Rotating Radiotherapy Radiographer

Job overview

The post holder will be part of the team rotating through the pre-treatment and treatment areas of Radiotherapy and will work to support the team leaders of the highly complex treatment units, CT planning unit, brachytherapy unit or pre-treatment liaison area.

The post holder will be required to undertake and manage all aspects of the workload as part of the team and be responsible, under their scope of practice, for the planning, treatment and care of patients undergoing Radiotherapy. Provide daily supervision and training to students and visitors.

Additionally the post holder works closely with Radiotherapy Physicists, Technicians, Oncologists, Dieticians, Speech Therapists, Nurses, Admin staff ,other Radiographers and other professional groups to provide a thorough, efficient service encompassing all aspects of accurate Radiotherapy treatment delivery and patient care.

Will actively participate in clinical trials and in house research.

This post is suitable for students to apply who are currently in full time study and due to qualify in 2025. For successful candidates who are awaiting HCPC registration you will be paid at Band 4 until fully registered.

***Preference will be given to internal Trust staff, as well as ‘Priority’ and 'At Risk' status including NHS At Risk staff throughout Devon who are able to display recent relevant experience as dictated by the Person Specification.**

1. Provide safe and accurate specialist technical service delivering therapeutic ionising radiation, while maintaining a high duty of care to all patients undergoing Radiotherapy
2. Demonstrate effective patient management encompassing all patients’ needs, using specialist knowledge of treatment side effects, skin reactions and their management.
3. Maintain specialist knowledge of ARIA to enable autonomous registration, review and decision making on patients Electronic Portal Images used to verify the patient position.
4. Maintain a specialist knowledge of ARIA requiring the individual to input, and be a final check for patient data and plan parameters to be used for Radiotherapy treatment.
5. To communicate and participate with the multi-disciplinary team involved in patient care and service delivery.
6. Ensure all new patients receive departmental information and documentation on radiotherapy prior to treatment e.g. consent and pre-treatment review.
7. Maintain specialist knowledge of pre-treatment procedures to provide safe and accurate pre-treatment planning service, ensuring a high quality of care to all patients.
8. May participate in HDR preparation and delivery.
9. Provide a supportive and confidential environment for patients, carers and junior staff.
10. Provide daily support for terminally ill and very distressed patients, of all ages, and their relatives.
11. Participate in departmental on-call service.
12. Work flexible hours, participate in Bank holiday working. and work overtime as required.

Working for our organisation

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A NEW CHALLENGE?

At Plymouth Oncology Centre we value our staff group and appreciate that valued staff work better as a team and are intrinsically motivated to deliver the best quality care and treatment for our patients.

We are seeking applications from enthusiastic and highly dedicated therapeutic radiographers who would like to develop their knowledge, experience and skills in a forward thinking and technically advancing department.

We focus on giving our patients the best outcomes of care and an excellent experience whilst in our hospital which is supported by our high patient satisfaction feedback. By joining the team you will benefit from working as part of a friendly, well organised and social group.

We offer a diverse patient workload including Total Body Irradiation, DIBH techniques, Gynaecological Brachytherapy, Cranial SRS/T and lung SABR and SABR oligomets. This does offer plenty of learning and development opportunities for all staff members.

• GE Discovery Wide-bore model.
• 1 X TRUEBEAM
• 1X iX
• 1X Novalis
• 1X Gammamed plus brachytherapy unit

We have a dedicated team to head up our busy Radiotherapy Support Services area. We also have Radiographers who are trained in consent, radiographer led review and 2 independent non- medical prescribing radiographers.

We routinely support post graduate training for Radiographers, training and skills development, both in-house and through external courses.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical

1. To provide a safe and accurate specialist technical service delivering therapeutic ionising radiation, while maintaining a high duty of care to all patients undergoing Radiotherapy.
2. To support the team leader in the organisation of the patient workload and the keeping of accurate documentation.
3. Demonstrate ability to resolve treatment issues with problem solving skills and effective decision-making.
4. Undertake specialised calculations and complex planning data relating to patients treatment delivery.
5. To maintain a specialist knowledge of ARIA (the computerised system for treatment delivery and image management of patients.)
6. To demonstrate effective critical thinking to determine efficacy of treatment prescription, planned and non- planned treatments and departmental procedures.
7. Must maintain a high level of concentration at all times to deliver highly complex treatments with minimal tolerances.
8. To enter completed data onto the patients treatment sheet allowing correct transfer of treatment history into the patients hospital notes.

