Clinical Fellow

ORGANISATIONAL ARRANGEMENTSThis post is for 40 hours per week as a Haematology & TYA Clinical Fellow to join the existing Palatine Ward Haematology & TYA clinical team, ensuring that all inpatients across the department receive optimal clinical support. Role PurposeWorking as part of the existing ward team which includes 2 Haematology ST doctors, 1 TYA Oncology Specialty Doctor and 3 x ward-based IMTs who cover the 31 bedded-ward and the new 4 inpatient bedded unit due to open early 2021 and the adjacent ambulatory care unit. The Haematology service is supported by an attending consultant, with 2 scheduled consultant ward rounds per week and daily consultant level input as required. The role will be responsible for providing inpatient medical support across the service.
There will be an opportunity to attend the Haematology departmental teaching sessions. Flexible working and cross cover the existing Palatine Ward middle grade haematology roles will be a requirement for this post. The post holder will require good communication skills to work effectively and collaboratively within the broader teams but also in order to engage and build up rapport with patients and their families undergoing complex Oncology and Haematology treatments. The postholder will be flexible, adaptable and able to communicate positively at all times.
They will provide information at an appropriate level of understanding to ensure a patient and/or carer is fully informed at all stages of the pathway and will communicate with patients, families and carers with empathy and reassurance. They will need good time management/organizational skills to prioritize the patient workload. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIESThe haematology and TYA directorate provides provided on the Palatine treatment ward, a £12M inpatient facility which opened in June 2014. The ward consists of 31 individual en-suite bedrooms.
12 of which have HEPA filtration. The ward also houses Teenage and Young Adult (TYA) patients (age 16 to 24 years) of the Young Oncology Unit (YOU). It is co-located with the Haematology and Transplant Day unit (HTDU) which was built in 2008 to expand ambulatory facilities. HTDU houses a dedicated outpatient clinic (5 consulting rooms), day care facilities (4 individual rooms, 8 chairs, 2 beds) and an apheresis suite.
An ambulatory care facility (8 treatment spaces) for patients undergoing chemotherapy, supportive therapies and stem cell transplantation was opened in 2018 and a further 4 bed inpatient unit (Withington Ward) was opened in 2021 to provide additional capacity and expansion in ambulatory care provision. When required, patients undergoing less intensive therapy are managed on the Medical Oncology wards (4,11 and 12). Emergency admissions are assessed on the Oncology Admissions Unit which is staffed during the week by Consultants in Acute Medicine supported by junior medical staff and Nurse CliniciansThe Haematology Department works closely with colleagues in Clinical and Medical Oncology who run the lymphoma service and also collaboration with other Haematology Departments of the South sector of the GMCCN. Diagnostic Haematology serviceDiagnostic services on the Christie Site are provided by The Christie Pathology Partnership (CPP); a joint venture which brings together brings together the clinical expertise of the Christie NHS Foundation Trust (rated Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission in 2017) and Synlab UK (the UK division of one of the largest providers of laboratory services in Europe).
Ambulatory careIn recent years there has been a shift towards administration of complex cytotoxic and supportive medications in an ambulatory setting which traditionally would have been administered in an inpatient setting. Palatine Ambulatory care (AC) at The Christie has been introduced to facilitate the management of patients having a specified range of haematological and Teenage and Young adult (TYA) high dose chemotherapy, transplant and CART regimens previously managed on an in-patient basis. The aim is to improve patient experience and reduce pressure on in-patient beds. Stem Cell TransplantationThe Christie Stem Cell Transplant Program was established in 1982 since when it has performed over 2900 procedures (autologous, allogeneic and alternate donor).
In recent years the department undertakes between 120 and 160 procedures annually for patients with haematological malignancies. The department has been fully JACIE accredited since 2009. In 2017, the Christie was selected as the second donor centre outside London by Anthony Nolan and in 2018, was selected as one of 7 first wave centres nationally for delivery of CAR-T therapies. CAR-T therapyIn 2018 the program was accredited as one of 7 UK phase 1 treatment centres for delivery of CAR-T therapy.
Advanced cellular therapies (CAR-T, tumour infiltrating lymphocytes) have been used at the Christie for over 10 years as part of clinical trials and we will be treating the first standard of