Consultant Clinical Scientist and Head of Christie Nuclear Medicine

Job overview

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced clinical scientist to become our next head of nuclear medicine physics service. This is an opportunity to lead one of the foremost Nuclear Medicine services in the UK. The Nuclear Medicine service at the Christie:

1. Provides a comprehensive clinical service to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust from a Nuclear Medicine clinic and Radiopharmacy run as part of the medical physics department.
2. Runs a regional service to other trusts in the area.
3. Provides PET/CT services at the Christie and supports PET nationwide through a contract with Alliance Medical.

Main duties of the job

Candidates must have:

1. Relevant Management experience in a complex scientific service.
2. Evidence of providing complex scientific advice at MPE level.
3. In depth knowledge of current practice and the ability to plan the future of the Nuclear Medicine service.
4. State registration as a Clinical Scientist.

For full details please see the job description and person specification.

Working for our organisation

Our department houses a radiopharmacy, two SPECTCT-capable gamma cameras, a PETCT suite, and facilities for both outpatient and inpatient radionuclide therapy. The Nuclear Medicine service is supported by the complimentary skills and expertise of radiopharmacists, radiopharmacy technicians, clinical technologists, medical physicists, physics technicians, nurses, healthcare assistants, and a dedicated administration team.

Nuclear Medicine at The Christie also supports a number of Nuclear Medicine departments throughout the north-west of England and beyond, by supplying radioactive tracers and providing scientific advice on radiation safety and best practice.

The Nuclear Medicine team at The Christie pride ourselves on a friendly, inclusive and collaborative approach to delivering the very best service to our patients and driving forward improvements that will lead to better diagnosis and treatment in the future.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

You will be an experienced Medical Physics Expert (MPE) in nuclear medicine physics able to provide highly specialist advice to the Trust utilising your expertise and experience in the safe and effective delivery of procedures to patients and in particular the resolution of complex or unusual problems in the delivery of the service.

Your key responsibilities will be to manage staff and resources within the Nuclear Medicine group, to ensure that Nuclear Medicine procedures are delivered accurately, safely, and in a timely fashion; to oversee development of the facilities and workforce to keep pace with current innovations in the field; and to support the development of Nuclear Medicine regionally and nationally through engagement with research, innovation and healthcare education initiatives.

1. Management of The Christie Nuclear Medicine Service
2. 1. Leads, manages and directs the provision of all diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine services to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.
3. 2. Ensures that the services provided are of the highest quality by:–

• Keeping services under review and identifying need to change; revising / introducing new services as necessary.
• Keeping abreast of developments in the field of Nuclear Medicine and ensuring that appropriate developments are implemented in clinical practice.
• Being responsible for the specification, evaluation, purchase and on-going operation of equipment, including high capital value imaging and radioactive counting equipment; and for identification of equipment needs in order to maintain and improve the quality of the service provided.
• Leading and managing the scientific staff providing this service; involves preparation of staff rotas, managing holidays and monitoring sickness leave.
• Identifying need and recruiting new staff by preparing job adverts, short-listing, interviewing candidates and selecting suitable appointees
• Ensuring that all staff are fully trained in all aspects of their work, and are up to date with the Trust’s mandatory training programmes
• Ensuring that work instructions and procedures are provided for the activities of the department.
• Close liaison with clinical colleagues across the trust.

1. Management of the Nuclear Medicine Group
2. 1. Works with the Group Leader to co-ordinate and manage the Group’s services in:-

• Setting the scientific direction and priorities of the service.
• Managing the allocation of resources (staff and facilities) to fulfil the needs of the service.

