Lead Clinical Scientist - Northwood, United Kingdom - East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust

Description

Job overview

We are recruiting for a Lead Clinical Scientist – Nuclear Medicine who shares our vision to be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service to our patients.

You should already be working as an MPE within nuclear medicine or be eligible for appointment as an MPE, but we will consider applicants who expect to submit their portfolio this year.

The clinical scientists and physicists in our nuclear medicine team provide scientific and clinical nuclear medicine support for nine nuclear medicine imaging systems located in nuclear medicine departments across North West London and the home counties. This role provides ample opportunities for service developments working with the nuclear medicine teams in these departments. As we also provide RPA and RWA services to all these nuclear medicine services, the post-holder can expect to gain wide and varied experiences, ideal for those wishing to gain registration as an RPA and RWA.

You will have plenty of opportunities to manage staff as the department is currently accredited for STP training and also has a number of staff Route 2, practitioner training programs and apprenticeships. The department is supported by the regional medical physics training lead who can provide additional training for training officers to complement that provided by the national school.

Our Values are Include, Respect and Improve. It is important that you understand and refer to our values during your recruitment process and beyond

Main duties of the job

Provide a highly specialised scientific, safe, accurate physics support service to nuclear medicine within the Trust and to other organisations.

Lead on the implementation, development and optimization of nuclear medicine imaging, including CT in SPECT/CT.

Participate in the delivery of clinical Nuclear Medicine services provided by the department.

Calculate dose and risk in the event of unintended or accidental irradiation or doses, including radiation exposures of the unborn child. Advise the practitioners and referrers involved and participate in meetings with the patient if required.

Contribute to the development and maintenance of the department quality system.

Participate in the training of students, newly appointed staff and junior staff.

Participate in audit, research, development and implementation programmes, in conjunction with clinical scientists and other healthcare professionals.

Working for our organisation

At East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, we are proud of the range of general & specialist services we provide & our 6,000 or so dedicated staff ensure our patients get the best care. Our ability to be flexible & 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; our staff & patients are at the heart of delivering this ambitious agenda.

We understand that finding and starting a new job is an important life decision. If you need reasonable adjustments for a disability, or a life event, such as menopause - so that we can consider your application fairly & to get the best out of you during the selection process, please let us know.

We are committed to a positive work life balance for our employees. Employees are entitled to seek to work flexible working patterns & we are committed to listen and consider all requests. Such requests, of course, have to be made & considered formally, & will need to be balanced against service needs, but our starting point will always be to find ways to support making them happen.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

ENHT is seeking to maintain and expand the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre staff as we move to an exciting new future.

We welcome applications from those who would relish the opportunity to be part of new and developing cancer service, building on the excellent reputation, research and patient experience the Cancer Centre already delivers.

In addition, you will receive a High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of your basic salary, subject to a minimum payment of £4,314 and a maximum payment of £5,436 per annum pro rata.

Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification applicant pack for further detailed information regarding this role.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• BSc Honours degree in Physics, Medical Physics
• Masters degree in Medical Physics, Medical Imaging or similar
• HCPC Registered Clinical Scientist
• RPA2000 Certified Medical Physics Expert (MPE) in Nuclear Medicine
• Evidence of continuous professional development

Desirable criteria

• PhD in a related field
• Corporate IPEM membership
• Chartered Scientist (CSi)
• Post-graduate research expertise in a related field
• RPA 2000 certification for RWA
• RPA certification for RPA

Previous Experience

Essential criteria

• Work with ionising radiation
• Used to working in multidisciplinary teams
• Experience in diagnostic Nuclear Medicine / PET image analysis and processing applications
• Experience of protocol development and optimisation, including multi-modality optimisation
• Experience in Molecular Radionuclide Therapy and Dosimetry
• Experience in QA for SPECT/CT, PET/CT, calibrators, intraoperative probes, and gamma counters
• Evidence of working at MPE level in diagnostic nuclear medicine, PET and radionuclide therapy
• Experience of patient involvement; providing appropriate counselling regarding procedures and radiation risks
• Demonstrated experience providing advice to stakeholders on compliance with the IR(ME)R regulations
• Practical experience in Radiation Protection related to NM and PET

