Principal Clinical Scientist

Job summary

Expected Shortlisting Date

27/09/2024

Planned Interview Date

11/10/2024

Applications are invited for a permanent Band 8A Clinical Scientist (Treatment Planning) in the Leeds Cancer Centre, St Jamess University Hospital.

We are looking for a Clinical Scientist with expert experience in radiotherapy physics to join a team of 17 physicists working in the treatment planning section. We have a strong multi-disciplinary approach to working and the successful candidate will participate in clinical trial support, quality management as well as provide expert medical physics support to the radiotherapy physics service. Research and innovation are at the heart of the service, with opportunities to be part of development work as well as support a large portfolio of local and national clinical trials. We have an advanced extra-cranial SABR service and treat sites including the spine, liver and pelvis. Within the Leeds Cancer Centre all VMAT is planned and delivered using flattening filter free beams.

This post also has responsibility for supporting the training of STP trainees within the radiotherapy physics section.

Main duties of the job

This post is based in the radiotherapy treatment planning group within the Radiotherapy Physics section of Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering. The main responsibilities are:

To provide Medical Physics Expert (MPE) advice and support for the provision of radiotherapy within the Trust. Area of expertise will include radiotherapy treatment planning, radiotherapy imaging and radiotherapy research and innovation. Duties to include equipment installation, acceptance, commissioning, calibration, dosimetry, quality assurance and quality control. Radiotherapy, treatment planning, plan checking and technique development; Radiotherapy Imaging clinical support, technique development and clinical implementation. To give expert Medical Physics advice on radiotherapy dosimetry, planning, imaging, computing and technology. To develop radiotherapy technology, techniques, utilisation, verification and quality assurance. To design, develop and manage appropriate radiotherapy systems, usage, data and databases.

About us

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the largest and busiest acute hospital trusts in the UK. We are committed to delivering the highest quality and safest treatment and care to every patient, every time. Our staff helped to define the values and behaviours that we should work to so that we can achieve this vision. This has become known as The Leeds Way, and forms the foundation of our culture, our ethos and how we work every day.

The radiotherapy service in St Jamess treats over 7500 new radiotherapy patients per annum. The centre is equipped with the latest technology, including 12 Versa HDs, RayStation treatment planning, a Flexitron HDR remote afterloading platform for advanced image guided brachytherapy, I-125 prostate brachytherapy service and Gamma Knife ICON. The managed equipment service was recently renewed, ensuring equipment replacement and comprehensive support for the next 15 years.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals is committed to our process of redeploying 'at risk' members of our existing workforce to new roles. As such, all our job adverts are subject to this policy and we reserve the right to close, delay or remove adverts while this process is completed. If you do experience a delay in the shortlisting stage of the recruitment cycle, please bear with us while this process is completed, and contact the named contact if you have any questions.

Job description

Job responsibilities

PRINCIPAL DUTIES & AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

Scientific and Clinical:

In conjunction with one or more relevant Section Head:

To provide expert medical physics support to the provision of radiotherapy within the Trust

To deputise for a Head of Section or other senior staff; to be responsible for the relevant parts of the Sections service in his/her absence.

To supervise other staff, as agreed with Section Heads. To assess competency of trainees and recommend when staff are competent to carry out procedures unsupervised.

To act as a Medical Physics Expert as defined in the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2017, to provide expert medical physics, radiation protection and dosimetry advice to clinical oncologists on technology and treatment; to others in the Trust or outside.

To provide expert advice in the event of technology failure; to determine when technology is fit for clinical use.

To manage quality assurance work of the Medical Physics department for relevant systems.

To monitor the training needs and competencies of the members of the Medical Physics department in the field of radiotherapy physics and perform training when required.

To ensure that there is adequate equipment and resources for the areas of work to be carried efficiently.

To assist in the planning of new radiotherapy facilities, technology & its use & development.

To perform acceptance testing on new radiotherapy technology systems and imaging facilities.

To manage the commissioning of new radiotherapy technology.

To manage the relevant Quality Assurance data, imaging and other databases.

To advise consultant clinical oncologists and management on the implications of radiotherapy treatment & technology innovations.

To calibrate Radiotherapy treatment machines

To develop links between all sections of Radiotherapy Physics

To develop and manage relevant data & databases for the archiving of quality assurance, imaging and dosimetry records.

To be responsible for relevant radiotherapy data

To develop QA equipment and procedures appropriate to new techniques, IMRT, VMAT, SABR & to develop techniques

To use scientific judgment to determine the suitability of highly specialist equipment for clinical use, to carry out risk assessments as appropriate and to be responsible for removing or approving the equipment for clinical use, reporting the situation to relevant members of staff. To maintain equipment & data records

To co-ordinate and provide training as required, in particular, to provide training for physicists, radiographers, clinicians, nurses and visiting research fellows.

