Consultant in Microbiology

The service is delivered mainly for 2 acute sites, the University Hospital of North Durham and Darlington Memorial hospital. Based on service needs and in agreement with the appointing manager and applicant, the applicants base will be University Hospital of North Durham OR Darlington Memorial Hospital. The post holder will however be required to work at any location within the Trust. The appointee will be expected to be involved in implementing the Trusts Clinical Governance programme.

This includes active participation in clinical audit, quality, clinical guidelines/pathways, and professional development. The post holder will provide, working with other colleagues, clinical advice on medical microbiology to clinical staff in hospitals and in the community, and within the area served by the laboratory and consultants in communicable disease control, environmental health and others. This will include participation in surveillance, hospital infection control and public health microbiology. The appointee will be expected to work with local managers and professional colleagues in the efficient running of the services and will share with Consultant colleagues in providing a clinical microbiology service to the Trust and local CCGs.

This post will predominantly cover clinical service but in addition may have the need for the appointee to attend RCA, MDT meetings where required. Clinical Provide appropriate advice and result interpretation on the tests performed within the department under the overall supervision of the Consultant Microbiologist. Liaison with clinicians, hospital staff and GP's concerning the diagnosis and management of patients and prevention of infection. Liaison with Public Health England and Health Protection Unit to manage infections and notification of notifiable diseases.

Attend and contribute to multidisciplinary team meetings as required. Current opportunities include C. difficile MDT, OPAT MDT (Outpatient antimicrobial therapy), Ortho MDT, and Endocarditis MDT To provide medical input and oversight of policies, procedures and guidelines produced with microbiology, or those produced by other departments that impact on microbiology. Provide advice and interpretation of test results to clinicians, either directly, or via participation in the departments duty rota.

This post will predominantly cover clinical service but in addition may have the need for the appointee to attend RCA, MDT meetings where required. Out of Hours Responsibilities Once the post holder is established they would be expected to participate in the on call rota. There will be a compulsory on call commitment as part of this post Infection Control The substantive post will involve working with the Consultant colleagues and infection control nurses to deal with day to day infection control management across the Trust. Active involvement in investigation of infection control incidents and in action planning and implementation to reduce hospital acquired infection is expected.

There will be a need to be involved in root cause analysis following infection control incidents. There will also be a need to be involved in decontamination issues. Laboratory To be involved in all aspects of the day-to-day operation to UKAS standards of the Clinical Microbiology laboratory with appropriate technical support. Regular daily liaison with the laboratory technical staff Reporting of laboratory results, authorizing and providing medical interpretation as appropriate The appointee will be a responsible for the provision of a comprehensive, efficient and cost-effective diagnostic and clinical microbiology service (including bacteriology, virology, mycology and parasitology).

To provide clinical input to the laboratory manager to enable effective management of the automated Clinical Microbiology activities in the Trust including: Advising the section senior on the clinical implications of quality issues (EQA and IQC) that can be used to help inform their action plan. Participate in the introduction of new methods and preparations of business case/plan. Share responsibility for quality assurance performance within the department including taking part in all relevant NEQAS programmes. Works with operational members of laboratory staff to implement the departmental policies.

Where possible ensures guidelines issued by the MHRA and NICE are compiled with. Assesses the budgetary, clinical and logístical implications of new guidance, whether National, Regional or local and liaise with other departments in order to provide the required level of service. Provide clinical input whilst the department is evaluating new methods or equipment and producing reports including statistical analysis and graphical representations of data. Monitor and advice on budgets and resources in the service as required.

Provide clinical leadership and training of staff. Managerial Roles The appointee will be expected to take on one of the three currently funded ma