Consultant - Nephrology

Job overview

The person appointed will be based at The New Royal Liverpool University Hospital site and will be joining a friendly and dedicated Nephrology Team.

Applicants are required to hold membership of the Royal College of Physicians or equivalent qualifications, to be fully registered with the General Medical Council and listed on the Specialist Register (or due to be registered within six months of the date of interview. They should have dual accreditation in Nephrology and General Internal Medicine. 

Appointee will join a team of 21 Nephrologists. A full range of renal replacement therapies are provided both on site and in satellite units and a comprehensive general nephrology service is supported by the Consultants.

Post will also support the existing renal replacement therapy or other speciality area in the service at the Aintree Hospital site.

There is a 1 in 20 commitment to the nephrology on-call rota.

Main duties of the job

The appointee will be based at the New Royal Liverpool University Hospital working along side a team of 21 Nephrologists. 

Following the opening of the New Royal Hospital in October 2022, the Nephrology in-patient bed base relocated and was consolidated across two wards in the Royal New Hospital. The Nephrology  in-patient bed base has 42 beds (includes 8 renal regional HDU) and is co-located with Renal Transplant surgery who have 14 beds.  The new model ensures that ALL complex renal patients in the region (transplant, dialysis, AKI needing organ support, complex immunosuppression) have equitable access 24/7 to a bespoke MDT Tertiary unit.  

The appointee will have a commitment to the provision of general nephrology, specialist nephrology and acute medical services.

The timetable is based on a 10 PA job plan including two supporting PAs

The fixed clinical sessions will include a weekly transplant clinic, two general nephrology clinics per week and a procedural session, The sessions will be agreed with the post holder after appointment to reflect their specialist interests and service requirements. 

The post holder will have an on-call commitment 1:20 on pro rota basis. The hot blocks on the wards occur on weeks 1,2 and 11in a 20-week cycle.

There will be an expectation to attend and proactively commit to on-going improvements across the departmental meetings. 

Please see full details within Job Description. 

Working for our organisation

Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was created on 1 October 2019 following the merger of two adult acute Trusts, Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust.

The merger provides an opportunity to reconfigure services in a way that provides the best healthcare services to the city and improves the quality of care and health outcomes that patients experience.

The Trust runs Aintree University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital, Liverpool University Dental Hospital and the Royal Liverpool University Hospital.

It serves a core population of around 630,000 people across Merseyside as well as providing a range of highly specialist services to a catchment area of more than two million people in the North West region and beyond.

To hear more about our achievements click here https://www.liverpoolft.nhs.uk/media/13089/1606-annual-report-booklet_final.pdf

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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Department of Nephrology

Following the opening of the New Royal Hospital in October 2022, the Nephrology in-patient bed base relocated and was consolidated across two wards in the Royal New Hospital. The Nephrology  in-patient bed base has 42 beds (includes 8 renal regional HDU) and is co-located with Renal Transplant surgery who have 14 beds.  The new model ensures that ALL complex renal patients in the region (transplant, dialysis, AKI needing organ support, complex immunosuppression) have equitable access 24/7 to a bespoke MDT Tertiary unit.  

The Nephrology footprint extends beyond LUHFT’s sites; the LUHFT renal team provide all aspects of kidney care - Acute Kidney Injury (AKI); Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD); Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT); Constructive management of patients who choose not to have dialysis/transplant; and transplantation across Merseyside, including parts of Cheshire (Population c.1.06m).  The Renal Transplant Unit provides services to the Wirral and North Wales (Population 2.5m).  The service is currently provided at Aintree Hospital, the Royal Liverpool & Broadgreen hospitals and offers a number of satellite units.

The Regional Renal unit has a 33 stationed dialysis unit in the lower ground floor, with 8 bedded HDU unit in ward 7C and another 21 dialysis plumbed rooms between the wards 7C and 7B .

In response to the NCEPOD Report there is a robust and responsive strategy for management of acute kidney injury (AKI) both within the Trust and in outlying Trusts with an integrated alert programme highlighting new cases of AKI. There are satellite dialysis units at Broadgreen Hospital, St Helens Hospital, Warrington Hospital, Halton Hospital , Waterloo dialysis unit and Southport hospital. . Clinical Governance for these patients rests wholly within the Royal Liverpool University Hospital Nephrology Directorate, within the Divisional and Trust structure for clinical governance and risk management.

