Consultant General Anaesthetist

Job overview

Applications are invited for a Consultant General Anaesthetist at the James Paget University Hospital. This modern District General Hospital has approx. 500 beds and is situated in a coastal holiday area of East Anglia. It serves a population of 250,000 that increases considerably in the summer months.

There are 10 theatres including a Day Care Unit with 3 theatres. There is a Delivery Suite with an adjacent maternity theatre and recovery area. Intensive care Unit has 12 ITU/HDU beds. The new Elective Orthopaedic Hub is being built on the premises, which will house 2 Operating Theatres, 4 Recovery bays and 8 day-care pods. All inpatient and day case orthopaedic surgery will move here. The theatres accommodate a wide choice of theatre lists including all the usual district general hospital activity. There is a plan to start robotic surgery; business case for which is approved and the preparations are in progress. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to provide a flexible anaesthetic service to a variety of surgical specialties. There will be an opportunity to develop a particular interest in a sub-speciality e.g. regional anaesthesia, peri-operative medicine, pain medicine. The Consultant on-call for general anaesthesia is a 1/10 to 1/12 rota depending on overall numbers. There is a separate ICU consultant rota and a 3 tier junior rota.

Main duties of the job

• Share with consultant colleagues the general Anaesthetic work load including participation in general anaesthetic on call including maternity cover on call.
• Provide a flexible anaesthetic service to a variety of a surgical specialties.
• Provide with the other Consultants a system of mutual out-of-hours cover and cover for annual, study and professional leave.
• Give a consultation and advisory service to medical colleagues in other specialities in the Trust.
• Liaise with medical staff in other specialities and participate in the regular clinical meetings and other post-graduate activities of the hospital.
• Take part in the Royal College of Anaesthetists continuing medical education programme. The Trust will provide study leave expenses in line with national terms and conditions of service.
• Play a full part in the teaching and Quality improvement activities of the department.
• Develop and promote an interest in research in anaesthesia.
• Participate in the rolling process of clinical governance.
• Contribute to development of the services.

(See Job Description for full duties).

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Provide a flexible anaesthetic service to a variety of surgical specialties e.g. General surgery, colo-rectal surgery, orthopaedic, trauma, gynae, urology, ENT, dental, emergency surgery. Regular lists in a variety of surgical specialties will be accommodated in the job plan with an opportunity to develop a special area of interest. There may be an opportunity to participate in daytime Obstetric sessions.
• Be supported for their Continual Professional Development, within the Trust as well as externally by providing study leave and funding.
• Be expected to actively participate in the Clinical governance within the department and the Trust.
• Participate in the departmental Quality Improvement programmes under the direction of the Clinical Lead.
• Be expected to fulfil criteria for Clinical supervision and encouraged for Educational supervision to participate in training and teaching of post-graduate and undergraduate trainees.
• Be encouraged to show leadership qualities to develop services