Desirable criteria

• Experience of evaluation and procurement of nuclear medicine equipment
• Experience of working with / supervising trainees on STP, route 2 or other training schemes
• Experience of participation in research or development, presentation, publication of scientific work

Skills

Essential criteria

• Must be able to manipulate radioactive substances with care and precision
• Must be able to operate sensitive radiation detection and imaging equipment with care and precision
• Proficiency in operating a variety of medical image processing systems and working with radiation equipment, some of which is heavy
• Ability to solve scientific / technical problems
• Able to lead projects for the introduction of new equipment or new techniques in nuclear medicine
• Able to communicate and work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team
• Able to communicate highly complex information across professional boundaries
• Able to work with complex and unpredictable situations
• Excellent oral and written presentation skills

Knolwedge

Essential criteria

• Extensive specialist knowledge of Medical Physics and Nuclear Medicine
• Knowledge of the principles and practical issues of the use of radioactive materials in humans, and the associated radiation detection and measuring equipment
• Knowledge and experience of applying IRMER2017 and IRR2017 in nuclear medicine to enable advice to be given and to allow policies and protocols to be developed
• Sufficient knowledge and experience to act as a Medical Physics Expert in Nuclear Medicine

Desirable criteria

• Sufficient knowledge and experience to act as a Medical Physics Expert in PET
• An understanding of computer systems, programming and networking.
• Knowledge of other imaging modalities

Other Requirements

Essential criteria

• Driving license and availability of car for business use
• Ability to work under pressure with multiple and varied demands throughout the working day
• Professional appearance and agreeable manner as the post involves working at other organisations
• Analytical skills for the highly complex analysis of patient studies and research and development data
• Strong numerical and statistical skills, including the ability to use spreadsheets and statistics software packages
• Ability to show initiative
• Knowledge of general IT software packages (MS Office)
• Some working outside of core hours is required
• Honest
• Open minded, treats colleagues with dignity and respect
• Concern for the well-being of patients and a commitment to work for the aims of the department and the Trust.
• 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

Our values

We want our staff to believe in, demonstrate and live our values in everything we do.

Include
We value the diversity and experience of our community colleagues and partners, creating relationships and climates that provide an opportunity to share, collaborate and grow together.

Respect
We create a safe environment where we are curious of the lived experience of others, seek out best practice and are open to listening and hearing new ideas.

Improve
We are committed to consistently delivering excellent services and continuously looking to improve through a creative workforce that feels empowered to act in service of our shared purpose.

Committed to our Community

East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion for all job applicants, staff, patients and the wider community. We want to create a workforce which represents the communities we serve. We are on a journey to become a more inclusive organisation and we welcome applications from everyone regardless of their background. In particular we encourage applications from candidates with disabilities, and candidates from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds who are currently under-represented in various parts of our workforce .

We understand the importance of balancing work and home life. We are committed to support flexible working for our staff wherever possible and all our employees are given the opportunity to discuss potential for flexible working.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and achieved our status in 2019.

We will remove barriers that prospective candidates might face at any stage of our recruitment process. If you have a disability and would like the advert in an alternative format, or would like to talk about how we can adjust the interview process to best support you, please contact us by emailing

We are also proud to support our UK armed forces by supporting Reservists, Cadet Instructors, Veterans and military spouses/partners into employment and offering supportive policies that value their contribution to the community and to our Trust.

We are committed to being a carer-friendly environment, addressing the complex needs of families with caring responsibilities. In partnership with Carers in Hertfordshire, all our working carers have access to support from recruitment. We are also a member of Carers UK, providing resources to make balancing work and caring easier. Our approach is inclusive, recognizing diverse challenges and creating a supportive environment where carers feel valued.