Highly Specialist Cardiac Physiologist

Job summary

Weare seeking a motivated, ambitious and experienced individual to join ourhighly skilled team of Healthcare Scientists at Leeds Teaching Hospital Truston a fixed term contract of 9 months which is funded by NHS England. This is anexcellent opportunity to work at a Tertiary hospital in a dynamic, exciting andprogressive BSE Accredited department that is committed to supporting thedevelopment of the team so the very best care can be delivered to patients andservice users.

Thesuccessful candidate will be capable of working at an advanced level of imagingand be able to support the many specialist services offered at LTHT. You willwork closely with expert colleagues across the Cardio-Respiratory ClinicalPhysiology department and develop your own knowledge and skills at the sametime. We actively support formal educational programmes, participation at BSEevents and flexible working is available to support a work life balance.

Candidatesfor secondment will be considered. (Please ensure you have your line managersapproval.)

Please contact us to arrange an informal visit or chat

Main duties of the job

The successful post holder will be a ReportingSonographer with a high level of theoretical, technical and practicalknowledge, performing a full range of Cardiac Ultrasound scans and reportingwithout clinical input. They will lead in a specialist area of Echocardiographyand participate in Physiologist Led Services. Job responsibilities includeassisting the service manager in organising day to day delivery of services andbeing involved in service development; training and teaching Echocardiography totrainee Sonographers and contributing to the development of a high qualityservice through on-going audit, quality assurance and evidence based practiceand participating in the governance of the department. The post holder shouldbe prepared to undertake professional development activities that have directbenefits or impact on their role as a Sonographer or the department and haveresponsibility for encouraging the highest professional and technical standardsin all staff.

About us

Comeand join our team in Leeds and become part of The Leeds Way sharing ourvision and values. Our Trust is recognised for our staff engagement, great careand rated GOOD by the Care Quality Commission.

LeedsTeaching Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the largest acute health providers inthe UK and based in one of the fastest growing and vibrant cities in the north.

AtCardio-Respiratory CSU, we aim to be a fair and supportive CSU with positive,caring teams who are champions of the Leeds Way values. Our values are part ofwhat make us different from other trusts, so we see this as a strength, as wellas a responsibility. They have been developed by our staff and set out whatthey see as important to how we work.Our five values are:

Patient-centred

Collaborative

Fair

Accountable

Empowered

Leeds Teaching Hospitals is committed to our processof redeploying 'at risk' members of our existing workforce to new roles. Assuch, all our job adverts are subject to this policy and we reserve the rightto close, delay or remove adverts while this process is completed. If you doexperience a delay in the shortlisting stage of the recruitment cycle, pleasebear with us while this process is completed, and contact the named contact ifyou have any questions.

Job description

Job responsibilities

PrincipalDuties & Areas of Responsibility

ClinicalDuties

To be professionally and legallyaccountable for all aspect of own work, including the management of patients inyour care.

Participates in rotationalrequirements within the cardiorespiratory department in non-invasive andrespiratory services where required. On call and 24/7 provision of acuteemergency services may be required (, Cardiac Catheter Labs and/orImplantable Cardiac Devices).Demonstrating a high level of autonomy, often giving advice to medicalstaff with limited specialist knowledge thus directly influencing patient careoutcomes.

Routinely undertakes assessment ofboth in-patients and out-patients prior to a range of investigations and usesown discretion in order to ensure the patient is suitable for theinvestigation.

Gives lead specialist advice duringhighly complex situations where analytical judgement is required to all othermembers of the multi-disciplinary team including consultant physicians.

Carries out all aspects of clinicalwork as approved by their Line Manager.

Lead Specialist in own clinicalfield. Implements change in own specialist area based on own experience andevidence-based practice.

Works within and towards nationalguidelines and directives, , NICE guidelines.

Works as an autonomous practitionerwithin established departmental policies and those recognised by internationalorganisations , American Heart Association, Heart Rhythm Society - UK,Association for Respiratory Technology and Physiology, and Academy forHealthcare Science

Communicates with all members of themultidisciplinary team to ensure the best possible care for patients,including: negotiating, reassurance, empathy, and persuasiveness.

Communicates sensitive informationabout routine and complex investigations to patients and relatives/carersincluding children and those with learning and/or physical disabilities.

Calibrates and manipulates a widerange of complex, expensive, technical equipment which process, create, updateand store information.

Performs / provides factual reportson a number of the following investigations on a region-wide range of patientsincluding acutely ill paediatric and elderly patients and those with a range ofphysical and learning disabilities:

These investigations would bedependent on the applicants skill set and area of clinical expertise (Cardiac,Respiratory or Sleep).

- Cardiopulmonary exercise testing(CPX)

- 12 lead electrocardiographs (ECG)

- Advanced ambulatory monitoringtechniques

- Advanced haemodynamicassessments/calculations

- Capillary blood gases

- Cardiac ultrasound imaging (TTE)

- Complex Electrophysiology studies and3D mapping studies

- Complex Implantable CardioverterDefibrillators (ICDs) implantations

- Complex Permanent Pacemaker (PPM)implantations

- Complex PPM/ICD lead extractions

- Exercise testing under medicalsupervision

- Field exercise tests

- Fitness to fly assessments

- Full pulmonary function testing

- Mannitol challenge testing

- Percutaneous Coronary Intervention(PCI)

- Physiologist led Exercise ToleranceTesting (ETT)

- Physiologist led PPM and ICDfollow-up

- Respiratory muscle assessments

- Routine cardiac angiography andhaemodynamic assessment

- Sleep physiology analysis and CPAP.

