Job responsibilities
The appointee will be based at The Christie and will provide consultant level care for patients with HPB malignancies (composed of pancreatic cancer, biliary tract cancers (cholangiocarcinoma and gallbladder cancer), hepatocellular carcinoma) and abdominal oligometastatic tumours and Oesophageal and Gastric (OG) Cancer. This includes providing specialist expertise Radiotherapy (including Proton Beam therapy) and systemic therapy for these disease groups, Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy and other precision radiation treatment options for abdominal oligometastatic sites, outpatient care through the outpatient clinics and Linacs (as appropriate), where Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy and Radiotherapy treatments are delivered, as well as inpatient care on the main adult oncology wards.
Patients with OG cancers receiving radical treatment are routinely with Image guided Intensity modulated Radiotherapy with increasing use of rotational Arc RT (VMAT) substituting IMRT. Patients with middle and lower third tumours will be treated with 4D planned IMRT / VMAT and have daily volumetric imaging (CBCT) and adaptation as indicated. HPB/ SABR patients are treated with 4D Image guided rotational Arc therapy / or IMRT. Selected patients on a trial are treated with real time adaptive RT with MR guided Adaptive RT (MRgART). PBT patients will be treated as per protocol and as per NHS E commissioning criteria. These are almost entirely via clinical trials. There is no brachytherapy service for OG or HPB cancers at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.
There are 4 clinical oncology consultant posts working in this team currently, Drs. Hamid Sheikh, Lubna Bhatt, David Woolf (Oligomet SABR only) and Ganesh Radhakrishna.The successful applicant will join this consultant body covering HPB and OG malignancies. The group has a very active clinical research programme (predominantly phase II/III), The disease group is supported by clinical research fellows, a specialist registrar, advanced clinical practitioners, research nurses and radiographers, clinical nurse specialists, physicists and clinical trials coordinators. The successful applicant will be working closely with HPB Medical Oncologists, Drs. Richard Hubner and Mairead McNamamara. There will be 2 more new appointments to the HPB/NET Medical Oncology team. The OG medical oncologists are Prof. W. Mansoor, Dr Richard Hubner and Dr Tom Waddell.
Clinical trials activity is embedded within clinical service across all disease groups at The Christie and the post holder will be expected to maintain existing trial activity within the disease groups, working with colleagues from Research and Innovation.
The Department (Clinical Oncology) has evolved, over many years, a policy of mutual co-operation between the consultants. The department consultant group meets monthly to discuss joint management policies. Consultants are grouped in disease groups, supported by junior staff. The individual disease groups accept responsibility for agreed fields of work and for cover for absence arrangements. All consultants are expected to co-operate in these arrangements and be involved in a number of clinical areas of work.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The appointee will be expected to deliver both radiotherapy and systemic therapy in O-G and HPB including abdominal Oligometastatic precision radiation therapy (including SABR), and a significant interest in developing Proton Beam Therapy and MR Linac.
The post holder will be one of 3 Clinical Oncology consultants specialising in OG cancer and will join the HPB/ NET team consisting of 4 medical oncologists and 1 clinical oncologist.The appointee will be an active member of the OG, HPB and relevant SABR MDT.They will receive photon referrals from the OG and HPB MDT, and Proton referrals from the national Proton Beam Therapy serviceThe appointee will be expected to see a total of 150 new patients per year across the defined sites above
The post holder will join the clinical, technical, and project teams in developing and delivering the Proton Beam Therapy service at The Christie and precision RT techniques for the above tumour sites
The appointee will be based at The Christie and will provide senior input to the following areas of delivery: Outpatient clinics The radiotherapy department Site specialist cover for Proton beam therapy Chemotherapy Services Oak Road Treatment Centre Inpatient Services Multi-Disciplinary Team meetings
The role will be responsible for: Management of patients with OG and HPB malignancies receiving standard therapy and in phase I/II/III trials, including treatment decisions and ongoing care. Delivery of precision Radiotherapy for OG and HOB malignancies, including SABR for abdominal tumours sites (inc Oligometastatic disease) and development and implementation of treatment for Gastro intestinal tumour sites with proton beam therapy, particularly in clinical trials Participating in all relevant aspects of clinical governance, including maintaining up to date protocols, guidelines and clinical audit. Contribute to current research projects and establish new opportunities to expand and develop research within the disease groups. Revision and development of evidence-based protocols for patients and undertaking the administrative duties associated with the care of their patients. Maintaining a level of continuing professional development, consistent with the recommendations of the Royal College of Radiologists. Contributing to the undergraduate teaching of medical students on oncology topics, as appropriate. Act as an educational and clinical supervisor for junior doctors Actively contributing to the training of junior doctors and other multi-disciplinary team members in both in-patient and outpatient departments, as appropriate, including acting as clinical/educational supervisor.
Outline of clinical activities Clinics are co-located Tumour site specialist sessions with the other Clinical Oncologists in the team. These currently run as OG sessions on the Tuesday pm with Drs. Sheikh, Bhatt and Radhakrishna and Thursday am for HPB/SABR/PBT with Dr. Radhakrishna. There are plans for parallel CO and MO clinics to increase collaborative working for HPB and improved access for patients for joint consultations. There is a dedicated OG CO Trials clinic on Friday which is supported by the research nurses, trainees and led by one of the OG consultants on a weekly rota basis. The on-treatment reviews are seen in a joint OG-HPB review clinic on a Tuesday am. OG patients are also seen and supported by dedicated CNS and dieticians in the same clinic The OG MDT cover is based on geographic sectors for Greater Manchester with the successful applicant covering the North Sector. The MDT on Friday am attendance will alternate with Dr. Radhakrishna. The successful applicant will also be expected to support Cross cover for the other sectors when indicated (e.g. leave cover) The regional HPB MDT is on a Wednesday am. The applicant will attend the Pancreas and Liver MDTs alternating with Dr. Radhakrishna in the morning. The applicant is expected to attend and lead the HPB and Abdo SABR precision technical (HAPiTech)RT meeting on Wednesdays. The applicant is expected to attend the OG Peer Review meetings weekly The applicant is expected to attend the PBT operational and trials meetings on a monthly basis
The appointee will have office accommodation and access to secretarial support. They will also be expected to participate in a consultant on call rota and will receive a 3% uplift for this.
