Job responsibilities
PRINCIPAL
DUTIES & AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY
Technical
/ Clinical
Responsible for maintaining the highest standards of technical practice and
patient care while treating and supporting patients.
Responsible for the checking / calculation of doses and prescriptions in
accordance with departmental procedures.
Responsible for the review / subsequent clinical decisions of radiotherapy
images.
Develop highly specialised skills/knowledge in specific area of practice in
order to further the develop the service and in order to train other staff.
Work as a specialist practitioner for the practical and associated aspects of
radiotherapy practice in the clinical area. Ensure own clinical decisions
(including non-standard / outside protocol) are underpinned and evaluated by
theoretical knowledge and relevant practical experience.
Responsible for keeping up to date with technical practice and offering
support, guidance and encouragement to others, to do the same.
Responsible for ensuring all equipment is used appropriately and safely,
including administrative and management systems, monitoring equipment
performance and reporting faults.
Ensure that departmental standards and procedures are followed on the unit,
supporting implementation of procedure changes, and suggesting changes
required to optimise the quality of radiotherapy practice/service.
Take an active role in audit, development and research as required,
particularly in own area of specialism
Management
Deputise for the team leader when appropriate (e.g Annual leave), managing
the unit and staff to maintain efficiency whilst promoting best
practice.
Assist the team leader in managing the workload of the unit, re-organising
clinical workloads when machine breakdown occurs, and
ensuring
that schedules run effectively and safely, prioritizing as appropriate.
Participate in the clinical training and assessment of junior staff, students
(via SHU assessor training scheme), returners, assistants and any other
learners on the unit.
Responsible for assisting with quality assurance procedures.
Responsible for ensuring that clinical and technical information, and all
information relating to each treatment course undertaken on the unit, is accurately
and fully recorded and reported.
Patient
Care
Responsible for the care of the patient whilst undergoing treatment.
Assess and monitor patient care needs and organise care including both
referral to other disciplines and support by other practitioners.
Responsible for developing specific care plans / pathways (with other
disciplines) by providing specialist clinical advice.
Provide appropriate advice and information to patients and carers at all
stages of radiotherapy, referring issues to senior staff as appropriate.
General
Representing the views of team members and peers at meetings and workgroups
and reporting information back to the team, and seeking
feedback
as appropriate.
Actively participate in and support activities in promoting and recruiting to
the profession.
To work flexibly as required by the service / patient need
Carrying out additional duties as requested by the Head of Radiotherapy,
management team or team leader, commensurate with the grade of the post.
Health
and Safety/Risk Management
All
staff are responsible for working with their colleagues to maintain and
improve the quality of services provided to our patients and other service
users. This includes complying at all times with the Leeds Teaching Hospitals
NHS Trust Policies, including Health and Safety policies, in particular by
following agreed safe working procedures, and reporting incidents using the
Trust Incident Reporting system.
Additionally
for radiotherapy
Complying
with statutory Ionizing Radiations (Medical Exposures) Regulations IR(ME)R
and Local Rules (Ionising Radiations Regulations -
IRR)
and departmental radiotherapy incident reporting procedures,.
Responsible
for prompt reporting of radiation incidents, equipment, patient and safety
related incidents in accordance with departmental / Trust procedures. Also
identifying and reporting any areas of perceived risk.
Infection
Control
The
jobholder must comply at all times with the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS
Trust Infection Control policies, in particular by practising Universal
Infection Control Precautions. Hand hygiene must be performed before and
after contact with patients and their environment.
Equality
and Diversity
The
jobholder must comply with all policies and procedures designed to ensure
equality of employment and that services are delivered in ways that meet the
individual needs of patients and their families. No person whether they are
staff, patient or visitor should receive less favourable treatment because of
their gender, ethnic origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion
etc.
Patient
and Public Involvement
The
Trust has a statutory duty to involve patients and public in evaluating and
planning services. All staff have a responsibility to listen to the views of
patients and to contribute to service improvements based on patient feedback.
Training
and Personal Development Continuous Professional Development
The
jobholder must take responsibility in agreement with his/her line manager for
his/her own personal development by ensuring that
Continuous
Professional Development remains a priority. The jobholder will undertake all
mandatory training required for the role.
Respect
for Patient Confidentiality
The
jobholder should respect patient confidentiality at all times and not divulge
patient information unless sanctioned by the requirements of the role.
COMMUNICATION
& WORKING RELATIONSHIPS
An ability to provide and receive complex and sensitive information to / from
cancer patients in an empathetic, reassuring and professional
manner.
Assess potential communication barriers and demonstrate where necessary
persuasive, motivational and negotiating skills, referring to
senior
staff where appropriate.
To recognize the potential for conflict in relationships and seek to minimize
this, and contribute to effective communication and team working.
To promote and maintain effective communication and relationships with
immediate colleagues, the multi-disciplinary team, patients and visitors.
SPECIAL
WORKING CONDITIONS
PHYSICAL
EFFORT:
This
post requires dexterity and highly developed co-ordination and sensory skills
in order to speedily and accurately manipulate equipment
with
a high degree of precision, as well as finely manipulating the patients body
to align the relevant anatomy with the radiation beam to accuracy within 1
mm.
They
should also be able to accurately apply permanent patient skin marks (tattoo)
with needles and ink.
This
is a physically demanding post with constant manoeuvring of patients and
equipment, which can often be heavy and / or awkward.
The
postholder will need to exert intense physical effort by reaching over and
twisting heavy patients at height (approx 5 feet from the ground) for short
periods of time (5 minutes), several times a day (15-20), every day.
The
postholder will also need to lift accessory equipment (some weighing 6-10Kg)
and position these at head / shoulder height onto other
equipment.
There are postural constraints involved in this due to limitations in work
design.
These
risks have been assessed by the Trust Back Care Lead and physio.
Postholder
works in pairs so lifting of accessories is recommended as a two person lift.
MENTAL
EFFORT:
A
high level of concentration is required when treating each patient constantly
in order to undergo patient assessment and maintain a high level of patient
care 10-30 mins per patient, up to 50 patients per day.
Ability
to view patient set-ups in both 2D and 3D. Excellent psychomotor and spatial
awareness to accurately position patients (to within 1mm).
When
not treating patients, periods of prolonged concentration (1-2 hrs) are
required when viewing images, calculating prescriptions and checking datasets
for accuracy
EMOTIONAL
EFFORT:
To
recognize and appropriately act upon the emotional and psychological needs of
patients, colleagues, team and ones self due to the frequent exposure to
distressing and emotional circumstances, e.g. continually working with
patients with cancer.
Dealing
empathetically with cancer patients, families and carers with challenging
behaviour, caused by either the physical and/or emotional
effects
of diagnosis or the disease, impacts on the emotional effort required for
this post.
Dealing
with the large age range of patients and carers / dependents of varying
physical states including anaesthetized and unconscious.
To
act in an influencing role in areas that may cause significant significant
conflict due to changes in traditional working practice.
WORKING
CONDITIONS:
Working
in an environment where radiation is used continuously.
Approximately
95% of time will be spent in clinical areas, therefore the postholder will
require a professional approach to occasional exposure to highly unpleasant
working conditions (uncontained body fluids, smells) and have knowledge of
how to deal with these appropriately. Postholder will need to lead by example
in effectively dealing with any exposure to verbal aggression and threatening
behaviour (usually due to patient distress), and be able to support other
junior staff to develop strategies regarding the correct de-escalation
processes.
The
remainder of the role is split between staff support and development,
teaching, departmental meetings and functions.