- Temporary pacemaker insertions

- Therapeutic radiofrequency ablation

Reports equipment faults inaccordance with departmental policy.

Demonstrates personal duty of carefor safe use of expensive and highly complex equipment. Is responsible forensuring that others are fully trained in the safe use of such equipment withintheir specialist area.

Responsible for maintenance of stocklevels by ordering from pre-agreed tender schedules and by seeking newresources as service demands change.

Responsible for day-to-day securityof expensive equipment, , portable devices.

Professional

Responsible for maintaining owntechnical competencies in clinical areas.

Responsible for reporting clinicalincidents and adverse events to the Service Manager.

Maintain state registration.

Responsible for formal mentorship andcoordination of training for designated staff in training within own specialistarea.

Provides highly specialist trainingon a day-to-day basis for doctors and physiologists.

Be an active member of the in-servicetraining programme by attendance at, and participation in, in-service trainingprogrammes, tutorials, individual training sessions, external courses and peerreview.

Undertakes Continuing ProfessionalDevelopment (CPD) in accordance with Personal Development Plan (PDP) asdeveloped with Line Manager.

Attends and participates indepartmental staff meetings.

Maintains and develops currentknowledge of evidence-based practice in each clinical area.

Responsible for the implementationand evaluation of capital and consumable equipment prior to purchase to ensurethe equipment fulfils both service requirements and budget restrictions.

Frequently undertakes collection ofdata for use in audit, research projects and equipment testing.

Regularly undertakes clinical trialsinvolving new and emerging technologies.

Regularly provides training in highlyspecialist physiological techniques to staff members including specialistphysiologists and medical staff.

Collaborates with the Service Managertowards changes that may impact the wider service provision.

Organisational

Ability to prioritise and organisethe clinical caseload within a designated area of Cardiorespiratory. Includesplanning and organisation of expected and acute workload and deployment of morejunior staff within that area.

Accountable for the delivery and dayto day management of the delegated area of responsibility within theirspeciality.

Other

Demonstrates the ability toprioritise and organise the clinical caseload within a designated area ofCardiorespiratory. Includes planning and organisation of expected and acuteworkload and deployment of more junior staff within that area.

To be able to exercise initiative asan autonomous practitioner in specialist areas of the CardiorespiratoryDepartment. The individual uses his/her discretion to re-adjust plans as theclinical situation/need of the patient changes.

Lead specialist in own clinicalfield, demonstrating highly specialist in-depth knowledge and theory.

Communicates with all members of themultidisciplinary team to ensure the best possible care for the patient.Including giving detailed advice to other specialist professions which willinfluence patient care/outcomes. Communication skills including:

- Negotiating, , with physicianswho demand investigations not achievable within the service limitations.

- Reassurance, , to patients whoare anxious about their clinical findings.

- Persuasiveness, , to youngchildren who are scared to undergo clinical procedures.

Immediate Life Support trainingessential during procedures performed on acutely ill patients and those at veryhigh risk of sudden cardiac death.

To communicate information aboutspecialist investigations to patients and relatives/carers including childrenand those with learning and/or physical disabilities.

Performs, analyses and interprets awide range of highly specialist and complex investigations, , Pacemakerfollow-up, Transthoracic echocardiography, physiologist led exercise testingand complex respiratory testing , challenge testing, fitness to flyassessments, blood gases Generates factual reports that are documented inpatient clinical notes and/or on relevant databases and directly used toinfluence patient management. These sources are used to aid audit andcompilation of statistical information

Has highly developed level of sensoryskills and good hand to eye co-ordination in order to immediately analyse andrespond to complex life-threatening physiological signs. Followinginterpretation of these the Physiologist uses judgemental skills in order tomake instantaneous decisions about further patient care.

Has a high level of manual dexteritywith enhanced precision and timing skills in order to ensure the accurateapplication of a range of diagnostic tools, , measurement of cardiacintervals to the nearest millisecond during electrophysiology studies (EPS).

Expected to undertake informaltraining by means of periodic in-house assessments.

Is forced to deal with confrontationfrom industry representatives who can be demanding and intrusive.

Tocomply with the Trusts manual handling policy at all times.

Person Specification

Skills and behaviours

Essential

Multi disciplinary teamwork Flexibility Empathy

Desirable

Experience in workflow management

Experience

Essential

Significant experience at band 6 level with BSE Accreditation level 2 Proven experience and expert knowledge in Echocardiography and competency to perform a full range of advanced Echocardiographic procedures Has delivered/participated in formal theoretical and/or practical training in Echocardiography

Desirable

Experience in Echocardiographic support for Interventional Cardiology Active involvement with the BSE

Qualifications

Essential

STP/MSc Clinical Physiology or ETP/PGCert in Echocardiography or BSc in Cardiac Clinical Physiology or HNC MPPM with qualifying long service Registration with AHCS, HCPC, RCCP Adult BSE Accreditation level 2 and active membership

Desirable

Leadership qualification

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