Specialty Doctor in Haematology

The post is for a  Specialty Doctor in Clinical Haematology to work 24 hours per week at the Bedford site.

The post holder will be working essentially in a Level 2a service so there are no designated beds. There are two Haematology Consultants & one Senior Clinical Fellow.  Patients requiring admission to hospital with haematological conditions will be admitted under the medical take team, the Consultant Haematologist, the post holder and/or Senior Clinical Fellow will support the responsible clinicians on a daily basis through providing clinical advice/input to patients with haematological conditions.

·      The post holder will play a full part in the work of the Department and will be expected to maintain and help develop haematology services.

·         The post holder will share equitable responsibilities with their professional colleagues and will contribute to the governance arrangements of the department.  The post holder will be expected to provide haematology cover for inpatients, day case patients and inpatient referrals but there is no expectation of regular on-call out of hours duties.

·      ·         They will be expected to attend the Multidisciplinary Team meetings as appropriate.

The post holder will be encouraged to develop a special interest in line with the Departmental policy to expand its range of specialist services.

The post holder will be working essentially in a Level 2a service so there are no designated beds. There are two Haematology Consultants & one Senior Clinical Fellow.  Patients requiring admission to hospital with haematological conditions will be admitted under the medical take team, the Consultant Haematologist, the post holder and/or Senior Clinical Fellow will support the responsible clinicians on a daily basis through providing clinical advice/input to patients with haematological conditions.

The appointee will be provided with office accommodation, secretarial support and personal computer facilities.  Microscopy/photomicrography facilities are available in the lab.

The appointee is responsible to the Consultants and the Clinical Director for Medicine (Dr Rajeev Kumar)

Outpatient clinics

The Clinical Haematology Department is accommodated within the Cauldwell Centre out-patient area close to both the Day Treatment Unit and Anticoagulation Service. It comprises of 4 Clinic Rooms, Reception area, Main Office and Consultants’ Offices.

The present medical & senior nursing staff establishment comprises:

·         Specialty Doctor - Vacant post

·         Dr Syed Rabbani, Consultant Haematologist

·         Dr Saad Idris, Consultant Haematologist

·         Dr Danish Akram, Senior Clinical Fellow

·         Jenna Fallon, Lead Nurse for Haem-Oncology & Day Treatment Unit

Inpatient management

There are no dedicated Haematology in-patient beds, the haematology team are expected to review/provide support to medical teams with patients who have haematological conditions on a daily basis.

Day Treatment Unit

The Haematology team provides support to the Day Treatment Unit, patients attending for blood transfusions; platelets and other procedures.

Haematological Oncology

Bedford Hospital provides level 2a Haemato-oncology services in conjunction with Addenbrooke’s Hospital who are the tertiary centre for this service.

The Macmillan Primrose Oncology Unit was opened in December 2003, from charitable monies generously donated by the population of Bedfordshire and Macmillan. The unit provides a full complement of high quality, state-of-the-art chemotherapy treatment, out-patient clinics and support services providing patients with greater comfort, and peaceful surroundings.

The Primrose Oncology Unit is a cancer treatment unit with facilities to treat a wide range of cancer sites. The unit works closely with medical and surgical teams within Bedford Hospital and with the Oncology centre at Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge.

Treatment is chemotherapy or radiotherapy, a combination of both, antibody treatments or steroid treatment to prevent or lessen symptoms. There are no radiotherapy facilities at Bedford, therefore radiotherapy, is undertaken at Addenbrookes along with the more complex cancer chemotherapy regimens.

The service complies with the NICE Improving Guidance on Haematological Cancers by provision of consultants, a Specialised Haematology nurse, MDT, pathways for onward referral, close links with the Haematology-Oncology service and provision of chemotherapy in a purpose built unit.

All patients with a cancer diagnosis are discussed through the specialist MDT where treatment plans are agreed, it is then decided if the patient needs to be referred to the tertiary centre for treatment.

All specialist MDT’s are video-conferenced with Addenbrooke’s hospital from a dedicated meeting room within the Primrose Unit.  These meetings are supported by an MDT co-ordinator who ensures all clinical results are sent to the tertiary centre prior to the meeting and that patient notes are available at the meeting; the MDT co-ordinator also attends the SMDT.  The SMDTs currently take place on:

·         Mondays – Leukaemia/Myeloma

·         1st & 3rd Tuesday per month – MPD

·         Wednesdays – Lymphoma

Bedford Hospital is part of the East of England Strategic Clinical Network. Referrals are made directly to Addenbrooke’s via the Primrose Unit or Haematology. Bedford Hospital undertakes annual peer review submissions as part of the Addenbrooke’s Haemato-oncology SMDT’s, an independent Trust submission is not undertaken.

Diagnostic work for bleeding disorders is carried out at Bedford. All further management is undertaken either by comprehensive care centre at Addenbrooke’s or in close liaison with a tertiary level centre.

Patients with Haemoglobinopathy, Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassaemias are treated at Bedford hospital in close liaison with tertiary level centre.

These patients are managed by the medical Physicians in close liaison with Haematology.

The anticoagulation service is Nurse- & Pharmacy-led with the support of a Consultant Haematologist.  The service offers point of care testing and currently provides a postal service to over 1600 patients.  The service uses DAWN software.