive post within the UK or equivalent service
- Competent in all aspects of emergency neurosurgery
- Evidence of interest in surgical neuro-oncology
- Training in diagnosis and treatment of Neurosurgical conditions including emergency presentations.
- roven ability to work as a member of a team.
- Ability to organise and prioritise busy workloads effectively and cope under pressure.
- Ability to communicate effectively with patients, senior medical staff and other health professionals.
- Proficient and efficient handling medical problems
- Evidence of safe sound practical procedures
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