1. Research
2. 1. Participates in management and direction of research into unsealed source therapy and related topics. This includes:-

• Working closely with clinical colleagues at the Christie to develop new clinical projects, and writing submissions for research grant applications, ethical committees, and research ARSAC licences
• Working closely with clinical colleagues at the Christie to undertake clinical trials
• Developing research collaborations with research groups elsewhere
• Ensuring that all research undertaken fulfils the requirements of research governance

1. 2. Contributes to the research portfolio of the group. The work involves:-

• Scrutinising research opportunities as they arise  Identifying new areas of research

1. Physics for Nuclear Medicine
2. 1. Manipulates and accurately dispenses both radioactive and non-radioactive materials for patient administration, either orally or by intravenous injection. This may be for diagnosis or therapy. It may also be given as part of a research or clinical trial protocol.
3. 2. Participates in the general scientific input to the Nuclear Medicine service as needed
4. 3. Advises colleagues, radiologists and referring clinicians in difficult or unusual cases
5. 4. Carries out advanced and complex mathematical calculations for both Nuclear Medicine imaging analysis techniques and clinical radiation dosimetry, especially for new unsealed source treatments.
6. Radiation Protection
7. 1. Provides radiation protection advice concerning patients, staff and members of the public, within the policies and procedures existing within CMPE, in order for the Trust to comply with legislation on the use of radioactive materials in medicine
8. 2. Participates in formulating and writing such policies and procedures, taking the lead role where they apply to unsealed source therapy
9. 3. Advises senior Trust managers, business managers, Consultant Radiologists, clinical scientists, radiographers and clinical technologists on radiation protection matters
10. 4. Advises Consultant Clinicians on the licensing requirements for the administration of radioactive substances to patients
11. 5. Works with the RPA to advise planning teams for building projects relevant to facilities for diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine with respect to radiation protection and operational requirements
12. 6. Represents the department at the Christie Trust Radiation Protection and Medical Exposures Committee
13. Teaching and Training
14. 1. Lectures on all aspects of nuclear medicine and radiation protection to other staff groups, such as specialist registrars, nurses and clinical technologists
15. 2. Supervises staff in training, including clinical scientists on training grades and clinical technologists
16. Professional
17. 1. Maintains state registration as a Clinical Scientist.
18. 2. Participates in a continuous professional development programme.
19. 3. Keeps abreast of new techniques, technological developments and legislative changes.
20. 4 Demonstrates the agreed set of values and accountable for own attitude and behaviour

Person specification

Qualifications

• 1st or 2nd class Honours degree in Physics or a related subject
• Qualified to PhD level and/or equivalent experience
• State-registered clinical scientist

• Accredited RPA, as defined under IRR17, and certificated RWA as defined in EPR

Experience

• Substantial experience in providing scientific support to Nuclear Medicine at Band 8b (or equivalent) or above
• Extensive experience in Diagnostic Nuclear Medicine, well above that required for classification as a Medical Physics Expert under IRMER
• Extensive experience of Unsealed Source therapy
• Record of publication and presentation of own research or development work

• Project management
• Service management

Skills

• Able to motivate self and others
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
• Excellent organisational skills
• Ability to work productively and communicate effectively with colleagues at all levels of the organisation and with patients and their relatives and carers

Values

• Ability to demonstrate the organisational values and behaviours

Other

• Must be able to drive to sites occasionally

The closing date for this post may be extended if there are insufficient applicants or brought forward if there is a high volume of applicants.

In support of these commitments, we particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority people and people with disabilities for this post. Appointment will be only on merit.

We are committed to creating a balanced and diverse workforce. As such we welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. Together we will foster inclusion and tackle inequity and health inequalities in cancer care.

As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy

All positions within the Christie are subject to the receipt of satisfactory written references, medical clearance and evidence of your Right to Work in the UK. Some roles will require a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check. Please note if you are successfully appointed to a post with this Trust, you will be required to pay for your own DBS Disclosure.

Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there.

If you have not heard from us within four weeks of the closing date, I regret that on this occasion your application will have been unsuccessful.

The Inter-Authority Transfer (IAT) process is a critical and beneficial component of ESR and will form part of the recruitment process. In the event that you are successful following interview your previous NHS employment data, if applicable will be transferred from your current / most recent employer.

Overseas candidates wishing to apply for this position and who would require immigration sponsorship, may wish to self-assess the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for the post on the UKVI website.

You should be aware the Trust operates a No Smoking Policy and therefore employees are not permitted to smoke at work.