The Christie NHS FT

Consultant Clinical Scientist (Proton Team Leader)

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Job summary

Applications are invited for highly experienced and motivated consultant clinical scientist to lead the proton therapy physics team at The Christie. The applicant is required to have HCPC registration, be certified as a Medical Physics Expert (MPE) and ideally be on the register of Highly Specialised Scientists.

The successful applicant will lead a team of clinical scientists and radiotherapy practitioners to deliver and develop the national proton therapy service in close collaboration with colleagues at University College Hospital London. The lead scientist will support the team to expand the service through the implementation of new clinical trials while maintaining a treatment planning and dosimetry for increased patient numbers.

Significant experience in radiotherapy physics is essential to fulfil this role and experience in proton therapy is highly desirable. Leadership and management skills are also a key part of this role and support will be offered to further an individual's development in these areas if required.

The proton therapy service at The Christie is at the forefront of proton therapy with 3 clinical Varian ProBeam gantries, a dedicated research beam line and global collaborations pursuing projects such as adaptive proton therapy. The successful applicant should be committed to continuing and expanding these collaborations to establish the proton therapy service at The Christie as world leader in clinical proton therapy and related research.

Main duties of the job

The lead scientist for proton therapy is responsible for the scientific leadership of the proton physics team and the management of resources to deliver a consistent service. The successful applicant will join the multi-disciplinary proton senior team to manage the whole service in line with the requirements set out by NHS England.

As an MPE in the proton therapy physics team the successful applicant will also contribute to all aspects of the clinical service including treatment planning and checking, machine QC, patient-specific verification, and peer review of proton therapy cases with the wider MDT. This contribution includes undertaking clinical tasks according to a rota and providing expert advice on complex or unusual scenarios.

The proton therapy physics team includes physicists, radiographers and technologists who all play an active role in supporting and developing the proton service. We work very closely with other clinical teams such as treatment and pre-treatment radiographers and clinical oncologists to deliver the routine service and to collaborate on project work leading to presentation and publication. We have an active education programme and work with The Christie education team and School of Oncology to deliver teaching and training locally, nationally, and globally. The team's duties include early and late working, but flexible working and homeworking arrangements are supported to promote a healthy work-life balance for all team members.

About us

The Christie is one of Europe's leading cancer centres, treating over 60,000 patients a year. We are based in Manchester and serve a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, but as a national specialist around 15% patients are referred to us from other parts of the country. We provide radiotherapy through one of the largest radiotherapy departments in the world; chemotherapy on site and through 14 other hospitals; highly specialist surgery for complex and rare cancer; and a wide range of support and diagnostic services. We are also an international leader in research, with world first breakthroughs for over 100 years. We run one of the largest early clinical trial units in Europe with over 300 trials every year. Cancer research in Manchester, most of which is undertaken on the Christie site, has been officially ranked the best in the UK.

Date posted

26 June 2024

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8c

Salary

£70,417 to £81,138 a year per annum, pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

413-83720-CNS-SNR

Job locations

PBT Physics - E00624

Manchester

M20 4BX

Job description

Job responsibilities

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. General

1.1. Ensure all work complies with current UK legislation for work with ionising radiation (IRR 2017, IRMER 2017) and the Trusts ISO 9001-2015 -compliant Quality Management System for provision of radiotherapy.

1.2. The post holder will be expected to prioritise and manage their own work on a day-to-day basis.

1.3. Act as required in the role medical Physics Expert (MPE) under IR(ME)R, making judgements on individual patient treatments based on complex planning and delivery data where there may be conflicting information.

1.4. The post holder must participate in an agreed scheme of Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

1.5. To maintain an up-to-date personal knowledge of national and international radiotherapy and proton therapy physics practice in order to identify improvements to the service.

1.6. The place of work is normally The Christie, Withington, but the postholder may be required to carry out work at other local hospitals with a radiotherapy service.

1.7. The post is full-time. Hours are worked flexibly, in agreement with the line manager, to provide round the clock services where necessary to cover the normal range of clinical duties.

2. Management

2.1. Deputise in the absence of the Radiotherapy Physics group leader in agreed responsibilities and dealing with unavoidable short-term issues.

2.2. Assist the Radiotherapy Physics group leader, along with the other consultant Clinical Scientists, in managing the activities of the department, specifically in the development and scientific direction of the proton physics service.

2.3. Perform a lead role in the ongoing development of the proton therapy service at the Christie.

2.4. Manage resources in the proton centre and provide scientific leadership in the following areas: pre-treatment imaging, treatment planning, treatment machine quality assurance, acceptance and commissioning; all aspects of external beam dosimetry; treatment verification, and the radiotherapy record and verify system.

