Advanced Practice Therapeutic Radiographer

Job responsibilities

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Communication

The post holder will provide and receive highly complex, and sometimes sensitive information on aspects of patient care. This may include diagnosis, results of scans or other investigations, management options and details of prognosis and life expectancy. Bad News consultations will be common tasks for the post holder.

Persuasive, motivational, negotiating, training, empathic or re-assurance skills will be routinely utilised and they will be required to achieve consensus amongst themselves, the consultant medical colleagues and other members of the MDT.

The post holder will lecture to radiographers, postgraduate scientists, doctors in training and others and assist in the organisation of the departments teaching programmes.

They will consent patients for treatment and procedures as per hospital policy.

The post holder will accept and make appropriate referrals from/to other professional colleagues. Check and interpret referrals and take action as clinically indicated.

They will contribute to the coordination and effective management of the admission and discharge process as appropriate for disease group with reference to relevant policies.

They will educate patients and their carers on issues surrounding health promotion and illness prevention and promote and facilitate changes to lifestyle where appropriate. They will prepare accurate and concise records and reports both verbal and written. They will communicate with the patients referring specialist, GP and other community and hospice based services at regular intervals as appropriate.

They will ensure effective communication with patients, relatives and members of the multidisciplinary team and work with team members on issues relating to patient management and advocacy and will collaborate within the Cancer Network and offer clinical support to colleagues within cancer units, relating to individual patient management.

The post holder will participate in strategic review of the service including representing the service at internal and external strategy planning meetings, advisory boards and relevant working groups as appropriate.

They will publish results in peer reviewed journals that are in the top quartile for their discipline and have an international impact.

Knowledge Training and Experience

The post holder will have highly developed specialist knowledge across radiotherapeutic, chemotherapeutic, surgical, palliative and other medical aspects of patient care within Lower GI oncology. This will be underpinned by theoretical knowledge and extensive relevant practical experience, acquired through a combination of in-depth experience and postgraduate post-registration study, such as that obtained through a masters degree. They will have significant formal training in, or experience within Lower GI oncology.

They will maintain and develop this expertise and competence in order to enable collaboration with senior colleagues and medical staff, and to facilitate the management of patients.

They will exhibit the knowledge, skills and experience to allow them to act as an expert resource and provide advice and support to ward/departmental areas and to The Christies local, regional, national and international partners.

The post holder will maintain professional registration and practice through CPD including maintaining a professional portfolio to demonstrate competency in line with the trust competency framework so as to ensure that skills remain optimal and new elements can be added to the skills portfolio. They will identify their own development needs in line with service requirements and participate in setting a personal development plan. To support this they will work with a named mentor from within the medical team.

Analytical and Judgemental Skills

The post holders key function will be as an ACP (Lower GI Oncology) supervising critical elements of the patient pathway in patients under the care of a Clinical Oncologist who acts as the consultant of record. As such they will act as part of a clinical team led by the oncologist. They will assess complex facts and situations, using analytical skill, interpretation and comparison of a range of options using a wide variety of assessment methods. In the clinical management of patients, competing, contradictory or unclear inputs are expected. Owing to the nature of the post following the whole patient pathway, they may have competing expected outcomes from the patient, the Trust, and other healthcare partners.

The post holder will continually review and evaluate their own role and clinical practice informing the annual review process. They will practice evidence based health care and by assessing clinical evidence, best practice guidelines and national policy statements will be responsible for defining developing, monitoring and updating Trust clinical policies in relation to their own area of practice. They will analyse relevant national policies in specific tumour sites, advise on impact for service, and contribute to the implementation of changes and evaluation of processes in partnership with the MDT.

Planning and Organisational Skills

The post holder will plan and organise complex clinical management plans. Plans will be formulated and adjusted to respond with developments and changes in circumstances such as changes in the patients conditions. This will involve developing, structuring and scheduling activities, including the allocation of tasks to colleagues, within the Trust or from partner organisations. They will have responsibility to lead on translating developments within their specialist area for implementation in the clinical setting.

Please see attached Job description and person specification for full role description.

Qualifications

Essential

• MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice
• HCPC/NMC/other appropriate registration
• Accreditation as a non-medical prescriber

Desirable

• Teaching & Mentorship Course
• Recent evidence of continuing professional development
• Advanced Communication Skills training

Experience

Essential

• Significant experience in oncology research and/or developments
• Significant clinical oncology experience
• Experience in teaching and facilitating the learning and development of others

Desirable

• Experience of advanced oncology such as proton therapy and adaptive radiotherapy

Skills

Essential

• Excellent communication skills: interpersonal, written and verbal
• Ability to assess and manage patient risk effectively and safely
• Ability to work across professional boundaries e.g., experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team
• Good time management, organisational skills and ability to prioritise a busy/ unpredictable workload
• Well-developed IT skills/ word processing/ data collection/ internet skills

Desirable

• Leadership and Management skills
• Innovative and motivated
• Ability to think strategically in relation to long-term service development
• Reflective practitioner
• Reflective practitioner

Knowledge

Essential

• oUnderstanding of evidence based practice
• oWorking knowledge of clinical governance
• oAbility to use research findings in clinical practice
• oKnowledge of national standards and policy that inform best practice (for example: NICE/ Department of Health guidelines)
• oAppreciate the accountability associated with advanced clinical roles

Desirable

• Experience of policy and procedure writing
• Evidence of involvement with research and audit

Values

Essential

• Ability to demonstrate the organisational values and behaviours
• Committed to professional development
• Confidence to adapt to an evolving and changing service

Desirable

• Calm and conscientious nature.

Other

Essential

• Committed and flexible with shift patterns and availability
• Ability to travel across sites regularly

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).