Job summary
Applications are invited for a substantive 10 PA posts consultant paediatrician. This is a new role within the department. The successful applicant will join eleven other paediatric consultants with various special interests, plus a further seven consultants with neonatal interest. The post incorporates ward service weeks, and general paediatric outpatient clinics. The new post holder would contribute to resident evening sessions on the Paediatric Assessment Unit.
The post will be available from start November 2023. If you consider it unlikely that you will be able to take up the appointment at this time, you are advised to highlight this at the time of your application. Informal enquiries can be made to Dr Clare Edmonds, Clinical Lead.
Main duties of the job
The job plan will be a prospective agreement that sets out consultants' duties, responsibilities and objectives for the coming year. It will cover all aspects of a consultant's professional practice including clinical work, teaching, research, education, clinical governance, private practice and any other responsibilities. The exact job plan will be agreed following appointment, and will then be subject to review at 3 months.
Programmed activities 10 PAs
Direct clinical care 8.5 PAs
Supporting professional activities 1.5 PAs
For a post-holder with an additional subspecialty interest the job plan will typically incorporate 0.25 additional DCC to support additional specialist clinical activity.
About us
At the RUH we're proud to put people at the heart of what we do, working together as one team to make a difference for our patients, each other, and our community. No matter what your role is, we value everyone's contribution in supporting the exceptional, person-centred care we pride ourselves on.
We are committed to creating a compassionate and inclusive environment. This can be seen in our growing community of staff networks - celebrating successes and creating opportunities to listen and learn. We value our differences, champion kindness and civility, and truly believe that diversity makes us stronger.
A culture of learning, developing and innovating is the thread that runs throughout our whole organisation. We want to support you to thrive, taking your career to its full potential.
We value staff wellbeing, with a well-established programme of support. We believe in a holistic approach spanning all aspects of living a healthy life, including physical, emotional, spiritual and financial wellbeing. We've even got a pool!
We are committed to supporting you and hope you want to join our team. In the meantime, find out more about living and working the beautiful historic city of Bath, learn about our extensive package of staff benefits, and read about how we're providing healthcare fit for the future with the landmark Dyson Cancer Centre and our passion for research.
Job description
Job responsibilities
1. General Paediatric ward service
The post-holder will contribute to the consultant of the week system to provide three - four service weeks per year on the general paediatric ward. The general service weeks are shared between all the paediatric consultants, with most consultants contributing 3-4 weeks per year.
During service weeks the post-holder will be responsible for paediatric medical admissions, the paediatric assessment unit, involvement in shared-care surgical patients, and supporting paediatric care in the Emergency Department when needed. Routine clinics are cancelled during service weeks.
2. Advice and guidance
One consultant is designated to advice and guidance each week day. This includes active triage of referrals, responding to urgent emails, phone advice and guidance to primary care practitioners, and rapid access clinics. This service, in place since January 2017, has proven to be highly effective in reducing paediatric admissions and appointments, and has strengthened relationships with primary care.
It is expected that the successful candidate would participate 1 day per month to this service. This has been assumed for the purpose of this job description and in the current job plan calculations.
3. Outpatient clinics
The hospital runs a rolling week A,B,C,D system to allocate clinics (rather than 2nd Tuesday of the month etc). The post holder will do an average of 3 general paediatric clinics a week when not on ward service (11.5 clinics per 4 week cycle).
If the applicant has, or would like to develop, additional areas of expertise that complement the team, this would also be encouraged. There would be opportunity to develop special interest clinics, joint clinics with tertiary colleagues from Bristol, and / or transition clinics with colleagues from adult medicine These would be included in clinic count above, replacing general paediatric clinics.
4. On-Call
The general paediatric on call will be shared between a total of 10.6 WTE paediatricians with on-call commitment being proportionate to number of PAs in the job plan. Therefore this post will have a non-resident on call commitment of approximately 2 weekday nights per month (Monday to Friday) and 5 weekends per year.
Weekend days are 24hr on call shifts. The job plan includes being resident from 08:30- 13:00 for morning ward round, and an additional 3 hour resident shift on a Saturday and Sunday evening to review new and sick children, allowing the department to meet RCPCH facing the future standards. Bank holiday on-calls are shared between all the consultants.