2.5. Participate in workforce development including selection, recruitment and retention of staff: undertake personal development reviews of staff as required by the Radiotherapy Physics Group Leader.

2.6. Negotiate with clinical and technical staff and equipment manufacturers to provide all the necessary support for equipment, resulting in the maximum clinical usage of equipment.

2.7. Prioritise and manage own work and those whom the post holder manages in accordance with section policies and competing service demands. Propose changes to working practices and procedures.

2.8. Develop quality assurance procedures for the proton therapy service within the ISO 9001-2015 Quality Management System to ensure equipment and procedures are fit for clinical use.

2.9. Act as representative for the proton section of the Quality Management system.

2.10.Interpret national and international guidelines concerning the work of the proton section and implement protocols to keep the sections work in line with recommended practice.

2.11.Ensure that appropriate risk management procedures and documents are in place in line with Trust policies.

2.12. Communicate potentially sensitive and/or contentious expert advice to other professional groups regarding the treatment of individual patients and on matters of clinical service provision and development.

2.13. Undertake project management and analysis and manage project workflow in accordance with section policies and competing service demands. To propose changes to working practices and procedures.

3. Equipment management

3.1. Manage and organise the commissioning of the radiotherapy pre-treatment and treatment equipment as and when necessary, liaising with physicists, engineers, manufacturers representatives, and radiographers to coordinate the required activities, and to report on the progress at regular intervals.

3.2. Advise on the specification and selection of radiotherapy equipment, dosimetry equipment, treatment planning and associated ancillary equipment for the proton radiotherapy centre.

3.3. Manage the commissioning of new software functionality and cascade training for the use of advanced features to all appropriate staff.

3.4. Develop and run the quality assurance programme based on departmental practice, to give expert advice of best practice based on national and international recommendations, and to analyse operational results to action pertinent calibration changes.

3.5. To keep abreast of reported faults on all radiotherapy equipment and to liaise with the radiotherapy engineers and radiographers in making strategic decisions regarding the suitability for continued clinical use. The post holder is expected to have the last say in this matter in cases of disagreement.

4. Treatment Planning

4.1. Support the Proton Treatment Planning lead physicist to maintain the provision of the treatment planning service.

4.2. Provide advice on proton related issues to clinical oncologists, radiographers, and dosimetrists, contributing to the effective work of the multidisciplinary team, in relation to both current practise and technique development.

4.3. Produce and check highly complex radiotherapy treatment plans, based on the evaluation of anatomical and clinical information using a highly complex three-dimensional treatment planning system.

4.4. Implement new and improved treatment planning techniques so that patients gain maximum benefit from the available equipment at the Christie Hospital.

4.5. Develop planning protocols for clinicians, clinical scientists, radiographers, and dosimetrists preparing proton treatment plans.

5. Dosimetry

5.1. Support the Proton Dosimetry lead physicist in the provision of a treatment delivery service to the Proton Therapy Department to ensure accurate and safe delivery of treatment.

5.2. Support the Proton Dosimetry lead physicist in all other aspects of maintain the proton dosimetry service.

5.3. Perform highly accurate routine and non-routine dosimetry and geometric quality control of the proton treatment delivery equipment to ensure that it remains within clinically acceptable tolerances.

5.4. Operate on a rota with other physicists to resolve problems arising with clinical treatment, including problems where the post holder may inspect and advise on patient set-up on treatment units.

6. Research and Development

6.1. To provide leadership for the groups research portfolio within the Radiotherapy Related Research group.

6.2. To establish and maintain R&D collaborations with other radiotherapy physics groups, universities, and commercial organisations.

6.3. Initiate, supervise and carry out radiotherapy research and development projects.

6.4. To supervise research projects carried out by trainee and research physicists, treatment planning radiographers, dosimetrists and post graduate students up to PhD level.

6.5. Publish research in internationally recognised peer reviewed research journals and present specialised knowledge at national/international conferences.

6.6. Provide scientific support to Clinical Oncologists participating in local, national, and international trials.

7. Teaching and training

7.1. To ensure adequate systems are in place for the training of physicists and dosimetrists in the proton beam therapy.

7.2. Participate in the development of an education programme for proton therapy at the Christie.

7.3. To provide scientific advice and training to clinical, scientific, technical and radiographic staff as required.

7.4. To lecture to post graduate scientists, senior physicists, radiographers, specialist registrars and others and assist in the organisation of the departments teaching programmes

7.5. To supervise M.Sc. Students performing project work.