The Renal Transplant Unit (RTU) serves Merseyside, North Wales and the Isle of Man. The transplant team performs 100 renal transplants per year with a planned programme to increase to 120 per year. This includes an active living door transplant programme and a comprehensive programme involving both non-heart beating donation and ABO incompatible donor transplants. Major investment here recently includes the agreed planned expansion of Consultant Transplant Surgeon numbers from 4 to 5. All Consultant Nephrologists when On-call have a commitment to nephrology consultations in the RTU. As per national recommendation patients who have been transplanted for more than 12 months are transferred back to Nephrology and are seen in dedicated post-transplant follow up clinic. We also attend acute transplant clinics and perform in-patient transplant reviews.

There are excellent opportunities and facilities for research within the Trust. The present areas of interest within the Renal Unit are diverse and include inhouse research capabilities along with involvement in various national and international studies.

We are committed to submitting data to the UK Renal Registry and pursue the standards set in the National Service Framework, NICE, Renal Association standards and agreed yearly CQUINS with commissioners. There is a robust quality assurance management programme with regular MDT meetings and audit reviews

Services:

Along with General Nephrology Clinic, we provide several sub specialist clinics including Immunosuppression Clinic, Renal transplant follow up clinic, Advanced Kidney care clinic, Dialysis clinic, Conservative Management Clinic, Polycystic Kidney Disease Clinic, Renal pregnancy clinic, Tuberous sclerosis clinic, Diabetic renal clinic, Myeloma clinic. In addition, we run sub-specialist MDTs including Genomic MDT, Transplant MDT, Vasculitis/GN MDT. 

 Job plan

The appointee, together with his or her colleagues, will have a commitment to the provision of general nephrology, specialist nephrology and acute medical services.

The timetable is based on a 10 PA job plan including two supporting PAs

The fixed clinical sessions will include a weekly transplant clinic, two general nephrology clinics weekly and a procedural session, These sessions will be agreed with the post holder after appointment to reflect their specialist interests and service requirements. 

The oncall commitment is 1:20 on pro rota basis. The hot blocks on the wards occur on weeks 1,2 and 11in a 20-week cycle.

There are 1.5 core SPAs identified in the job plan to reflect time required for audit, mortality reviews, appraisal, and revalidation activity. A further 0.5 SPA will be allocated for a specific role within the department. This will be agreed with the post holder after appointment to reflect their specialist interests and service requirements. Additional DCC PAs may be available by mutual consent to meet departmental or organisational requirements.  The job plan will be reviewed six months after appointment and annually thereafter. Teaching and supervision of trainees will be an essential role of the post holder.  Level 2 training will be provided for the appointee to be an Educational / Clinical Supervisor if they have not already obtained such training. 

The appointee is expected to attend and proactively commit to ongoing improvements in Vascular Access MDT meetings, Renal Biopsy meetings, Clinical Directorate and Governance meetings and Transplant MDT meeting.

To receive acute referrals from Merseyside and Cheshire while on-call as part of the on-call consultant rota.

 

-The post holder would be expected to actively take part in audit, teaching and research.  The Unit has contributed to the Renal Registry since 2002.

-It is envisaged that the post holder would provide Consultant level nephrology cover for the Regional Renal Transplant Unit whilst on-call and support any future developments in the working patterns with the transplant team.

-The post holder will have continuing responsibility for the care of patients in his or her charge and for the proper functioning of the service.

-It is expected that the job involves educational and clinical supervision of junior doctors, specialist nurses and teaching commitments to medical students from university of Liverpool.

-The post holder will help in delivering directorate goals related to financial, clinical governance and QEP. Post holder will be subject to performance management through service line reporting.

At the Royal Liverpool University Hospital there are regular specialist and inter-disciplinary meetings including a weekly MDT radiology meeting, a bimonthly renal biopsy meeting. There is a regular lunchtime meeting and a Grand Round, which is open to staff of all specialties. There is a state-of-the-art education centre on site with excellent resources and personnel.

