Lead Clinical Scientist Treatment Planning - Radiotherapy Physics

Lead Clinical Scientist Treatment Planning - Radiotherapy Physics
Employer
East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust
Location
Northwood
Salary
£50,952 to £57,349 per annum pro rata + High Cost Area Supplement
Closing date
23 May 2024
We are recruiting for a Lead Clinical Scientist who will work across Treatment Planning and Brachytherapy who shares our vision to be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service to our patients.The Radiotherapy Physics department provides a specialist technical radiotherapy physics service to the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, contributing to safe treatment of patients for radiotherapy. It is responsible for ensuring the accurate calibration, according to national recommendations, of all radiotherapy treatment machines and providing a routine quality control service for all equipment used inplanning, verifying and treating radiotherapy patients.We are at an exciting time with the recent purchase of 2 Halcyons and an Ethos that will be delivered and commissioned during 2024. These machines come with Hypersight and Identify, enabling the accurate visulisation of stereotactic targets. We will also be retrofitting one of our TrueBeam linacs with Hyperarc and Identify.The aim of this post is to act as a lead physicist within the Treatment planning and brachytherapy sections.This post is split with approximately 50% of the time in treatment planning and 50% of time in brachytherapy, other rotations may be considered for suitable applicants.Our Values are Include, Respect and Improve. It is important that you understand and refer to our values during your recruitment process and beyond!Main duties of the jobTo perform treatment planning and checking the department.To provide appropriate training for physics and radiography staff with respect to treatment planning and to assist in the assessment of staff competency for staff both within the physics team and beyond.Liaise with clinical staff about complex treatment plans and support the development of complex techniquesYou will line manage staff this may include some supervision of STP trainees and those on route 2.Many applicants at Band 8A are looking to complete their MPE portfolio within the next year and we are happy to support you with that. There are plenty of opportunities to gain experience that would contribute to an MPE portfolio and senior staff within the team will be available to provide encouragement and ideas.At this stage of your career you may be looking to increase your management skills and the trust offers a number of training opportunities in this respect. These include healthy leadership, the Mary Seacole programme and the Edward Jenner programme. You will have plenty of opportunities to manage staff as the department is currently accredited for STP training and also has a number of staff Route 2. The department is supported by the regional medical physics training lead who can provide additional training for training officers to complement that provided by the national school.About usAt East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, we are proud of the range of general & specialist services we provide & our 6,000 or so dedicated staff ensure our patients get the best care. Our ability to be flexible & innovative in the way in which we work and deliver our services to our catchment has never been more important than it is now.We run the following hospitals:The Lister Hospital, StevenageNew Queen Elizabeth II (New QEII), Welwyn Garden CityHertford County, HertfordMount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC), NorthwoodWe have ambitious plans to become an outstanding, patient-led Trust where dedicated staff provide high-quality, compassionate care to our patients. We continue to undergo significant transformation our staff & patients are at the heart of delivering this ambitious agenda.We understand that finding and starting a new job is an important life decision. If you need reasonable adjustments for a disability, or a life event, such as menopause - so that we can consider your application fairly & to get the best out of you during the selection process, please let us know.We are committed to a positive work life balance for our employees. Employees are entitled to seek to work flexible working patterns & we are committed to listen and consider all requests. Such requests, of course, have to be made & considered formally, & will need to be balanced against service needs, but our starting point will always be to find ways to support making them happen.Job descriptionJob responsibilitiesENHT is seeking to maintain and expand the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre staff as we move to an exciting new future.We welcome applications from those who would relish the opportunity to be part of new and developing cancer service, building on the excellent reputation, research and patient experience the Cancer Centre already delivers.In addition, you will receive a High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of your basic salary, subject to a minimum payment of 4,314 and a maximum payment of 5,436 per annum pro rata.Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification applicant pack for further detailed information regarding this role.Person SpecificationEducation and QualificationsEssentialGood (1st or 2nd class) honours degree in a relevant subjectRelevant MSc or higher degreeCompletion of scientist training program or equivalent experienceHCPC registeredGood written and spoken EnglishMPE registration or within 1 year of submission of portfolioExperienceEssentialSignificant experience in Radiotherapy Physics including: analysing and judging treatment options, identifying problems with patient-related equipment, exercising judgement to solve problems and making decisions on how equipment is to be used safely and correctly, all usually under time-pressureSpecialist training and practical experience in the use and calibration of radiotherapy equipment (including linear accelerators and treatment planning computers), specialist test and measurement equipment and dosimetry equipment calibration.Significant experience in planning and checking complex patients treatment plans in one of brachytherapy, external beam or stereotactic radiotherapy (as appropriate to the post)Team LeadershipDesirableExperience in planning and checking patients treatment plans in an additional area from brachytherapy, external beam or stereotactic radiotherapyExperience of imaging modalities other than CTKnowledgeEssentialBroad knowledge of radiation and associated areas within Medical Physics.Highly developed, specialist level of theoretical and practical knowledge across the full range of working procedures and practices within Radiotherapy Physics.Advanced theoretical and practical knowledge of Radiotherapy equipment, dosimetry and treatment planning, including sufficient knowledge and experience to act as a Medical Physics Expert in Radiotherapy Physics.Advanced theoretical and practical knowledge of relevant legislation, national standards, professional and other guidelines, including IRR, IR(ME)R ISO9001-200, other relevant BSI and ISO standards, professional and regulatory body reports and guidelines.Knowledge and ability to understand and use to their full extent a range of computerised treatment planning systems, including knowledge of treatment planning system algorithms and areas where their limitations may affect clinical decisions Understanding of patient and staff risks arising from treatment planning computer system errors, equipment failure, treatment errors and incorrect dosimetryUnderstanding of patient and staff risks arising from treatment planning computer system errors, equipment failure, treatment errors and incorrect dosimetrySkills and AbilitiesEssentialAble to use judgement involving facts that require analysis, interpretation and comparison of a range of options as, for example, in analysing the results of scientific measurements or treatment plans, which may conflict, and deciding upon an appropriate course of action.Able to supervise projects and small groups of staff.Able to prioritise and manage own workHighly developed physical accuracy and dexterity, for making precision measurements and adjustments on equipment, often under time pressure to ensure radiotherapy equipment is returned to clinical use as soon as possible.Use of fine tools for equipment adjustmentAble to lift large, cumbersome medium/heavy weights on occasion (e.g. test instruments, measuring equipment and calibration jigs onto radiotherapy equipment)Able to concentrate when subject to constantly unpredictable working patterns (e.g. when interrupted to provide urgent advice affecting patients' treatments).Able to concentrate for prolonged periods in safetycritical areas (e.g. carrying out or analysing radiation measurements or checking patients treatment plans)Able to use Excel, Word, Access etc. to set up documents and spreadsheets and extract information.Able to design, develop and adapt software solutions to meet the needs of radiotherapy physics and radiotherapyAble to exercise own initiative when dealing with issues within own specialist area of competence.Able to communicate highly complex information e.g. advice to consultant oncologists on patient treatment options, equipment status or operation to other professional groups.Able to present scientific papers at national and international conferences.Able to train groups of other professional staff.Able to deliver teaching and training on complex Radiotherapy Physics-related subjects.Expected to act independently, without supervision, within professional guidelines, but can refer to his manager where necessary. The individual's manager assesses work at intervalsEvidence of team leadership and an ability to motivate staffEvidence of CPDAble to deal with occasional distressing circumstances when working with terminally ill patients in RadiotherapyGood negotiation skills with staff and suppliers to optimise Radiotherapy Physics servicesAble to deal with complex and unpredictable situations affecting patient treatmentsOther RequirementsEssentialExperience and evidence of engagement around equality, diversity and inclusion issues in relation to policy, service development and service delivery in respect of both services to users and the management of staffRole model our Trust values every dayFlexible regarding working hoursWilling to work different hours (Radiotherapy on call & shifts between 7am and 9pm, including occasional weekend work)Employer detailsEmployer nameEast and North Herts NHS TrustAddressMount Vernon Cancer CentreRickmansworth RoadNorthwoodHA6 2RNAny attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.361-CAN-6252559 Create a job alert and receive personalised job recommendations straight to your inbox.
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