Job overview

The appointee will join an enthusiastic and friendly department which is an integral part of the Division of Medicine at the QEH.

Haematology laboratory services at King’s Lynn are part of the Eastern Pathology Alliance (EPA) group consisting of the QEH, the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital and The James Paget Hospital. EPA is a UKAS accredited service. In the QEH we have an integrated Haemochemistry Department, which is located on the ground floor of the Pathology Laboratory.  Haemochemistry integration with multi-skilling of BMS staff allows for improved efficiency and shared working. Histopathology services are located at Addenbrookes Hospital along with the haemato-oncology diagnostic service.

The QEH is part of the clinical haemato-oncology MDT in Addenbrookes Hospital.

Main duties of the job

The appointed consultant would be expected to contribute to the on-going service improvement programme developing:

• Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT)
• Cost Improvement programme (CIP)
• Implementing evidence based new ways of working when necessary

We also encourage consultants to apply for fellowship of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management, to which we are an affiliated member.

‘The requests for relocation costs will be considered as per the Trust policy, which can be provided upon request’

Working for our organisation

With over 4,000 staff (known as TeamQEH), the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn is one of the biggest employers in West Norfolk, supporting the health and wellbeing of the local community. QEH has 518 beds, 18 wards, a budget of circa £220m and provides a comprehensive range of specialist, acute, obstetrics and community-based services to those who live in the three counties of Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire.

TeamQEH is proud to be an inclusive employer, with many active staff networks. We have also been recognised as an exemplar employer by BAPIO (British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin) and offer outstanding health and wellbeing initiatives to support our staff and to implement our learning from the pandemic.

We are exceptionally proud to have recently moved out of special measures and see this as a testament to the determination of our trust wide teams to put our patients first and recognise the hard work and dedication of all our staff.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical

• To provide a continuing responsibility for patients in their charge and in partnership with colleagues working for the proper function of the department.
• Each Consultant will be responsible for seeing patients attending their new and follow up outpatient clinics and for managing their inpatients, outpatients and chemotherapy/day unit attenders
• When on call, to offer advice and clinical help requested by health care professionals in the hospital or the community, and this will include opinions on laboratory results, blood product administration, blood films, bone marrows and the management of bleeding and clotting disorders.
• To also offer clinical advice over the telephone to first line doctors working in the Hospital. Much of the haematology clinical work is covered by regularly updated protocols. The post holder may be required to undertake other duties appropriate for a consultant haematologist not otherwise specified.
• Conduct a weekly clinic in the Macmillan Unit supported by specialist CNS,

In this clinic patients receiving intensive/intravenous chemotherapy and new patients are seen. 

• Undertake a weekly telephone follow up clinic with up to 25 patients per clinic.
• Undertake a monthly joint telephone follow up clinic.
• Undertake a monthly myeloproliferative telephone clinic.
• Undertake the weekly coagulation clinic on a rota basis. A daily anticoagulant clinic is run by the Anticoagulation specialist nurse who is assisted by a team of nursing, laboratory and clerical staff.
• Carry out daily ward rounds during working hours and the on-call Consultant does a ward round on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The appointee would have admitting rights to the 12 in-patient beds on the Macmillan Unit of Shouldham Ward, which are shared with Oncology and Palliative Care. Shouldham Ward is a level 2b Care facility as defined by the British Committee for Standards in Haematology, clinical Haematology Task Force; Guidelines on provision of facilities for the care of adult patients with haematological malignancies, levels of care (BCSH 2009) These beds are allocated on the basis of need.  The appointee would also have the right to admit patients via the Medical Assessment Unit to beds on the general medicine wards and to seek the advice and support of colleagues in other specialities to meet the patient’s medical needs.  The Consultant Haematologists attend a weekly local multi-disciplinary team ward round at Kings Lynn and twice weekly video-conferenced specialised MDTs for leukaemia, myeloma, myeloprliferative and lymphoma.

Organisational

• Laboratory management, blood transfusion, anticoagulant services, haemato-oncology and general clinical haematology services, clinical quality, audit, teaching and financial management will be shared between the Consultants.
• Teaching and training of junior staff, medical students and other healthcare professionals
• To act as clinical/educational supervisor to locally employed doctors and doctors in training programmes of a variety of grades and experience as appropriate.
• To actively participate in both departmental and Trust matters concerning Clinical Governance and audit.
• To provide leadership and support for the effective development of the service.
• To have responsibility for ensuring active participation in Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
• To further develop clinical protocols, guidelines, and concise care bundles.
• To carry out responsibilities with due regard to the Trust’s Equal Opportunities Policy.
• To be aware of the responsibility of all employees to maintain a safe and healthy environment for patients, visitors and staff and attend all relevant health and safety training.
• To ensure that all duties are carried out to the highest possible standard.
• To carry out annual performance reviews with each member of their staff.
• To agree annual personal development plans with their staff and support them with any training or development requirements to fulfil their role.
• To attend all relevant management training in health and safety, risk assessment etc.
• To participate in personal objective setting and review, including the creation of a personal development plan and the Trust’s appraisal process.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• MBBS or equivalent medical qualification.
• MRCP Part 1 and Part 2

Desirable criteria

• Other professional qualification or higher degree e.g., in medical education, clinical research or management.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Full Registration and a licence to practise with the General Medical Council.
• Clinical training and experience equivalent to that required for gaining UK CCT in General Internal Medicine or Haematology
• Meets the criteria set out in the Specialist generic capabilities framework

Desirable criteria

• Entry on GMC Specialist Register; eligible for entry on Register or within six months of receipt of Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) or Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR) at time of interview

Applications are welcome from anyone who meets the criteria specified in the person specification regardless of age, gender, disability, race ,ethnicity, religion, belief, sexual orientation or other personal circumstances. Only those applicants who demonstrate in the application form how they meet the criteria in the person specification will be shortlisted for interview. We not only recruit employees based on their qualifications and experience - we recruit individuals who possess and can demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our core values.