To ensure that the jobholder or any person working under their supervision works within the appropriate ionising radiation regulations and in particular obeys the local rules.

To perform duties as a designated Operator, as appropriate, under the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2017 (IRMER). As such the jobholder must comply with the relevant legislation and the Trust IRMER policy

To participate in national professional groups to develop national guidelines

To liaise with equipment manufacturers, materials and component suppliers, external contractors and different NHS Trust employees as part of their normal duties, including the relaying and discussion of highly complex information, over equipment or software faults.

Clinical Service Development

To identify areas where radiotherapy improvements can be made and work as part of multidisciplinary teams.

To implement new and improved techniques so that patients gain maximum benefit from the available equipment

To liaise with the relevant section heads with regard to development programmes, and to take responsibility for the development and evaluation of new equipment, accessories, techniques and highly complex specialist radiotherapy software & associated systems.

General

To be aware of the safety and reliability aspects of any technology systems with which they may be involved and take appropriate action to deal with any discrepancies including maintaining records and reporting the situation to relevant members of staff.

To ensure that safe working practices are employed at all times by themselves and any personnel who may come under their control including other hospital staff, manufacturers engineers and contractors.

To produce and update written work instructions and procedures that are relevant to the jobholders own area of expertise, including those having impact outside the section,

To contribute to the general departmental organisation when required.

To liaise with senior clinicians, senior clinical scientists and other users of the technology in order to ensure that their work is consistent with clinical and technical requirements.

To report unresolved issues to the relevant Section Head.

To undertake other duties appropriate to the grade as requested by the Head of Radiotherapy Physics, and/or other Section Heads.

Teaching and training

To provide teaching and training of students, radiographers, physicists, clinicians, management and members of the public on relevant aspects of radiotherapy as required, including:

o Deliver lectures on University degree courses as appropriate, Medical Physics MSc

o Participate in teaching and training of clinical oncologists (FRCR)

o Assist in training and supervision of trainee physicists

Research and Development

NHS service research and development is necessary for continuous improvement of radiotherapy and for the implementation and development of the potential of new equipment and facilities and the development of new treatment techniques and methods. This is a significant role of Clinical Scientists, in particular:

To be responsible for carrying out evaluation, research and development, and for initiating, directing and carrying this out in the post holders areas of responsibility; to improve the clinical practice and the understanding of the radiotherapy process and radiotherapy technology.

To liaise with clinicians, other physicists, etc. to support and participate in the Directorate and Departments research and development programme, with the aim of continuous improvement of the clinical service.

To publish novel and interesting work in internationally recognised journals, and present same at national and international conferences

To supervise other physicists, other staff groups, research assistants and research students from time to time.

Professional

To participate in a Continuing Professional Development scheme ( IPEM or HCPC)

To prioritise and manage own work

To keep abreast of the latest technical and scientific developments and their applications in medical and associated fields

To attend suitable seminars and courses as part of training and personal development and to further the work of the Department.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

Qualifications, knowledge and experience to act as Medical Physics Expert under IR(ME)R within the field of radiotherapy. Expert knowledge and extensive practical experience of all main areas of radiotherapy physics, particularly radiation physics, radiotherapy technology, radiation dosimetry, computing and planning. Acceptance testing and commissioning of radiotherapy equipment, other technology and Quality Assurance Techniques Radiation Protection Understanding of all aspects of patient progress through radiotherapy and the requirements of a radiotherapy physics service to ensure that it is performed in a safe and accurate manner Detailed understanding of patient and staff risks arising from the use of ionising radiation and radioactive sources for radiotherapy Detailed understanding of relevant legislation, national standards, codes of practice, professional and other guidelines

Desirable

Working knowledge of CT, PET-CT, MRI and ultrasound imaging Understanding of research matters including study design, funding and ethical issues. Project management Linear Accelerator manufacturers training courses Software Development Tools Clinical Radiobiology Monte Carlo computational Techniques International Standards ( IEC, DICOM etc)

Qualifications

Essential

Good (1st or 2nd class) honours degree in a relevant subject MSc or equivalent in radiotherapy physics [or equivalent field] HCPC registration as a Clinical Scientist. Advanced experience to expert level in radiotherapy physics, including one or more of: radiotherapy technology/external beam treatment planning/radiotherapy imaging/brachytherapy physics/Gamma Knife.

Desirable

PhD Staff recruitment/ Interviewing/ appraisal skills;

Skills & Behaviours

Essential

To act at all times in a professional manner, showing courtesy and respect for other staff and patients. Maintain patient dignity and confidentiality Creative lateral thinker Ability to work flexibly Ability to cope with large and variable workload Ability to make decisions quickly and accurately in a stressful situation, about a patient in pain or anaesthetised Positive attitude to change

Desirable

Able to develop good working relationships with external bodies (contractors, research partners, suppliers, academic bodies) Able to negotiate with external contractors and PFI partners. Able to direct and supervise the work of others.

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