 Job Plan & Timetable (While not on ward hot blocks and on call)

Hot blocks occur on week 1,2 and 11 in a 20 week cycle

 

Day	09:00 – 13:00	13:00 – 17:00	17:00 – 22:00
Monday	Transplant clinic	Admin
Tuesday	SPA	Admin/ A&G
Wednesday	TBC	TBC
Thursday	SPA	General nephrology clinic
Friday	Procedure clinic	Admin
Saturday
Sunday

 

Please see attached Job Description for full details 

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• MB ChB or equivalent medical qualification
• MRCP (UK) or equivalent
• CCT in acute medicine or GIM (General Internal Medicine) (or within 6 months)

Desirable criteria

• Additional post-graduate qualifications

Language Skills

Essential criteria

• All applicants to have demonstrable skills in written and spoken English that are adequate to enable effective communication about medical topics with patients and colleagues

Clinical Skills

Essential criteria

• Clinical Knowledge & Expertise
• Appropriate knowledge base and ability to apply sound clinical judgement to problems
• Demonstrates the necessary range, depth and breadth of competencies specified in the acute and general medicine curriculum and applying to this post

Academic & Research Skills

Essential criteria

• Research Skills: Demonstrates ability to undertake robust audit/research within team structure
• Teaching Skills: Demonstrates range of teaching techniques relevant to variety of curricula

Desirable criteria

• Degrees, awards, presentations, publications
• Evidence of teaching and assessment skills

Personal Skills

Essential criteria

• Communication Skills: Demonstrates clarity in written/spoken communication & capacity to adapt language as appropriate to the situation. Able to build rapport, listen, persuade & negotiate
• Problem Solving & Decision Making: Capacity to use logical/lateral thinking to solve problems/make decisions
• Managing Others & Team Involvement: Capacity to work effectively with others. Able to work in multi-professional teams & supervise junior medical staff
• Empathy & Sensitivity: Capacity to take in others’ perspectives and treat others with understanding; sees patients as people
• Organisation & Planning: Capacity to manage/prioritise time and information effectively. Capacity to prioritise own workload. Basic IT skills
• Vigilance & Situational Awareness: Capacity to monitor developing situations and anticipate issues
• Coping with Pressure: Capacity to operate under pressure. Demonstrates initiative & resilience to cope with changing circumstances

Desirable criteria

• Leadership/manage ment/QI qualifications

Please ensure you check the email account (including junk/spam boxes) from which you apply regularly as we will use this to contact you regarding your application. 

Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview. 

We reserve the right to close any vacancies from further applications when we have received a minimum number of applications from which to make a shortlist. Please ensure you apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role. 

Candidates applying for the role of Healthcare Assistant on the staff bank  should note that due to the nature of the role,  workers must be aged 18 or above when commencing in post. Applicants are therefore welcome from those aged over 18 or within 3 months’ of their 18th birthday.

The Trust is committed to promoting a healthy work-life balance and achieve fair, equitable and consistent practice. We welcome flexible working requests and will consider a variety of flexible working arrangements from day one of your employment. Not all roles are suitable for every flexible working opportunity all of the time. Flexible working options may include reduced hours, compressed hours, fixed shifts, time back in lieu and home working.

The Trust is committed to promoting equality and diversity; we value the contribution of individual talent, skills, knowledge and experience and aim for a workforce demography representative of the local community. We encourage applicants from the following groups that are currently under-represented in our workforce black, Asian and minority ethnic, lesbian, gay, bisexual and Transgender (LGBTQ+), disabled, male and age 16-24.

Trust policy requires that the cost of submitting & processing the successful applicant/s DBS application be recovered via salary deduction following start in post. The amount of £18+£5 (standard disclosure) or £38+£5 (enhanced disclosure) will be deducted from salary, in manageable monthly instalments for up to 3 months following commencement of employment. Bank posts require upfront payment. 

From April 2017, Skilled visa applicants and their adult dependant(s) will be required to provide a criminal record certificate from each country they have lived in consecutively for 12 months or more in the past ten years.

Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.

This organisation has a zero-tolerance approach to the abuse of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All staff must ensure they adhere to the organisations safeguarding children and adults’ policy and comply with the Local Safeguarding Children and Adult Board procedures.

Staff should be mindful of their responsibility to safeguard children and adults in any activity performed on behalf of the organisation in line with the requirements of statutory guidance and legislation.

All employees (and volunteers)are expected maintain their safeguarding knowledge and skills by completing mandatory safeguarding training which includes understanding and recognising the signs of abuse and neglect and taking appropriate action.

As an organisation, we have adopted the Merseyside Domestic abuse workplace scheme which supports our staff who are experiencing Domestic Abuse /any forms of sexual violence.

If you have any personal requirements that will enable you to participate in our recruitment process please contact a member of the Recruitment Services by phone on at the earliest opportunity to ensure that measures can be put in place to enable your application for this post. 

Please note: new entrants to the NHS will commence on the first paypoint of the relevant band.