For a full list of roles and duties please attached Job Description.

Any queries regarding this post please use the contact details supplied.

Person specification

Knowledge & Experience

• Knowledge of a wide range of current Radiotherapy techniques and associated requirements for patient care
• Proven knowledge of treatment delivery and CT procedures
• Proven knowledge and understanding of the computer system used to deliver the treatment and record the patient’s history
• Proven knowledge of Cancer Pathology and disease patterns.
• Able to perform treatment set ups quickly and accurately, working to tight tolerances
• Awareness of IR(ME)R and IRR regulations and their implication for Radiotherapy practice
• Evidence of experience of managing patient side effects
• Knowledge of new developments in Radiotherapy treatment and the NHS Long Term Plan

• Demonstrable experience with Varian Equipment and ARIA
• Practical experience of working with IR(ME)R and IRR
• Practical experience of working within a clinical governance framework

Qualifications

• Degree in Therapeutic Radiography or equivalent DCR (T) or BSc (Hons)
• HCPC Registration Radiographer
• CPD

Aptitude & Abilities

• Must have very good level of English language skills both written and verbal. Overseas candidates must be able to demonstrate the ability to communicate in English to the required standard for the profession, equivalent to IELTS Level 7 with no element below 6.5.
• Ability to communicate complex information across professional boundaries (i.e. when resolving complex treatment issues concerning patient set-up, patient reactions, patient documentation, patient radiation dose prescription or changes required to achieve accurate patient treatment.)
• High level of concentration needed, must be able to concentrate when subject to unpredictable working patterns, whilst delivering highly complex and potentially damaging radiation treatment. (Interruptions by clinical staff or patients with requests or problems whilst treating another patient)
• Able to concentrate for prolonged periods of time when performing highly complex calculations, inputting patient treatment data into the treatment computer system, and when undertaking the final data check prior to the commencement of the patient’s radiation treatment.

• Ability to teach and educate other professional staff.
• Required to use computer systems and VDU equipment .use excel, word etc. to produce documents and spreadsheets for audit. Be able to extract the information and produce a post audit report.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL COMMUNICATION WILL BE ELECTRONIC, PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT REGULARLY INCLUDING YOUR JUNK FOLDER.

If you need support with the online application process or require reasonable adjustments with the application and/or interview process please contact the Recruiting Manager for this post.

We recognise that work life balance is important for our colleagues and so we invite requests from applicants about less than full time/flexible working for our advertised roles. We recommend contacting the manager of the role prior to applying and we commit to giving requests full consideration.

We welcome and encourage applicants who identify with all protected characteristics to apply for our roles. We believe that diversity strengthens our teams and improves our patients' experience. At UHP we aim to create an inclusive workplace and hospital where everyone feels they belong and included.

It is sometimes necessary to close vacancies before the closing date. If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume that you have not been shortlisted.

Providing false information is an offence & could result in the application being rejected or summary dismissal/police action if an applicant is successful.

This is an automated process & the information will only be used for these purposes prior to your taking up the position with us.

For Doctors Roles:

Unsolicited CVs and Candidate Profiles/Details

University Hospitals Plymouth has a commitment to sourcing candidates directly and as such we do not accept speculative CVs from agencies.

We do, however, work with a defined list of preferred HTE Framework suppliers who may be invited to support us in sourcing candidates for particular roles.

In line with our preferred supplier list, we only pay agency fees where we have a signed agreement in place and an agency has been instructed by a member of the Trust’s Medical Workforce team.

We do not pay agency fees where speculative and unsolicited CVs are submitted to the Trust or Trust employees by any other means than the official route above. Where this is not observed the Trust reserves the right to contact these candidates directly and initiate discussions without payment of any agency fee.

Any candidate details (whether written or spoken) or CVs that are referred directly will not constitute an introduction. The Trust will under no circumstances be responsible for any recruitment fees in relation to these contacts.

Submission of any unsolicited CVs, candidate’s details and/or proposals to the Trust will not be considered further and will be deemed evidence of full and unlimited acceptance of this Agency Protocol.

In order to establish and maintain good working relationships with the Trust’s agency suppliers, we ask that this Protocol is adhered to and thank you for your co-operation.