The post holder will be expected to contribute to cover for colleagues when absent or on leave. Time off in lieu or locum pay is offered for additional duties outside of job plan.
5. Paediatric Assessment Unit.
A proportion of on calls will incorporate resident 4 hour evening shifts (5-9pm) on the Paediatric Assessment Unit (21 week day evenings/year). Consultant presence will be in addition to SHO and registrar out of hours cover, and a PAU specialty doctor present until 9pm at least half of weekday evenings. This will support our aim to achieve Facing the Future standards, facilitate higher-level decision making at the start of a childs journey, and increase support to trainees. Consultants on both paediatric and neonatal on call rotas will contribute to these sessions, which are appropriately job planned.
Job description
Job responsibilities
1. General Paediatric ward service
The post-holder will contribute to the consultant of the week system to provide three - four service weeks per year on the general paediatric ward. The general service weeks are shared between all the paediatric consultants, with most consultants contributing 3-4 weeks per year.
During service weeks the post-holder will be responsible for paediatric medical admissions, the paediatric assessment unit, involvement in shared-care surgical patients, and supporting paediatric care in the Emergency Department when needed. Routine clinics are cancelled during service weeks.
2. Advice and guidance
One consultant is designated to advice and guidance each week day. This includes active triage of referrals, responding to urgent emails, phone advice and guidance to primary care practitioners, and rapid access clinics. This service, in place since January 2017, has proven to be highly effective in reducing paediatric admissions and appointments, and has strengthened relationships with primary care.
It is expected that the successful candidate would participate 1 day per month to this service. This has been assumed for the purpose of this job description and in the current job plan calculations.
3. Outpatient clinics
The hospital runs a rolling week A,B,C,D system to allocate clinics (rather than 2nd Tuesday of the month etc). The post holder will do an average of 3 general paediatric clinics a week when not on ward service (11.5 clinics per 4 week cycle).
If the applicant has, or would like to develop, additional areas of expertise that complement the team, this would also be encouraged. There would be opportunity to develop special interest clinics, joint clinics with tertiary colleagues from Bristol, and / or transition clinics with colleagues from adult medicine These would be included in clinic count above, replacing general paediatric clinics.
4. On-Call
The general paediatric on call will be shared between a total of 10.6 WTE paediatricians with on-call commitment being proportionate to number of PAs in the job plan. Therefore this post will have a non-resident on call commitment of approximately 2 weekday nights per month (Monday to Friday) and 5 weekends per year.
Weekend days are 24hr on call shifts. The job plan includes being resident from 08:30- 13:00 for morning ward round, and an additional 3 hour resident shift on a Saturday and Sunday evening to review new and sick children, allowing the department to meet RCPCH facing the future standards. Bank holiday on-calls are shared between all the consultants.
The post holder will be expected to contribute to cover for colleagues when absent or on leave. Time off in lieu or locum pay is offered for additional duties outside of job plan.
5. Paediatric Assessment Unit.
A proportion of on calls will incorporate resident 4 hour evening shifts (5-9pm) on the Paediatric Assessment Unit (21 week day evenings/year). Consultant presence will be in addition to SHO and registrar out of hours cover, and a PAU specialty doctor present until 9pm at least half of weekday evenings. This will support our aim to achieve Facing the Future standards, facilitate higher-level decision making at the start of a childs journey, and increase support to trainees. Consultants on both paediatric and neonatal on call rotas will contribute to these sessions, which are appropriately job planned.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- MRCPCH or equivalent
- Full registration and licence to practice with the GMC
Desirable
Clinical
Essential
- Ability to take full and independent responsibility for clinical care of patients
- Clinical training and experience equiv to that required for gaining CCT/CESR in paeds
Desirable
- SPIN module in paediatric subspecialty
Teaching
Essential
- Evidence of interest and experience in teaching junior doctors
Desirable
- Evidence of management and service development
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- MRCPCH or equivalent
- Full registration and licence to practice with the GMC
Desirable
Clinical
Essential
- Ability to take full and independent responsibility for clinical care of patients
- Clinical training and experience equiv to that required for gaining CCT/CESR in paeds
Desirable
- SPIN module in paediatric subspecialty
Teaching
Essential
- Evidence of interest and experience in teaching junior doctors
Desirable
- Evidence of management and service development
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.
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).
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.
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).
