Job summary
We are recruiting for a Clinical Scientist or Therapeutic Radiographer, National RTTQA Group who shares our vision to be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service to our patients
Looking to broaden your radiotherapy experience and knowledge? Opportunities have arisen for a Clinical Scientist/Dosimetrist within the National Radiotherapy Trials Quality Assurance (RTTQA) Group, based at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre. The ideal candidate will be enthusiastic, motivated, have exemplary communication skills and enjoy working as part of a dynamic team.
In addition, you will receive a High-Cost Area Supplement of 15% of your basic salary, subject to a minimum payment of £4,870and a maximum payment of £6,137per annum pro rata.
At the heart of everything we do are our core values:Include,Respect,andImprove. We encourage you to embrace these values throughout the recruitment process and in your role with us.
The post holder will work within the RTTQA Group, coordinated from Mount Vernon Cancer Centre which is situated 30 minutes from central London on the metropolitan line, and is one of the largest radiotherapy centres in the UK. The RTTQA Group has been centrally funded through the NIHR since April 2010 and as such the post is for 1 year but renewable annually subject to funding position.
Main duties of the job
In the UK new technologies and techniques are used in clinical trials. The RTTQA Group engages early in the clinical trial development process. You would have the opportunity to be involved in practice changing developments in areas including proton beam therapy, adaptive treatments, MR-Linac and SABR. This is an exciting time in radiotherapy addressing high level RT QA and audit for radiotherapy trials.
The RTTQA Group is a centralised UK resource which designs and implements QA programmes for all NIHR CRN Portfolio trials that include a radiotherapy component. The group is a single multi-professional network of radiographers, clinical scientists, clinicians and IT staff working collaboratively across a number of NHS sites.
The RTTQA Group monitors the quality of radiotherapy delivery for multicentre clinical trials. Poor quality radiotherapy can compromise the outcome of a trial and may also have negative consequences on patient outcomes. Radiotherapy Quality Assurance (RTQA) is recognised as an integral and essential part of the radiotherapy clinical trial process.
You will be the lead contact for a number of trials, performing or assisting with all aspects of RT QA, including protocol development, contour and planning reviews, and dosimetry audit. You will work closely with trial recruiting centres and support trial participation through interactive workshops and educational sessions. You will have the chance to collaborate with national and international groups.
About us
At East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust, we are proud of the range of general and specialist services we provide and our 6,000 or so dedicated staff ensure our patients get the best care. Our ability to be flexible and innovative in the way in which we work and deliver our services to our catchment has never been more important than it is now.
We run the following hospitals:
- The Lister Hospital, Stevenage
- New Queen Elizabeth II (New QEII), Welwyn Garden City
- Hertford County, Hertford
- Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC), Northwood
We have ambitious plans to become an outstanding, patient-led Trust where dedicated staff provide high-quality, compassionate care to our patients. We continue to undergo significant transformation and our staff and patients are at the heart of delivering this ambitious agenda.
We are committed to a positive work life balance for our employees. This means that any employee is entitled to seek to work flexible working patterns and we are committed to listen and consider all requests. Such requests, of course, have to be made and considered formally, and will need to be balanced against service needs, but our starting point will always be to find ways to support making them happen.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see attached job description which provides further details of the post and the responsibilities that you will have.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see attached job description which provides further details of the post and the responsibilities that you will have.
Person Specification
Qualifications/Training
Essential
- Qualification Appropriate to registration as an HCPC registered radiographer or clinical scientist (radiotherapy physics)
- Registration as a Therapeutic Radiographer or Clinical Scientist (or eligible to apply within 1 year for registration)
- Post graduate qualification in a relevant subject or evidence of study at this level
- Evidence of Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
Previous Experience
Essential
- Experience working within a radiotherapy or radiotherapy physics environment
- Specialist training and practical experience on linear accelerators, treatment planning systems and dosimetry
Desirable
- Training in either stereotactic physics or brachytherapy
- Experience of multimodality imaging and adaptive treatment delivery techniques
- Experience of rotational techniques, gating and/or stereotactic radiotherapy.
- Clinical Trial work
Skills
Essential
- Able to communicate complex information to other professional groups
- Ability to present complex information in scientific papers to large multidisciplinary groups of staff at national and international meetings
- Prepare and collaborate on papers for publication in national and international journals
- Able to use judgement involving complex facts that require analysis, interpretation and comparison of a range of options, for example in analysing the results of scientific measurements or processes, which may conflict, and deciding upon an appropriate course of action
- Able to create spreadsheets, electronic documents and individual 3D computerised patient treatment plans for radiotherapy
- Have highly developed physical accuracy and dexterity in order to be able to manipulate equipment, for example, in setting up and using delicate instruments to make precise measurements to detect and calibrate radiation doses within "phantom" patients. The post holder is also required to use 3D visualisation skills in treatment planning
- Expected to work independently, organising own workload, within professional guidelines, following protocols where these exist and referring to his/her manager where necessary. The individual's manager assesses work at intervals
- Ability to concentrate when report writing and analysing results. Occasionally be required may have to change tasks to accommodate changing workload priorities
- Able to concentrate where the work pattern is unpredictable. Occasionally, there will be a requirement for prolonged concentration
Desirable
- Previous experience of presenting scientific papers at national meetings
- Previous experience of publishing work
- Use of Macros in Excel
- Relevant use of computer programming skills
Knowledge
Essential
- Specialist knowledge of the planning and treatment of patients.
