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Clinical Responsibilities

The successful candidate will join a team of consultants and will undertake inpatient and outpatient work in neonates and  general paediatrics including inpatient ward attending weeks, observation ward attending and on call activities on a pro-rata basis. In addition to the general paediatrics.

There will be 2 general paediatric clinic every week across both hospitals ensuring local access for patients . The post holder will also deliver 9 rapid access clinics  per year on the days when they are not twilight .  The post holder will be Paediatrician of the week (POW) and Neonatologist of the week (NOW) totalling 7 a year.There will also be attending weeks for the children’s observation unit and the number of these will be confirmed on appointment (between 1.5-3.5 weeks depending on restructure of the rota) During these days s/he will have no other clinical commitment.

The post holder will have resident duties on a fixed weekday evening doing “Twilight” shifts from 1600-2200 within the Children’s Emergency Department. There will be a weekend twilight shift to cover the Friday to Sunday evenings for 3 weekends a year to ensure that college standards for facing the future are fully met.

During on-call times, assessment of children in whom there are child protection concerns will be necessary. Alternative arrangements are in place for assessment of children with possible sexual abuse, utilising the specialised skills and training (including colposcopy) of a police doctor, who may or may not request a joint examination with a paediatrician.

Evening (middle grade) commitment

The successful candidate will contribute one weekday evening session to the twilight consultant cover, every other week. S/he will be supported by a resident junior grade and a non-resident consultant colleague.

Medical Education and Training

The post will have a commitment to the education of junior staff and medical students. Administrative support for the teaching of medical students will be available.

Clinical Audit and Clinical Governance

Participate in clinical audit across the department in line with Trust policy and guidelines

Implement audit and research findings across the department

Comply with the Trust clinical governance processes in a timely manner

Continuing Professional Development

Supporting Professional Activities are undertaken by all Consultants in a collaborative manner based on SDU needs

Job plan

The post will be 10 PAs under the “new” consultant contract.  An indicative job plan and timetable can be found below. The final job plan for the post will be agreed with the SDU lead and will be subject to renegotiation at least annually.  

The existing general paediatric consultant rota is designed around a 45 week rolling cycle.There is a planned change if requirement to all posts are successful to a 60 week rolling rota . Paediatrician of the Week (POW) and Neonatologist of the Week (NOW) weeks are shared equally between 15 consultants. 1^st on call nights (non-resident) are shared equally. During the day there is a 2^nd on-call (non-resident) consultant who covers the Children’s Day unit at Wycombe hospital and is available at night as back-up for the 1^st on consultant in the event of e.g. simultaneous neonatal and paediatric emergencies.

With the opening of our New children’s ED department in April 2023 we are also doing on call weeks Monday -Friday  between the team.

Each consultant has 10.5  on-call weeks in each year. The NOW and POW  weeks runs from Friday-Thursday. 3.5 times a year the consultant will also cover the new Children’s observation unit (COU) which is co-located with the new Children’s ED department.This number may change to be 1.5 with redesigning the rota.

We are currently looking at redesigning the rota (60 week rolling rota instead of 45)  with some colleagues doing only COU weeks as part of their acute service commitment. This will decrease the amount of on call  weeks for the rest of the 15 on call team .We may also be stopping 2^nd on call overnight duties which will decrease the supplement to 3% from 5% above . Daytime responsibilities for 2^nd on call at Wycombe Hospital will continue.

8 consultants share weekday evening twilight shifts. Fixed days are covered across the year by paired consultants doing 26 shifts per year. Additionally, each of the 8 consultants cover 2.3 twilight weekends. During the twilight shifts patients requiring admission are reviewed by the twilight consultant to ensure appropriate management and early planning for discharge to protect capacity. The remainder of the twilight weekends are covered by the other 7 consultants.

In combination the 1^st and 2^nd on-call shifts mean that the rota is 1 in 7.5 and therefore attracts a Category A - Medium Frequency (5%) on call supplement. This may change as above to a 1 in 15 category A- low frequency (3%)

Provisional Job plan

Provisional Timetable excluding POW/NOW weeks

Annual Leave Arrangements:

Leave should be arranged by mutual agreement of consultant colleagues and approval of the clinical director and/or general manager, in accordance with standard Trust and NHS regulations.  It is essential that six weeks’ notice is given to allow for proper planning and prevent cancellations of patients' appointments/surgery. 

The post holder has a responsibility to ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place to cover his/her clinical duties during any absence and that all leave is coordinated with colleagues to ensure adequate cover arrangements. This includes all forms of leave.