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Job summary

Main area
Otolaryngology
Grade
Locum Consultant
Contract
Fixed term: 12 months (12 months)
Hours
Full time - 10 sessions per week
Job ref
317-LCON-25-086
Employer
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
ENT Specialty - FH
Town
Newcastle upon Tyne
Salary
£105,504 - £139,882 per annum pro rata
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
07/04/2025 23:59

Employer heading

The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust logo

Locum Consultant Audiovestibular Physician

Locum Consultant

Job overview

We are delighted to be able to offer an opportunity for a highly motivated, ambitious individual to join our well integrated team. 

This role will enhance the investigation, diagnosis, and management of hearing, balance, and communication disorders across the age range from birth to old age. The role will integrate multidisciplinary collaboration, patient-centred care, and ultimately improve service delivery and outcomes.

This is a 12 month fixed term post. 

Please read attached Job Description and Person Specification.

Main duties of the job

In the first instance, there will be a requirement to see otology patients in clinics.  This will ensure departmental referral to treatment times for audiovestibular patients are met.  Time will be set aside for development of specialist audiovestibular services and the expectation is that specialist clinics will develop and replace otology clinics throughout the year.

In addition to the challenges of the role, we can offer you a commitment to teaching, education, research and audit.
Candidates for the post must be registered medical practitioners and on, or eligible to join, the Specialist Register within six months of the date of the Appointments Committee.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.

For an informal discussion and further information regarding the opportunity and Directorate, please contact: Steven Powell on 01912824655, or via email at [email protected].

Working for our organisation

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest, largest and most successful teaching NHS foundation trusts in the country, with around 16,000 staff and an annual income of £1 billion. We have a long history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence, and innovation in medical research regionally, nationally and internationally.

We’re also proud to be the second largest provider of specialised services in the country. This means we support people with a range of rare and complex medical, surgical and neurological conditions, cancers and genetic orders.

Our staff oversee around 1.84 million patients ‘contacts’ each year, delivering high standards of healthcare.

We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and is equipped to deliver the best service to our patients. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical

Comprehensive Patient Management:

  • Develop services which address a broad range of neurotology issues, including dizziness, balance disorders, hearing loss, tinnitus, and hyperacusis, in both adult and paediatric patients. This will involve:
  • Integrated care with audiologist colleagues for a holistic approach.
  • Conducting bedside clinical examinations and coordinating necessary investigations and management.
  • Initiating appropriate referral pathways, and treatment plans

Etiological Investigation

  • Perform thorough investigations for all types of hearing loss, focusing on genetic and hereditary factors.
  • Utilize advanced diagnostic tests, including genetic testing, blood tests, CT, and MRI scans.
  • Multidisciplinary discussions with different specialties, including ENT surgeons, neurologists, genetics team, paediatrics.
  • Discuss tailored treatment and rehabilitation options with patients and their families

Specialized Adult Care:

  • Investigate complex cases of hearing loss in adults, assessing a wide range of underlying medical issues, including, hereditary, immunological and inflammatory conditions.
  • Conduct risk assessments clinics for ototoxicity, particularly in oncology and immunocompromised patients, requiring regular use of aminoglycosides for adults and paediatrics. ( Those at risk of hearing loss in response of chemotherapy. And Chronic diseases such as Cystic fibrosis

Integrated Care Approach:

  • Collaborate closely with multidisciplinary teams, including ENT, neurology, paediatrics and genetics, to deliver comprehensive patient care.
  • Focus on combining clinical insights with counselling and rehabilitation strategies

Cochlear Implant Assessments

  • Evaluate candidates for cochlear implants, ensuring timely and appropriate aetiological investigations, and interventions.
  • New-born and Preschool Screening: (notably 1/1000 new-born has permanent hearing loss require comprehensive aetiological investigations and management)
  • Engage in the assessment of infants identified through the National New-born Hearing Screening Program.
  • Establish / Improve programme for  preschool hearing screenings to ensure early intervention, and identify children with hearing loss that is not identified at new-born hearing screen.
  • Brainstem audiometry: 
  • Supervise automated brainstem audiology theatre lists
  • Develop protocols for brainstem audiology under sedation

Administrative/ Development:

•    Service Development:

  • Drive the development of audiology services, aligning national and international guidelines
  • Lead initiatives to update protocols and ensure the calibration of devices in keeping with the latest guidelines, thereby maintaining the highest standards of care
  • Quality Improvement:
  • Regularly review budget allocations and resource utilization to optimize operational efficiency.
  • Address inquiries and complaints from patients and clinical staff promptly and effectively.
  • Initiate and oversee quality improvement projects, ensuring continuous enhancement of service

Research:

•    Engage with the departmental research team to help facilitate studies with audiovestibular relevance.
•    Develop novel ideas for research in the area of audiology/ audiovestibular medicine.

Teaching:

  • Participate in the training and mentorship of resident doctors, nurse practitioners and medical students.

Person specification

Education, Qualifications and Specialist Skills

Essential criteria
  • Primary Medical Qualification
  • Full GMC Registration
  • Entry onto the GMC Specialist Register for audiovestibular medicine (within 6 months from the date of the AAC)
Desirable criteria
  • Higher Degree
  • Special skills training in the specialty

Clinical Experience

Essential criteria
  • Evidence of experience in the specialty
  • Evidence of a substantial commitment to the specialty
  • Ability to offer an expert clinical opinion within the speciality
  • Ability to take independent responsibility for the clinical care of patients referred to a tertiary centre

Management and Administration Experience

Essential criteria
  • Involvement with management and project leadership within the specialty
  • Evidence of involvement in authoring or reviewing clinical guidelines
  • An understanding of Clinical Governance
Desirable criteria
  • Proven management and administrative experience and understanding of management goals
  • Evidence of leadership / project management
  • Evidence of having implemented change
  • Experience in developing and implementing new technologies

Teaching

Essential criteria
  • Experience of supervising junior medical staff
  • Experience of participation in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching
  • Ability to teach clinical / technical / practical skills
Desirable criteria
  • Attendance at courses to develop teaching skills
  • Postgraduate qualification in medical education

Research

Essential criteria
  • Evidence of involvement in and understanding of research methodology and publication of findings
  • Research/critical review of literature
  • Publications in the last five years
Desirable criteria
  • Higher degree

Audit

Essential criteria
  • Evidence of participation in audit
Desirable criteria
  • Evidence of having changed practice as a result of audit
  • Evidence of having revisited the audit to assess improvement

Personal Attributes

Essential criteria
  • Alignment with the Trust’s values
  • Flexible approach to service delivery and committed approach to development
  • Committed to share in professional, managerial and teaching responsibilities necessary to fulfil the obligations of the Directorate to the Trust and its workforce
  • A commitment to personal / unit CPD
  • Ability and willingness to work the on-call rota
  • Ability and willingness to work a more flexible pattern of working in the future if required, including evening and weekend work

Employer certification / accreditation badges

We are a Living Wage EmployerVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleAge positiveInvestors in People: GoldArmed Forces Covenant Gold AwardRIDI Awards Finalist 2021Mindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Disability confident employerStonewall Gold 2022Better Health at Work Award - Maintaining ExcellenceDefence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) - GoldCycle Friendly Employer

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Rachel Richardson
Job title
HR Advisor
Email address
[email protected]

If you have problems applying, contact

Address
Regent Point
NE3 3HD
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