Consultant Neuro-Anaesthesia

Job responsibilities

Description of anaesthetic, theatre and critical care services at The Walton Centre

The Department of Neuro-anaesthesia & Neuro Critical Care is an ACSA accredited department with 20 consultants and 3 speciality doctors providing daytime cover for theatres, critical care and neuroradiology. There is a Clinical Director for Neuro-anaesthesia and Critical Care.

The Consultants provide an on-call service for adult neuro-critical care and neurosurgical emergencies on two separate on-call rotas.

The Consultants have office space within the critical care unit, with computers and internet access.

Consultant and speciality doctor staffing

Dr Elaine Anderson

College Tutor, Nutrition representative

Dr William Bickerstaffe

Consultant neuro-anaesthetist and neuro-intensivist

Dr Jennifer Burgess

CLOD, Resus lead

Dr Helen Butterfield

Consultant neuro-anaesthetist and neuro-intensivist

Dr Sapna Girdharilal

Transfusion lead, Safeguarding Lead

Dr Sue Griffiths

Educational supervisor, ICUOG chair

Dr Miroslava Koleva

SIM, Acute pain, Pre-op

Dr Sandeep Lakhani

Divisional Clinical Director, Neurosurgery division, ACSA co lead

Dr Joanna Lynes

D&T representative

Dr Gautam Mahalingam

Audit lead

Dr Rosie May

Consultant neuro-anaesthetist and neuro-intensivist

Dr Martina McMonagle

Risk and governance

Dr Priya Nair

PQUIP Lead, Trust diabetes lead

Dr Vijai Paulsen

Consultant neuro-anaesthetist and neuro-intensivist Acute pain lead, IPC representative, ITU follow-up

Dr Gerald Smith

ICM Faculty Tutor, Research lead

Dr Rajesh Srinivasaiah

Pre-op, Emergency anaesthesia and NELA lead, Rota co-ordinator

Dr Akshay Sule

Clinical director, Neuro-anaesthesia and neuro-critical care; Airway lead, Equipment lead

Dr Jonathan Taylor

Transfer lead, trauma representative

Dr Chris Whitehead

Clinical director for pain, ICNARC & Mortality Review Lead

Dr Shehla Shakooh

Speciality doctor in neuro-anaesthesia and intensive care

Dr James Linsell

Speciality doctor in neuro-anaesthesia and intensive care

Dr Vijay Sahitya

Speciality doctor in neuro-anaesthesia and intensive care

Dr Nupur Gupta

Locum Speciality doctor in neuro-anaesthesia and intensive care

Middle Grade Staff

There are a total of 8 ST3 ST7 training posts, 1 Foundation Year, 3 ICM trainees, 1 Advanced Neuro trainee, 3 posts approved for candidates under the MTI scheme, and 1 trust grade Clinical fellow.

In addition to the above, we have 7.0 WTE Advanced Critical Care Practitioners who provide an extra tier of resident cover on ITU.

Administrative Staffing

The department is supported by an ITU secretary, an anaesthesia secretary/audit assistant & an ITU audit supervisor.

The Theatres and other facilities

The Walton Centre currently has 8 theatres within the theatre (including a theatre with intraoperative MRI facilities) with a fully staffed & equipped Recovery. The theatres have a 24-hour resident Nursing & Operating Department Practitioner team. There are regular anaesthetic sessions for Interventional Neuroradiology & MRI.

Neuro Critical Care unit

This is a purpose-built specialist ITU area with 16 bed-spaces of HBN standard size. Each is equipped with an overhead beam and foot-rail system. Eight are situated in side rooms and the rest are spread around an open 8 bedded area. There is a modular Drager monitoring system. Invasive CNS monitoring is regularly undertaken with the Codman system. Drager ventilators are used. PiCCO, LidCo and BIS monitoring are available. In addition to this, there is a separate 4 bedded HDU area within the critical care complex.

The neuro-intensive care unit is situated on the ground floor with easy access to the scanners and theatre. There are extensive facilities for relatives. There is a seminar room for use by the trainees and nursing staff, with computers and audio-visual equipment and a small specialist library.

Currently the Consultants provide 20 sessions of daytime cover for Critical Care per week. The Critical Care Unit underwent a major expansion in 2010 and now has the capacity and staffing to accept up to 16 level three and four level two patients.

