Job responsibilities
Principal
Duties & Areas of Responsibility
Clinical
Duties
To be professionally and legally
accountable for all aspect of own work, including the management of patients
in your care.
Participates in rotational
requirements within the cardiorespiratory department in non-invasive and
respiratory services where required. On call and 24/7 provision of acute
emergency services may be required (e.g., Cardiac Catheter Labs and/or
Implantable Cardiac Devices).
Demonstrating a high level of autonomy, often giving advice to medical
staff with limited specialist knowledge thus directly influencing patient
care outcomes.
Routinely undertakes assessment of
both in-patients and out-patients prior to a range of investigations and uses
own discretion in order to ensure the patient is suitable for the
investigation.
Gives lead specialist advice during
highly complex situations where analytical judgement is required to all other
members of the multi-disciplinary team including consultant physicians.
Carries out all aspects of clinical
work as approved by their Line Manager.
Lead Specialist in own clinical
field. Implements change in own specialist area based on own experience and
evidence-based practice.
Works within and towards national
guidelines and directives, e.g., NICE guidelines.
Works as an autonomous practitioner
within established departmental policies and those recognised by
international organisations e.g., American Heart Association, Heart Rhythm
Society - UK, Association for Respiratory Technology and Physiology, and
Academy for Healthcare Science
Communicates with all members of
the multidisciplinary team to ensure the best possible care for patients,
including: negotiating, reassurance, empathy, and persuasiveness.
Communicates sensitive information
about routine and complex investigations to patients and relatives/carers
including children and those with learning and/or physical disabilities.
Calibrates and manipulates a wide
range of complex, expensive, technical equipment which process, create,
update and store information.
Performs / provides factual reports
on a number of the following investigations on a region-wide range of
patients including acutely ill paediatric and elderly patients and those with
a range of physical and learning disabilities:
These investigations would be
dependent on the applicants skill set and area of clinical expertise
(Cardiac, Respiratory or Sleep).
-
Cardiopulmonary exercise
testing (CPX)
- 12 lead electrocardiographs (ECG)
- Advanced ambulatory monitoring
techniques
- Advanced haemodynamic
assessments/calculations
- Capillary blood gases
- Cardiac ultrasound imaging (TTE)
- Complex Electrophysiology studies
and 3D mapping studies
- Complex Implantable Cardioverter
Defibrillators (ICDs) implantations
- Complex Permanent Pacemaker (PPM)
implantations
- Complex PPM/ICD lead extractions
- Exercise testing under medical
supervision
- Field exercise tests
- Fitness to fly assessments
- Full pulmonary function testing
- Mannitol challenge testing
- Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
(PCI)
- Physiologist led Exercise Tolerance
Testing (ETT)
- Physiologist led PPM and ICD
follow-up
- Respiratory muscle assessments
- Routine cardiac angiography and
haemodynamic assessment
- Sleep physiology analysis and CPAP.
- Temporary pacemaker insertions
- Therapeutic radiofrequency ablation
Reports equipment faults in
accordance with departmental policy.
Demonstrates personal duty of care
for safe use of expensive and highly complex equipment. Is responsible for
ensuring that others are fully trained in the safe use of such equipment
within their specialist area.
Responsible for maintenance of
stock levels by ordering from pre-agreed tender schedules and by seeking new
resources as service demands change.
Responsible for day-to-day security
of expensive equipment, e.g., portable devices.
Professional
Responsible for maintaining own
technical competencies in clinical areas.
Responsible for reporting clinical
incidents and adverse events to the Service Manager.
Maintain state registration.
Responsible for formal mentorship
and coordination of training for designated staff in training within own
specialist area.
Provides highly specialist training
on a day-to-day basis for doctors and physiologists.
Be an active member of the
in-service training programme by attendance at, and participation in,
in-service training programmes, tutorials, individual training sessions,
external courses and peer review.
Undertakes Continuing Professional
Development (CPD) in accordance with Personal Development Plan (PDP) as
developed with Line Manager.
Attends and participates in
departmental staff meetings.
Maintains and develops current
knowledge of evidence-based practice in each clinical area.
Responsible for the implementation
and evaluation of capital and consumable equipment prior to purchase to
ensure the equipment fulfils both service requirements and budget
restrictions.
Frequently undertakes collection of
data for use in audit, research projects and equipment testing.
Regularly undertakes clinical
trials involving new and emerging technologies.
Regularly provides training in
highly specialist physiological techniques to staff members including
specialist physiologists and medical staff.
Collaborates with the Service
Manager towards changes that may impact the wider service provision.
Organisational
Ability to prioritise and organise
the clinical caseload within a designated area of Cardiorespiratory. Includes
planning and organisation of expected and acute workload and deployment of
more junior staff within that area.
Accountable for the delivery and
day to day management of the delegated area of responsibility within their
speciality.
Other
Demonstrates the ability to prioritise
and organise the clinical caseload within a designated area of
Cardiorespiratory. Includes planning and organisation of expected and acute
workload and deployment of more junior staff within that area.
To be able to exercise initiative
as an autonomous practitioner in specialist areas of the Cardiorespiratory
Department. The individual uses his/her discretion to re-adjust plans as the
clinical situation/need of the patient changes.
Lead specialist in own clinical
field, demonstrating highly specialist in-depth knowledge and theory.
Communicates with all members of
the multidisciplinary team to ensure the best possible care for the patient.
Including giving detailed advice to other specialist professions which will
influence patient care/outcomes. Communication skills including:
- Negotiating, e.g., with physicians
who demand investigations not achievable within the service limitations.
- Reassurance, e.g., to patients who
are anxious about their clinical findings.
- Persuasiveness, e.g., to young
children who are scared to undergo clinical procedures.
Immediate Life Support training
essential during procedures performed on acutely ill patients and those at
very high risk of sudden cardiac death.
To communicate information about
specialist investigations to patients and relatives/carers including children
and those with learning and/or physical disabilities.
Performs, analyses and interprets a
wide range of highly specialist and complex investigations, e.g., Pacemaker
follow-up, Transthoracic echocardiography, physiologist led exercise testing
and complex respiratory testing e.g., challenge testing, fitness to fly
assessments, blood gases Generates factual reports that are documented in
patient clinical notes and/or on relevant databases and directly used to
influence patient management. These sources are used to aid audit and
compilation of statistical information
Has highly developed level of
sensory skills and good hand to eye co-ordination in order to immediately
analyse and respond to complex life-threatening physiological signs.
Following interpretation of these the Physiologist uses judgemental skills in
order to make instantaneous decisions about further patient care.
Has a high level of manual
dexterity with enhanced precision and timing skills in order to ensure the
accurate application of a range of diagnostic tools, e.g., measurement of
cardiac intervals to the nearest millisecond during electrophysiology studies
(EPS).
Expected to undertake informal
training by means of periodic in-house assessments.
Is forced to deal with
confrontation from industry representatives who can be demanding and
intrusive.
To comply with the Trusts manual
handling policy at all times.
