The Northern Centre for Cancer Care (NCCC) is looking to appoint a Consultant Clinical Scientist as a replacement for its retiring Head of Regional Radiotherapy Physics services based in Newcastle.

We're looking for a well-motivated, highly experienced and nationally recognised radiotherapy physicist to direct and manage the delivery of the radiotherapy physics and technology services to the Cancer Centres in Newcastle and Carlisle.

This management position within NCCC/NCCC-NC involves the full range of management accountabilities including day-to-day operational management of the departments in both Newcastle and North Cumbria.

This post is responsible for teams across both departments incorporating approximately 25 Clinical Scientist, 7 Clinical Technologists, 10 Radiation Engineers and 25 Dosimetrists.

• Interview date: 15th December 2023
• 37 hours 30 minutes /week
• You will be redirected to Trac to apply for the vacancy. Please expand the job details section and read all of the information before applying for the vacancy

Main duties of the job

• Directs, manages and ensures the delivery of the radiotherapy physics and technology services to the Cancer Centres in Newcastle and Carlisle.
• Provides leadership and expert advice to other clinical scientists within radiotherapy physics
• Provides regional professional leadership in the area of expertise.
• Commissions, maintains and develops high standards of service provision throughout radiotherapy physics and technology for the Cancer Centres.
• Develops implements and monitors clinical and organisational strategies within radiotherapy physics and technology for the Cancer Centres and monitors and reviews the achievements and results on an ongoing basis.
• Initiates, develops and delivers clinical research and development activities for the Cancer Centres.
• To provide physics advice and services as appropriate using expert knowledge, for the management and development of all Radiotherapy Physics activities required to support the Radiotherapy Department. The post holder takes overall responsibility for determining, interpreting and implementing policy, legislation and guidelines for providing highly complex Radiotherapy Physics Services.

About us

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest, largest and most successful teaching NHS foundation trusts in the country, with over 18,000 staff and an annual income of �1 billion.

We have a long history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence, and innovation in medical research regionally, nationally and internationally.

We're also proud to be the second largest provider of specialised services in the country. This means we support people with a range of rare and complex medical, surgical and neurological conditions, cancers and genetic orders.

Our staff oversee around 1.84 million patients 'contacts' each year, delivering high standards of healthcare.

Please see attached information on what Staff Benefits we have to offer at our Trust.

We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and is equipped to deliver the best service to our patients. We welcome all applications irrespective of people's race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.

Job description

Job responsibilities

We have 9 Varian TrueBeams, 2 Tomotherapy units, 3 CT Scanners, 1 SXT unit and 1 HDR brachytherapy unit across our two sites, all within an Aria environment. We are one of the few radiotherapy centres with a dedicated MR scanner and are leading nationally in the delivery of MR only planning solutions. External beam treatment planning is carried out using the RayStation and Elements systems. Plans are checked using Radcalc and Mobius systems and transit IVD is in routine clinical use. We are fully utilising AI auto-contouring and are leading nationally on the NHS England ProKnow evaluation.

NCCC treats approximately 6000 new patients per year employing a wide range of therapies including multi-met SRS, lungs SABR, HDR gynae brachytherapy, TBI/TSEI, gated lung therapy and cardiac SABR.

We also deliver the AHCS MSc academic program for clinical scientist training as well as FRCR training and local STP and route-2 physicist training

We are an international reference site for Siemens radiotherapy imaging systems, BrainLab Elements and deliver the Varian Advanced Workflow implementation (VAWI) clinical school.

Job Purpose:

• NCCC provides a regional radiotherapy service to a population of circa 3.3million, with day-to-day provision for circa 2.0million across the North East and North Cumbria.
• This management position within NCCC/NCCC-NC involves the full range of management accountabilities including day-to-day operational management of the departments in both Newcastle and North Cumbria. A key objective for the post holder is to ensure equity of service delivery across the geographically spread treatment locations. This requires the post holder to ensure effective agreement exists between the departments in delivery of both strategic and operational objectives in order to deliver integrated care pathways.
• The role provides radiotherapy professional leadership to the Radiotherapy Operational Delivery Network (ODN) responsible for providing radiotherapy system leadership and the delivery of NHS Englands vision and ambitions for the modernisation of radiotherapy services.
• The post holder takes day-to-day responsibility for delivery of the radiotherapy departments key performance indicators as laid out in the NHS Englands service specification. This includes achieving the national cancer waiting time targets including the 62 and 31-day waits.
• The post holder is responsible for specifying, evaluating and procuring the full fleet of radiotherapy equipment in Newcastle and North Cumbria. In Newcastle this is comprised of 7 linear accelerators, 2 Tomotherapy units, 2 CT scanners, 1 dedicated MRI scanner, access to SPECT CT, a Flexitron high dose rate brachytherapy afterloader and 1 Superficial unit. In North Cumbria, there are a further 2 linear accelerators, 1 CT scanner and access to MRI planning scanning resource.
• The role includes management of the Brachytherapy & Mould Room service, Dose Planning, Radiotherapy Physics and Radiation Engineering across both Newcastle and North Cumbria. The total staffing compliment extends to approximately 70 whole time equivalent scientific and technical staff with a further 2 administrative support staff.
• The annual budgetary management responsibilities for this role include �4.2million for the staff resources, �1.5million for equipment maintenance contracts and ongoing specification, evaluation and procurement responsibilities for the �25million equipment inventory
• As part of the senior management team, the post holder will work collaboratively to propose and implement changes across the directorates two delivery centres.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.

Please note it is a requirement of The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that all successful candidates who require a DBS for the post they have been offered pay for their DBS certificate.The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first months pay.

Person Specification

Skills

Essential

• Strong leadership and communication skills
• Ability to lead change
• Project, budgetary and HR management
• Track record of strong scientific or technical skills
• Report writing skills
• Presentation skills
• Strong Computer skills including the proficient use of Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint.

Desirable

• PRINCE 2 Project Management or Equivalent Training

Experience

Essential

• Registered Clinical Scientist or Registered Professional Engineer.
• Conducting research and development projects
• Experience of working within the NHS
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Experience of managing a financial and non-financial resources
• Experience of managing a team of individuals.

Desirable

• Experience of working within a regional service
• Experience of managing multiple services, budgets, projects and teams

Knowledge

Essential

• Honours degree in a Physical Science and MSc or equivalent experience
• Current understanding of NHS and Health Policy
• Advanced theoretical knowledge in more than one discipline to Doctorate level
• Awareness of key developments in field of interest
• Ability to identify and audit best practice

Desirable

• Management Qualification
• Successful experience of service development
• Experience of developing and implementing clinical service strategies
• Experience of working across professional and service boundaries
• Successful experience of submitting financial bids or business cases

Employer details

Employer name

The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Freeman Hospital

317 01 Freeman Hospital

NE7 7DN

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

317-2023-45-30-DR