Plastic Surgery Registrar

This is a post for a full time Trust Grade in plastic, aesthetic and reconstructive surgery at ST3+/Registrar level It is anticipated that this post will provide support for the consultants in providing a broad plastic surgery service. This appointment will be based at Northampton General Hospital Trust (NGHT).

The post holder will work in collaboration with and under the direction of the consultants in the day-to-day management of patients in the Plastic Surgery Department. The duties may include the assessment of patients in the trauma clinic, post-operative care, general day-to-day care of inpatients and attendance at operating lists and outpatient clinics.


Regular ward rounds will be undertaken by the consultants to review the progress of their patients. In addition to attending these and presenting cases you will be required to carry out a daily ‘working ward round’ to ensure the comprehensive care of all in-patients. You will maintain and up-to-date list of all patients and their conditions and communicate any problems promptly to the relevant consultant. Record keeping is required to be meticulous and will be audited. It is not anticipated that there will be more than a few in-patients at any given time.

The Department of Plastic Surgery has been established since April 2006 and the present focus is to deliver a high quality local service particularly for hand trauma, breast reconstruction and skin cancer surgery. Elective hand surgery and general reconstructive surgery are also undertaken. Further expansion of the unit and the range of services are expected to occur in the near future. Burn surgery (other than minor burns) are not undertaken in the unit.

The maintenance of good communication links with General Practice and other departments involved in the care of patients by completing discharge documentation is an essential element of the job.

You will be required to assist in theatre and to undertake both supervised and unsupervised operating according to your experience and training (see person specification). The job offers a significant opportunity to develop your skills and experience in overall patient management both operative and non-operative.

You will be required to attend outpatients and trauma clinics as an essential part of patient care, but this also offers a significant learning opportunity.

On-call.

The trust grade doctors provide out of hours cover for Plastic Surgery patients from 1800 hrs to 2000 hrs Monday to Thursday( two evenings per week per junior). There is no prospective cover. This extended day work is paid at a Band 1b. There is no weekend on call.

A majority of trauma cases are referred on the morning after presentation to the A/E department to be seen by the plastic surgery registrar and be managed as appropriate.

The junior doctor accepts that he/she will also perform duties in occasional emergencies and unforeseen circumstances at the request of the appropriate consultant, where practicable, with his/her colleagues, both senior and junior. It has been agreed between professionals and the department that while juniors accept that they will perform such duties, the Secretary of State stresses that additional commitments arising under this sub-section are exceptional and in particular that juniors should not be required to undertake work of this kind for prolonged periods or on a regular basis.

Any other relevant duties allocated by the consultant, which may be necessary from time to time.

Teaching, Training and Education

The post does not currently have educational approval. However there are excellent library and study facilities available. Clinical research is encouraged and participation in department and regional audit is mandatory. The opportunity to develop research links within the hospital and the local university may arise. It may also be possible to attend teaching sessions in Leicester and the Trent Region Registrar teaching days in rotation.

Training in operative surgery, clinical decision making and overall patient management will form part of the everyday experience of the job. A formal teaching session (topical reviews, journal club, pathology meetings, audit etc.) is held on Friday afternoons.

Northampton is associated with both the Leicester & Warwick and the Oxford Undergraduate Medical Schools and you may occasionally be asked for teaching by undergraduates.

Audit

The Unit holds quarterly clinical and administration audit meetings. A monthly clinical pathology meeting is held and there will be a fortnightly Skin Cancer MDT meeting and combined clinic with the Dermatology Department.