Job responsibilities
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND RESPONSIBILITIES
MEDICAL STUDENT TEACHING
The appointed practitioner will normally participate in teaching medical students, post-graduate doctors/dentists and other groups at King's College Hospital NHSFT and Kings College London (KCL) School of Medicine.
Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, as a major teaching Trust, works in partnership with Kings College London to provide the highest possible quality of medical education.
All consultants are expected to be committed to teaching and to play their part in the delivery of the undergraduate curriculum. These activities would include the planning and review of teaching, and the assessment of students, which could, where properly structured, be undertaken simultaneously with service delivery commitments, including ward rounds and outpatient clinics.
Of necessity, the requirements of the undergraduate medical curriculum change over time and it is not always possible to identify specific teaching commitments in job plans. Some specific roles will be job planned.
The need for flexibility is acknowledged by the Trust and within a Care Group. It is possible that the overall teaching commitment can be unevenly allocated amongst staff to achieve optimal teaching and service quality.
POST-GRADUATE TEACHING
The Trust has over 700 training posts and over 400 Trust doctors/dentists across all specialties. The postholder will be expected to participate in teaching and training postgraduate doctors/dentists, which in addition to direct clinical supervision is likely to include acting as an educational supervisor to one or more individuals, providing them with regular appraisal and support. Consultants that undertake educational supervision will be provided with appropriate training in accordance with national requirements and accredited by the Director of Medical Education. Allocation of time for post-graduate education is normally job planned as a team.
RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
Involvement in high quality research is strongly encouraged at Kings NHSFT, as this supports both the delivery of high quality clinical care, and our role as a partner in a major Academic Health Science Centres.
Support for Research
An important component of the Trusts Research and Development (R&D) strategy is to strengthen the support available to researchers, to make it as easy as possible to participate in, and to lead in clinical research both commercial and academic.
Each Care Group is aligned with a Research Delivery Unit (RDU) that has a designated R&D Lead, Matron or Manager and a team of R&D research delivery staff. The R&D Office provides support for governance, contracts, costings and research Quality Assurance. The. Care Groups and RDUs are encouraged to maintain a mixed model balanced portfolio of research activity, including Clinical Research Network (CRN) studies, research grants, commercial studies, charity funded studies and health services research.
Commercial trials are costed and set up supported by the KHP Clinical Trials Office (KHP CTO) and this office also provides support for applications to the regulatory bodies for all non-commercial CTiMP studies, and Good Clinical Practice (GCP) training. Multi-disciplinary involvement in the research process is strongly encouraged.
Research and Job Planning
The undertaking of research within a job plan should be discussed as part of job planning activities. All staff should be aware of the research being undertaken within their Care Group and in the Trust, and actively support recruitment into all studies, whether or not they have a primary research component to their job plan. All individuals undertaking research are expected to have a good working knowledge of research governance standards, and are required to undertake GCP training as appropriate for the research they are involved in.
Governance of Research
All R&D projects are required to go through the Trusts R&D office, which manages and co-ordinates the National R&D and ethics approvals process. This ensures that all projects meet the required national standards of research governance and quality, and are in receipt of appropriate ethical approval and both national and local agreements, prior to R&D governance approval being issued.
Each RDU is required to convene a local research governance meeting chaired by the RDU research lead, where feasibility of new studies is discussed and agreed.
CLINICAL GOVERNANCE
The postholder will be expected to contribute to and participate in the Care Groups ongoing clinical audit programme and quality improvement programmes, and will carry out all necessary administrative duties associated with the care of their patients. The postholder also has a general duty of care for the health, safety and well-being of work colleagues, visitors and patients within the hospital, in addition to any specific risk management or clinical governance accountabilities associated with this post.
STUDY AND ANNUAL LEAVE
The postholder will be expected to comply with the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements of the relevant Royal College or Faculty and provide appropriate documentation and reflection in their appraisal. Study leave may be requested in accordance with the Trusts Policy for CPD.
Annual leave may be taken in accordance with the Trusts Guidelines on Leave Arrangements for Medical and Dental Staff. Consultants are entitled to 32 days of annual leave (34 days after 7 years of service), plus bank holidays. Consultants who work less than full time or compressed hours, should ensure their holiday allowance is adjusted in line with their working patterns.
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 e-leave planning on the Trusts approved system. Leave must be booked with appropriate time lines to allow effective service continuity and should not solely be taken during consultants clinical time, but also during SPA and APA activity.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
The post is covered by the current Terms and Conditions - Consultants (England) 2003, the Terms and Conditions of Service of NHS Medical and Dental Staff (England) and Trust Policies and Procedures where relevant.
There is a commitment to undertake routine job planned work on Saturdays or Sundays with appropriate job planning and commensurate time without commitment to the Trust.
Appointment is conditional upon a satisfactory medical assessment, which may include an examination.
SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES
The Trust takes the issues of safeguarding children, adults and addressing domestic abuse very seriously. All employees have a responsibilityto support the organisation in our duties by:
1. Attending mandatory training on safeguarding children and adults
2. Familiarising themselves with the Trust's processes for reporting concerns
3. Reporting any safeguarding child or adult concerns appropriately
INFECTION CONTROL
The postholder has an important responsibility for, and contribution to, infection control and must be familiar with the infection control and hygiene procedures and requirements when in clinical areas.
These requirements are set out in the National Code of Practice on Infection Control and in local policies and procedures which will be made clear during your induction and subsequent refresher training. These standards must be strictly complied with at all times.
APPRAISAL & JOB PLANNING
Annual appraisal is a contractual requirement in the NHS and is part of GMC revalidation. You have the responsibility to have an appraisal within twelve months of your last appraisal or within six months of starting at Kings if you have not had an appraisal previously in the UK. ARCPs count as previous appraisals for former HEE trainees.
To support appraisal and revalidation, the Trust ensures that every full-time consultant has one SPA in their job plan dedicated to undertaking activities to support this.
Less than full time consultants receive a pro rata amount of funded time for revalidation activity in their job plan.
Job planning review is conducted annually in line with the Care Groups operational plan.
The above represents an outline of the duties of the post and will, together with the job plan, be reviewed on an annual basis in accordance with the Trusts performance review scheme for consultants. Consultants will be expected to be compliant with statutory and mandatory training.
MENTORING
Coaching and mentoring can be effective approaches to developing employees. Both have grown in popularity; we want to use them to enhance the skills, knowledge and performance of our people around specific skills and goals. We want to develop and strengthen our Grass Roots and Brilliant People aspects of our strategic objectives. Our vision is to create an internal pool of coaches and mentors, from all professions, enabling Kings staff to realise their full personal and professional potential. We have launched an in-house coaching skills development programme to upskill current Kings coaches and mentors.
The Trust Mentoring Scheme is an opportunity for a relationship that can provide support and direction for newly qualified consultants.
