Job summary
ST GEORGE'S UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
ST GEORGE'S HOSPITAL, LONDON SW17 0QT
Locum Consultant Paediatrician - 12 MONTHS FIXED TERM CONTRACT
Full Time (10PA) and Part Time (8PA) roles available.
Applications are invited for a dynamic, enthusiastic consultant paediatrician to join the Acute General Paediatric Service at St George's Hospital. This is a 12 month fixed term opportunity, with two roles available (one full-time 10PA post and one part-time 8PA post).
The service has undergone expansion in the last 5 years as part of the Trust initiative to comply with acute care standards, enable the provision of a dedicated consultant of the week for the inpatient wards and emergency care and an out of hours rota with a resident consultant presence over extended hours seven days per week. In 2018 an ambulatory unit for children and young people opened, in addition to the paediatric assessment unit in the Children's Emergency Department. This consultant delivered unit has improved emergency flow, reduced inpatient admissions and provides a better quality of care for patients with urgent care needs.
Main duties of the job
The postholder will work with ten other colleagues to provide a full general paediatric service. This will include a 1:5 attending week with all elective commitments cancelled, to cover either inpatient wards or the ambulatory unit. During these weeks they will provide daily ward rounds/patient reviews, attend board rounds and safety huddles, cover emergency admissions and referrals, liaise with PICU regarding step-down patients and attend the morning and afternoon handover rounds.
The non-service weeks are varied and will include outpatient work, education, academic and management activities. A key development in outpatient work in the last five years has been to provide integrated clinics in primary care and improved rapid access general clinics. The post holder will form part of a locality based team within the local area, responsible for delivering an integrated service with primary care practitioners. St George's paediatric department is a highly rated teaching and training centre and there will be plenty of opportunity to contribute to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching activities.
We encourage all general paediatric consultants to develop a specialty interest to work within and alongside our specialty colleagues. Currently we are looking for paediatricians with a special interest in asthma, epilepsy and non-malignant haematology.
About us
St. George's Hospital is a large multi-specialty facility based in South-West London, offering a wide range of adult, paediatric and neonatal services. It is co-located with a medical school - St. George's, University of London. Children managed at SGH are either local or regional (tertiary), patients. There has been a steady increase in the number of paediatric attendees in the Emergency Department, in inpatient emergency admissions and outpatient referrals for local children. This reflects the increasing young population in SW Thames. Tertiary children's services at SGH include endocrinology, gastroenterology, infectious diseases, neurology, oncology, allergy, and respiratory medicine; and paediatric surgery, PICU, major trauma and neurosurgery.
The department has its own outpatient department (the Dragon Centre), a Child Development Centre and 5 wards with 57 inpatient beds, a 10 bed PICU/HDU and 36 cot NICU. There are 14 general paediatric consultants and nearly 60 specialty paediatric consultants and a fully staffed EWTD compliant middle grade and specialty trainee rota, composed of grid trainees, regional paediatric trainees, GP trainees, fellows and F1 doctors.
The department provides teaching and training for undergraduate medical students from City St George's University, based on site at St George's Hospital. There is a huge programme of teaching and research within the medical school, with active participation from the consultant body.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Inpatient wards
The paediatric in-patient facilities are made up of four paediatric wards - a day case ward, a surgical ward, a medical ward, and an infectious diseases / oncology ward. There is a 12 bedded intensive care / high dependency unit with a step-down facility. The general paediatric ward has a dedicated young persons bay. During attending weeks the postholder will be consultant of the week, responsible for leading the care of all general admissions.
Ambulatory care centre
The dedicated childrens ambulatory facility (Blue Sky Centre) aims to improve flow through the emergency department, avoid attendance through enhanced support to primary care and facilitate early ward discharge. It is primarily a consultant delivered service with an active programme to develop Advanced Nurse Practitioners to support an expansion in future years. Children requiring medical daycase treatment will be managed here in co-ordination with community childrens nursing and medical specialties. Cover for the ambulatory unit will also be provided on a consultant of the week basis.
