Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
This is an exciting opportunity for a highly skilled independently reporting BSE accredited echocardiographer to join the team at Torbay Hospital.
As the post holder, you will manage your own transthoracic echo lists in outpatient and inpatient settings and liaise with other healthcare professionals to provide reports and opinions. You will be comfortable working in acute settings as required.
Main Duties of the Job
You will support the Cardiac Ultrasound Service for Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust by providing a high standard of work within Echocardiography that meets organisational, professional, and individual needs for the Diagnostic Cardiology Unit.
You will undertake routine and complex diagnostic transthoracic echocardiography and cardiac ultrasound investigations and interpret results to provide an accurate clinical report that can be clearly understood by a physician not experienced in echocardiography and adheres to local and national guidelines.
About Us
We offer a 24/7 primary PCI service with the ability to perform rotablation, IVUS, pressure wires, and intra-aortic balloon pumps, as well as brady and complex pacing.
There is an 8-bedded coronary care unit, 8-bedded chest pain unit, and 14-bedded cardiology wards in this busy and expanding cardiac centre. We currently have 5 interventional cardiologists and 4 non-interventional cardiologists with a view to expanding to allow 7 days working.
The Echocardiography team currently consists of six BSE accredited Echocardiographers and three trainees. The team completes around 9500 scans per year on a mixture of inpatients and outpatients. The team provides several complex services including stress and contrast Echo and Physiologist-led TOE's.
Job Responsibilities
Communication and Working Relationships:
* Participate in regular meetings with the senior members of the department and other professionals to facilitate the exchange of information and ideas.
* Attend appropriate meetings/groups, feeding back to the Lead Echocardiographer.
* Provide formal written reports as and when required regarding formal assessment of staff skills and competency.
* Value the contributions and individuality of staff and team members.
* Listen to, communicate with, value, and acknowledge contributions from others.
* Communicate regularly with outpatients and inpatients (day case patients and ward stay patients) as the sole member of staff within a section and as part of a multidisciplinary team.
* Work closely with other members of the multidisciplinary team towards a common goal in team-oriented procedures.
Responsibility for Patients and Client Care:
* Provide support to specialist clinics and specialist treatment interventions.
* Provide appropriate clinical and scientific advice and interpretation of analytical results.
* Participate in multidisciplinary meetings.
* Apply and promote evidence-based practice and use of relevant clinical protocols and procedures.
* Ensure that all equipment used on patients and the public is handled and applied in accordance with health and safety requirements and other national or international guidelines.
* Ensure that the environment in which Cardiac Physiology Services take place is fit for purpose, clean, well ordered, and maintained.
Planning and Organisation:
* Manage your own workload and adapt to clinical change within the echocardiography environment.
* Demonstrate the ability to prioritise and organise the clinical caseload within a designated area of Cardiology, including the planning and organisation of expected and acute workload and deployment of more junior staff within that area.
* Commit to working within teams.
* In conjunction with the Lead Echocardiographer and other colleagues, ensure that appropriate staffing levels exist across the departments.
Responsibility and Accountability:
* Adhere to established policies and codes of practice.
* Attend mandatory training.
* Adhere to training guidelines set out by the British Society of Echocardiography.
* Recognise the significance of investigation findings and diagnosis and act on these accordingly.
Responsibility for Finance, Equipment, and Other Resources:
* Although this post holds no direct budgetary responsibility, an awareness of budgetary implications is essential.
* Evaluate and assess new technology and equipment prior to purchase in collaboration with the Lead Echocardiographer.
* Ensure safe and efficient use of equipment, resources, and consumables, always reporting any faults or breakages to the line manager.
Responsibility for Research and Development:
* Assist in research projects within the department when required.
* Assist with case presentations and audit data at departmental meetings.
* Monitor and audit quality and technical standards within your specialist area and implement changes as necessary alongside the Lead Echocardiographer to improve the service.
* Be involved in research trials, including the supervision and organisation of appropriate research within your own specialist area.
* Assist in the development of new and innovative procedures.
Person Specification
Knowledge and Experience
* Perform transthoracic echocardiograms to a high standard independently in accordance with BSE guidelines and department minimum standards.
* Demonstrate Continual Professional Development as per British Society of Echocardiography Guidelines.
* Experience in providing specialised, unsupervised diagnostic reports to an appropriate level and highlight urgent findings.
* Professional membership of a relevant professional body obtained by examination e.g., British Society of Echocardiography.
* Ability to deliver hands-on training and support junior members of staff, Specialist Registrars, or other medical professionals as required.
* Experience of providing a wide range of diagnostic investigations.
* Experience in supervision and assessment.
* Ability to work autonomously, coordinate, and prioritise.
* Some experience in specialty procedures e.g., Contrast/Stress TOE.
Qualifications and Training
* BSC Cardiac Physiology or relevant scientific subject or equivalent experience and appropriate underpinning knowledge and skills in cardiology.
* Professional registration with the Registration Council for Clinical Physiologists or Academy for Healthcare Science.
* British Society of Echocardiography Adult Proficiency Accreditation.
* MSC Cardiac Physiology or relevant scientific subject.
* Immediate Life Support.
* Teaching or Managerial Qualification/Experience.
* Experience in carrying out yearly appraisals for team members.
* Previous experience with 'section' responsibilities and developmental projects.
Specific Skills
* Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and spoken in English.
* Explain analytical, scientific, and clinical aspects of the work to a variety of people including scientific colleagues, clinical professionals, service managers, and patients and listen to their needs.
* Make formal presentations to groups of colleagues.
* Good active listening skills to build rapport with the listener to encourage an open discussion.
* Self-aware and flexible enough to adopt a range of evaluative or empathising listening styles according to the needs of the listener and the situation.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
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