Recently there have been about 900 total admissions per year to the unit. Mortality on the critical care unit is about 7.5%. The Unit submits data to the Case Mix Programme of ICNARC.

In addition to the Matron responsible for Critical Care, the Walton Centre has a 24/7 Critical Care Outreach Team / SMART Team. There are currently a nursing Service Improvement Lead, and a Practice Educator.

Job Plan

The post is being advertised as 10.0 Programmed Activities (PAs) but extra Programmed Activities for Direct Clinical Care will be available by mutual agreement between the Trust and the successful candidate. The sessions are annualised. The clinical PAs for this post-holder will be divided between neuro-anaesthesia and neuro-critical care sessions, at mutual agreement between the post-holder and the clinical director.

Direct Clinical Care sessions, up to a maximum of 2 sessions every week, can be made available in the neighbouring or regional NHS hospitals for the successful candidates if they desire to work in other anaesthetic specialities in addition to Neuro-anaesthesia & Neuro Critical Care.

The postholder will be expected to comply with the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements of the relevant Royal College or Faculty and/or provide appropriate documentation and reflection in their appraisal documentation.

Study leave may be requested and will be funded in accordance with the Trusts Policy for CPD.

The post attracts 1.5 Supporting Programmed Activities (SPA) for Continuing Professional Development, Appraisal and Audit.

On call frequency is currently 1:9 with full staffing. There are 2 consultants on-call every day: one for ITU and one covering theatres. Successful candidate will participate in on-calls on both the rota cycles.

The PAs & SPAs are averaged over 8 weeks.

The appointees will be expected to take part in all the teaching, counselling, audit, research and management activities within the hospital and to develop relevant special interests.

Annual leave may be taken in accordance with the Department Guidelines on Leave.

To ensure the smooth running of the service the postholder will ensure that, in conjunction with colleagues, adequate arrangements are made to cover planned absences and the expected approvals would go through leave planning. Leave must be booked with appropriate time lines to allow effective service continuity. Mutually agreed flexible working patterns will be expected. The department operates annualised job plans.

Example job plan is available in Appendix 1. Please note that the exact Direct Clinical Care sessions will be mutually agreed with the successful candidate & the sessions in the example job plan are purely indicative.

Experience

Essential

• A minimum of 7 years (or full time equivalent) appropriate experience in Anaesthesia & Critical Care
• Hold CCT in Anaesthesia (or equivalent) or be within 6 months of attaining CCT at the time of interview
• 6-12 months advanced training in neuro-anaesthesia and neuro-critical care.
• OR
• CCT in ICM and / or FFICM or equivalent qualification.
• Current experience of working in neuro-intensive care at consultant/locum consultant level.
• ALS certified.

Desirable

• CCT in ICM and / or FFICM or equivalent qualification
• Higher training in ENT Maxillo-facial & Dental anaesthesia
• Higher training in Trauma & Stabilization.

Qualifications

Essential

• MB ChB (or equivalent)
• FRCA (or equivalent)
• Full registration with GMC
• Eligible for inclusion in specialist register in Anaesthesia

Desirable

• FFICM
• Other degree
• MRCP

Teaching and audit

Essential

• GMC recognition as a Clinical Supervisor
• Ability to organise training days / sessions
• Commitment to ongoing professional development
• Completed and presented audit projects with evidence of change in practice

Desirable

• GMC recognition as an Educational Supervisor
• Evidence of commitment to postgraduate education (e.g. Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education (PGME)
• Appraiser / Mentoring experience
• Demonstrable ability to teach and train and engage other professionals
• Presentation skills for a wide variety of audiences

Clinical Governance experience

Essential

• Understanding of the principles of Clinical Governance and resource constraints.
• Ability to take full and independent responsibility for clinical care of patients

Management and organisation

Essential

• Ability to organise oneself and others in a multi-disciplinary team
• An understanding of the NHS organization and management structures.
• An understanding of the funding and finance issues in the NHS.
• Knowledge of recent reports and plans for the development of the NHS

Desirable

• Experience of NHS committee work
• Have attended a relevant management course

Research/ Academia

Essential

• Case study/Journal club presentations
• Critical appraisal of research publications.
• Ability to apply evidence-based practice

Desirable

• Research publications
• Prizes and honours

Clinical skills and decision-making

Essential

• Manually dexterous
• Able to work without supervision and make appropriate clinical decisions
• Incorporate evidence based medical knowledge in clinical practice

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).