Outpatient clinics
The post holder will provide a general paediatric clinic in the non-service weeks (32 per year). These clinics will see both new and follow up patients. They will also provide rapid access clinics for urgent / semi-urgent GP referrals on a rota basis, and have regular integrated clinics in local Primary Care hubs. The post holder will also have the opportunity to develop outpatient specialist skills in management of chronic conditions, working alongside tertiary and secondary paediatric subspecialist services at St Georges and our partner tertiary paediatric centres. These include (but are not limited to) asthma, epilepsy and non-malignant haematology (particularly haemoglobinopathies).
Out of hours work and on call
The out of hours duties will be approximately 1:11. On weekdays, including Fridays, the consultant on call takes over at 17:00 and remains resident in the hospital until 22:00, after handover to the night staff. At weekends the consultant is on site and performing ward rounds and emergency care between 08:30 and 22:00 and on call from home thereafter.
Management responsibility
The postholder will be expected to work with the Care Group Lead, Clinical Governance Lead and service management team on audit, guideline development and review of clinical incidents. A major goal of the Care Group is to extend collaborative working between the Care Group and stakeholders, including the Emergency Department, CAMHS, surgical Care Groups and primary care. The posts will include liaison roles to develop strategy, improve joint working and implement improvements in these key areas. There are a number of opportunities within the Trust to take on management roles extending outside Childrens Services for suitably skilled applicants. All SPA time will be expected to demonstrate outcomes that will be reviewed at annual job planning.
Education, training and development
The postholder will be expected to be involved with teaching junior paediatric staff in the morning tutorials, case presentations and Paediatric Grand Round. They will also have clinical and educational supervision responsibilities for trainees and will need to maintain competencies to support this role. They will be expected to support teaching of undergraduate students through SiFT funding and the department has close links with St Georges University of London. Funding is available for personal CPD activities.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Inpatient wards
The paediatric in-patient facilities are made up of four paediatric wards - a day case ward, a surgical ward, a medical ward, and an infectious diseases / oncology ward. There is a 12 bedded intensive care / high dependency unit with a step-down facility. The general paediatric ward has a dedicated young persons bay. During attending weeks the postholder will be consultant of the week, responsible for leading the care of all general admissions.
Ambulatory care centre
The dedicated childrens ambulatory facility (Blue Sky Centre) aims to improve flow through the emergency department, avoid attendance through enhanced support to primary care and facilitate early ward discharge. It is primarily a consultant delivered service with an active programme to develop Advanced Nurse Practitioners to support an expansion in future years. Children requiring medical daycase treatment will be managed here in co-ordination with community childrens nursing and medical specialties. Cover for the ambulatory unit will also be provided on a consultant of the week basis.
Outpatient clinics
The post holder will provide a general paediatric clinic in the non-service weeks (32 per year). These clinics will see both new and follow up patients. They will also provide rapid access clinics for urgent / semi-urgent GP referrals on a rota basis, and have regular integrated clinics in local Primary Care hubs. The post holder will also have the opportunity to develop outpatient specialist skills in management of chronic conditions, working alongside tertiary and secondary paediatric subspecialist services at St Georges and our partner tertiary paediatric centres. These include (but are not limited to) asthma, epilepsy and non-malignant haematology (particularly haemoglobinopathies).
Out of hours work and on call
The out of hours duties will be approximately 1:11. On weekdays, including Fridays, the consultant on call takes over at 17:00 and remains resident in the hospital until 22:00, after handover to the night staff. At weekends the consultant is on site and performing ward rounds and emergency care between 08:30 and 22:00 and on call from home thereafter.
Management responsibility
The postholder will be expected to work with the Care Group Lead, Clinical Governance Lead and service management team on audit, guideline development and review of clinical incidents. A major goal of the Care Group is to extend collaborative working between the Care Group and stakeholders, including the Emergency Department, CAMHS, surgical Care Groups and primary care. The posts will include liaison roles to develop strategy, improve joint working and implement improvements in these key areas. There are a number of opportunities within the Trust to take on management roles extending outside Childrens Services for suitably skilled applicants. All SPA time will be expected to demonstrate outcomes that will be reviewed at annual job planning.