- Knowledge of patient and machine dosimetry QC in radiotherapy
- Understanding of patient and staff risks arising from treatment planning computer system errors, equipment failure, treatment errors and incorrect dosimetry
- Broad knowledge of radiotherapy techniques and clinical applications
- Understanding of relevant legislation, national standards, professional and other guidelines (e.g. IRR, IRMER, ISO 9001, BSI and ISO standards, professional and regulatory body reports and guidelines)
Other Requirements
Essential
- Must be highly self-motivated
- Able to work with radiotherapy equipment and to manoeuvre associated physics equipment
- The post holder works in an environment of cancer patients, and may have to interact with them (for example, in performing measurements on a patient undergoing radiotherapy). Therefore there may be occasional exposure to distressing circumstances
- The post holder must be prepared to work in an environment where there is a radiation hazard, and so must understand the hazards posed by ionising radiation and sources of high voltage
- Work hours necessary for the proper and efficient performance of the work. This may necessitate some out of hours work. Saturday working may occasionally be required with compensatory time off during Monday to Friday
- Experience and evidence of engagement around equality, diversity and inclusion issues in relation to policy, service development and service delivery in respect of both services to users and the management of staff
- Role model our Trust values every day
Desirable
- May occasionally be expected to manoeuvre, within the limits required for manual handling, heavy loads such as radiotherapy dosimetry "phantoms" for several short p
Person Specification
Qualifications/Training
Essential
- Qualification Appropriate to registration as an HCPC registered radiographer or clinical scientist (radiotherapy physics)
- Registration as a Therapeutic Radiographer or Clinical Scientist (or eligible to apply within 1 year for registration)
- Post graduate qualification in a relevant subject or evidence of study at this level
- Evidence of Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
Previous Experience
Essential
- Experience working within a radiotherapy or radiotherapy physics environment
- Specialist training and practical experience on linear accelerators, treatment planning systems and dosimetry
Desirable
- Training in either stereotactic physics or brachytherapy
- Experience of multimodality imaging and adaptive treatment delivery techniques
- Experience of rotational techniques, gating and/or stereotactic radiotherapy.
- Clinical Trial work
Skills
Essential
- Able to communicate complex information to other professional groups
- Ability to present complex information in scientific papers to large multidisciplinary groups of staff at national and international meetings
- Prepare and collaborate on papers for publication in national and international journals
- Able to use judgement involving complex facts that require analysis, interpretation and comparison of a range of options, for example in analysing the results of scientific measurements or processes, which may conflict, and deciding upon an appropriate course of action
- Able to create spreadsheets, electronic documents and individual 3D computerised patient treatment plans for radiotherapy
- Have highly developed physical accuracy and dexterity in order to be able to manipulate equipment, for example, in setting up and using delicate instruments to make precise measurements to detect and calibrate radiation doses within "phantom" patients. The post holder is also required to use 3D visualisation skills in treatment planning
- Expected to work independently, organising own workload, within professional guidelines, following protocols where these exist and referring to his/her manager where necessary. The individual's manager assesses work at intervals
- Ability to concentrate when report writing and analysing results. Occasionally be required may have to change tasks to accommodate changing workload priorities
- Able to concentrate where the work pattern is unpredictable. Occasionally, there will be a requirement for prolonged concentration
Desirable
- Previous experience of presenting scientific papers at national meetings
- Previous experience of publishing work
- Use of Macros in Excel
- Relevant use of computer programming skills
Knowledge
Essential
- Specialist knowledge of the planning and treatment of patients.
- Knowledge of patient and machine dosimetry QC in radiotherapy
- Understanding of patient and staff risks arising from treatment planning computer system errors, equipment failure, treatment errors and incorrect dosimetry
- Broad knowledge of radiotherapy techniques and clinical applications
- Understanding of relevant legislation, national standards, professional and other guidelines (e.g. IRR, IRMER, ISO 9001, BSI and ISO standards, professional and regulatory body reports and guidelines)
Other Requirements
Essential
- Must be highly self-motivated
- Able to work with radiotherapy equipment and to manoeuvre associated physics equipment
- The post holder works in an environment of cancer patients, and may have to interact with them (for example, in performing measurements on a patient undergoing radiotherapy). Therefore there may be occasional exposure to distressing circumstances
- The post holder must be prepared to work in an environment where there is a radiation hazard, and so must understand the hazards posed by ionising radiation and sources of high voltage
- Work hours necessary for the proper and efficient performance of the work. This may necessitate some out of hours work. Saturday working may occasionally be required with compensatory time off during Monday to Friday
- Experience and evidence of engagement around equality, diversity and inclusion issues in relation to policy, service development and service delivery in respect of both services to users and the management of staff
- Role model our Trust values every day
Desirable
- May occasionally be expected to manoeuvre, within the limits required for manual handling, heavy loads such as radiotherapy dosimetry "phantoms" for several short p
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.
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.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
