Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Key Results from Postholder

• The appointee will be based at Leigh Infirmary but will be required to provide a comprehensive urology service to support the Trust’s urological workload wherever it is located. The appointee will be responsible for:
• Providing specialist advice for patients for the prevention and diagnosis of illness referred to them.
• Accepting personal responsibility for the total clinical care of patients referred to them.
• Collaborating positively with colleagues to provide effective clinical leadership for all the staff in the
• Contributing to and participating in the development of the service.
• Developing a special interest and working closely with the appropriate team to manage waiting lists and reduce waiting times in line with the Trust’s protocols and patient charter/service requirements.
• The post will form part of Surgical Directorate of the Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust.
• The postholder will be expected to work with local managers and professional colleagues in the medical contribution to management. In particular, he/she must support the Clinical Director and Clinical Lead across the whole range of their managerial and administrative functions, and share the responsibility for providing services within the resources allocated by the Trust.  All facilities within the Trust will be available to the post-holder.
• Subject to the provisions of the terms and conditions of service, he/she is expected to observe the Trust’s agreed policies on clinical matters, and to follow the Standing Orders and Standing Financial Instructions of the Trust. Where employees of the Trust are managed, he/she will be expected to follow the local and national employment and personnel policies and procedure

Work Circumstances and on-call

• The post is available from 1^st September 2024 but a later start is possible through mutual agreement.
• Named PA / secretarial support will be provided.
• The appointee will have the assistance of a comprehensive, dedicated secretarial service, in shared office accommodation within the Richmond urology unit, and consultant office space for personal use. Electronic dictation and IT structure allows uploading of urgent dictated correspondence from any trust site.
• Some sessions will be at Leigh Infirmary, RAE Infirmary, Wigan and Thomas Linacre Centre. Travel between sites is usually kept to a minimum and travel time where necessary is included in PA calculations of the job plan.
• The appointee will participate in the urology on call rota which is currently a 1 in 12 (out of hours).
• The on call is shared with a neighbouring trust (Royal Bolton Hospital) with each trust providing emergency urology care to patients across both boroughs on an alternate week basis. As such some emergency work may need to be undertaken at Royal Bolton Hopsital.
• In the future we aim to forge closer working relationships which could see some non emergency sessions moving between trusts.
• The successful candidate will be required to live within a reasonable distance of RAEI to be able to meet emergency on-call requirements as they will be on call from home.
• It is the expectation that on both Saturday and Sundays all urology in patients, including those admitted over the previous 24 hours, will be reviewed by the on call consultant. This is in keeping with RCS and trust guidance. With shared weekend on call cover this currently involves ward rounds at both Wigan infirmary and Royal Bolton Hospital.

• Appraisal will be carried out with an appointed appraiser as outlined in the consultant contract on a yearly basis

The job plan for the post (draft attached and subject to negotiation and mutual agreement) prepared in accordance with paragraphs 30a, 30b and 61 under the Terms and Conditions of Service for Hospital Medical and Dental Staff will be agreed with the consultant after appointment.  The session locations, times and duties of the post may be modified over time to effect change in service needs. Indeed flexibility as to the site and nature of sessions (not timing) allows the department to successfully respond to fluctuations in demand.

Responsibility for Finance

• To ensure efficient use of resources at all times.

Responsibility for Human Resources

• To participate in Induction Programmes as required
• To adhere to all Trust policies and procedures

Responsibility for Health and Safety

• Be attentive of personal responsibilities in relation to the maintenance of a safe environment and identify potential risks for patients and staff taking action as and when required.
• Adhere to Trust Healthy and Safety Polices

Responsibility for Teaching

• The appointee will be expected to participate in the teaching of undergraduate staff and in the professional development of junior medical staff working in the department.
• This will include responsibility for arranging and monitoring junior staff rotas where appropriate and locum junior staff cover. The department is committed to achieving the full requirements of teaching junior hospital doctors including protected teaching time.  The appointee will be fully involved in developing a high standard of teaching for junior medical staff, nurses and medical student
• There is a library on all 3 hospital sites with 24 hour access, internet facilities and Medline search. The postholder will be expected to participate in the postgraduate activities of the unit and provide teaching to junior medical staff and other staff as necessary. In addition he/she will be expected to contribute significantly to the ongoing research of the department.
• Many projects within the Trust are undertaken without the need for additional resources, but if funds are required for the purchase of special equipment or for temporary assistance with staff, financial support may sometimes be obtained locally. Alternatively, applications for research grants may be made to the trust for short-term projects not exceeding three years
  
  
• Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust provides a clinically excellent service to patients locally, nationally and overseas and includes an active post-graduate educational programme and a varied range of research activity
  
  
• There is a fully staffed clinical audit department. Multi-disciplinary audit meetings are held on a regular basis
  
  
• Royal Albert Edward Infirmary has its own post-graduate Education Centre with a well-equipped lecture theatre, library and seminar rooms

Clinical Governance

There is a structured programme for development of clinical governance within the Trust. There is a governance sub-committee, which is a sub-committee of the Trust Board chaired by the Medical Director. Within each directorate the clinical director carries responsibility for the development of governance within the directorate. This is delivered through a Service Improvement Team, incorporating leads for audit, clinical effectiveness, clinical risk, research and development and the client’s experience. The chair of clinical audit and effectiveness co-ordinates the production of an annual audit cycle from the directorates, emphasising multi-disciplinary teams and team working. The Trust is committed to continuous quality improvement and would expect all staff to embrace the tenets of clinical governance.

• Audit

Upto 6 sessions per year at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust are devoted to audit when all clinical services are suspended. Consultants are expected to contribute personally to the audit program as well as attending the audit sessions. Some sessions are for urology alone and some are shared with the general surgical directorate.

The appointee will also be expected to participate in relevant National audits.

• Continuing Medical Education

The Trust supports the requirements for continuing professional development (CPD) as laid down by the GMC and surgical colleges and is committed to providing time and financial support for these activities.

• Appraisal

The Trust has the required arrangements in place to ensure that all surgeons have an annual appraisal with a trained appraiser and supports surgeons going through the revalidation process.

• Mentoring

The Trust recommends all newly appointed consultants have a mentorship structure in place that suits their own needs. The trust can facilitate this with provision of a mentor within the surgical division should the appointee choose.