Education, training and development
The postholder will be expected to be involved with teaching junior paediatric staff in the morning tutorials, case presentations and Paediatric Grand Round. They will also have clinical and educational supervision responsibilities for trainees and will need to maintain competencies to support this role. They will be expected to support teaching of undergraduate students through SiFT funding and the department has close links with St Georges University of London. Funding is available for personal CPD activities.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- MBBS or equivalent
- MRCPCH or equivalent
- Full GMC registration
- On the GMC's Specialist Register or within 6 months of CCT at the time of scheduled interview
Desirable
- Relevant higher degree: MD or PhD
Training
Essential
- Child Safeguarding Level 3
- APLS
Desirable
- Training and experience in a special interest to complement our team
Clinical Experience
Essential
- Able to demonstrate having achieved the competencies equivalent to the Highest Specialist Paediatric Training
- Wide experience in paediatrics within a dedicated paediatric unit
Desirable
- Up to date experience of ambulatory care and integrated care
- Up to date experience of inpatient and outpatient management of paediatric asthma, epilepsy, non malignant haematology
Clinical Governance
Essential
- Track record of performing clinical audit, quality improvement projects and guideline development with demonstrable outcomes
Desirable
- Contribution to wider systems of governance
Teaching
Essential
- Experience in training undergraduate medical students and postgraduate doctors
- Experience and knowledge of critical appraisal of evidence, so as to improve clinical outcomes
Desirable
- Post graduate teaching course
- Higher qualification in education
- Able to initiate and carry out medical research projects.
- Authorship of research papers
Management
Essential
- Leadership skills
- Training in management at registrar or equivalent level
- Understanding of management issues including medical management, clinical governance, service planning, and quality improvement
Desirable
- Ability to initiate service change
- Experience of management
Other Qualities
Essential
- Ability to work as a team with professional colleagues from medical and other disciplines.
- Good communication skills
- Flexible approach
- IT skills
Desirable
- Demonstration of commitment to equality and diversity in a team
Other Requirements
Essential
- MDU/MPS
- Satisfactory enhanced DBS and required immigration status
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- MBBS or equivalent
- MRCPCH or equivalent
- Full GMC registration
- On the GMC's Specialist Register or within 6 months of CCT at the time of scheduled interview
Desirable
- Relevant higher degree: MD or PhD
Training
Essential
- Child Safeguarding Level 3
- APLS
Desirable
- Training and experience in a special interest to complement our team
Clinical Experience
Essential
- Able to demonstrate having achieved the competencies equivalent to the Highest Specialist Paediatric Training
- Wide experience in paediatrics within a dedicated paediatric unit
Desirable
- Up to date experience of ambulatory care and integrated care
- Up to date experience of inpatient and outpatient management of paediatric asthma, epilepsy, non malignant haematology
Clinical Governance
Essential
- Track record of performing clinical audit, quality improvement projects and guideline development with demonstrable outcomes
Desirable
- Contribution to wider systems of governance
Teaching
Essential
- Experience in training undergraduate medical students and postgraduate doctors
- Experience and knowledge of critical appraisal of evidence, so as to improve clinical outcomes
Desirable
- Post graduate teaching course
- Higher qualification in education
- Able to initiate and carry out medical research projects.
- Authorship of research papers
Management
Essential
- Leadership skills
- Training in management at registrar or equivalent level
- Understanding of management issues including medical management, clinical governance, service planning, and quality improvement
Desirable
- Ability to initiate service change
- Experience of management
Other Qualities
Essential
- Ability to work as a team with professional colleagues from medical and other disciplines.
- Good communication skills
- Flexible approach
- IT skills
Desirable
- Demonstration of commitment to equality and diversity in a team
Other Requirements
Essential
- MDU/MPS
- Satisfactory enhanced DBS and required immigration status
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).
