An exciting opportunity is available to join the Nuclear Medicine team as a Senior Medical Technical Officer in Nuclear Medicine.

The successful candidate will be working as part of a team to provide quality control services for gamma cameras, radionuclide calibrators and related equipment at The Christie and for NHS Trusts across the North West region.

The post holder will also undertake duties connected with the management of low-level radioactive waste within the nuclear medicine department at the Christie, including assisting with radiation protection and checking that related equipment is functioning correctly.

The working pattern on-site is flexible, allowing for a shifted working day if preferred by the successful candidate. There is some off-site working.

Main duties of the job

We are looking for self-motivated individual with good organisational and communication skills to undertake measurement, storage and disposal of radioactive wate undertake practical tasks associated with the performance of equipment testing maintain records and assist with developing local work instructions engage with and contribute to the departmental quality system including acting as a document controller assist in maintaining and promoting a positive radiation protection culture.

You will be working as part of a multi-skilled team. You will be performing tasks and maintaining records according to local procedures, for which full training will be provided. Experience of working with a quality management system would be beneficial, as would experience of working with radioactivity, but these are not essential skills.

The Nuclear Medicine service offers a specialist range of tests which are focussed on diagnosing and assessing cancer, including non-imaging tests, gamma camera imaging and PETCT scanning. The 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.

We 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.

About us

The Christie is one of Europe's leading cancer centres, treating over 60,000 patients a year. We are based in Manchester and serve a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, but as a national specialist around 15% patients are referred to us from other parts of the country. We provide radiotherapy through one of the largest radiotherapy departments in the world chemotherapy on site and through 14 other hospitals highly specialist surgery for complex and rare cancer and a wide range of support and diagnostic services. We are also an international leader in research, with world first breakthroughs for over 100 years. We run one of the largest early clinical trial units in Europe with over 300 trials every year. Cancer research in Manchester, most of which is undertaken on the Christie site, has been officially ranked the best in the UK.

Job description

Job responsibilities

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Equipment Quality Control

Carries out duties associated with setting up equipment to be used for radiation protection and patient imaging, including:

• Setting up equipment, and carrying out calibration and sensitivity checks
• Assisting more senior members of staff to carry out quality assurance checks on gamma cameras and radionuclide calibrators at all NHS Trust customer sites, to help to ensure optimum performance in patient imaging.
• Checking new flood sources for uniformity and radionuclidic impurities before being sent out to customer sites
• Calibrating and checking contamination monitors for all NHS Trusts and university customers
• Coordinating with external companies for contamination monitor calibration and/or repair as required
• Trains more junior members of staff in the correct method of calibrating and checking of contamination monitors
• Writing, or helping more senior members of staff to write, records of such work, and keeping appropriate records

Management of Radioactive Waste

• Understands the requirements of regulations dealing with management of radioactive waste, and assists porters, Estates staff and more junior staff to comply with the regulations
• Monitors waste bins on The Christie site for radioactive contamination, prior to disposal, to ensure compliance with legislation
• Stores radioactive waste for the Clinical Nuclear Medicine Department and the CRUKMI Laboratories in the appropriate radioactive store, according to agreed procedures and records the details
• Keeps records of accumulation and disposal of radioactive waste, in accordance with the site authorisation
• Monitors and makes arrangements for the disposal of solid radioactively-contaminated waste via contractors
• Trains more junior members of staff in the correct method of monitoring of radioactive waste
• Checks containers previously used to store radioactive materials, prior to their disposal and arranges their disposal
• Maintains records of radioactive waste as required by local procedures

Monitoring for Radioactive Contamination

• Carries out routine monitoring of the environment and staff in the Nuclear Medicine Department to ensure staff safety, and takes appropriate action in case of contamination of any staff member or any unusual environmental monitoring result
• Carries out monitoring of treatment rooms following patient stays in order to release the room for general use

Transport of Radioactive Materials

• Understands the requirements of the transport regulations and carries out an annual audit of transport containers used in the department, and corrects any shortcomings highlighted
• Works with other technicians/technologists to ensure that the labelling and marking of packages and packaging used is appropriate
• Prepares packages containing radioactive sources used for testing of gamma cameras at customer sites

Document Controller for the Quality System

• Is the document controller for the quality system that regulates the advice given and work undertaken by the Nuclear Medicine group

General Radiation Protection Duties

• Performs duties in line with local procedures
• Carries out audits of radioactive sources
• Carries out leak tests and quality control tests on radioactive sources
• Maintains records of personal dosimetry and coordinates collection and distribution of personal dosimeters
• Working with more senior staff members, write work instructions for the Quality system for work which is their own responsibility.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• HNC/HND, NVQ3 or equivalent

Experience

Essential

• Relevant experience - can include Radiopharmacy or laboratory work

Desirable

• Additional general experience in a Medical Physics department.
• General experience with radioactive materials

Skills

Essential

• Manual dexterity for manipulating small volumes of unsealed radioactive material.
• Technical skills for usage of equipment.
• Team work.
• Organisational skills for completing tasks to a timescale.
• Technical skills with monitoring equipment and other laboratory equipment eg pipettes, syringes.
• Good communication skills for relaying information to colleagues and customers.

Knowledge

Essential

• Understanding of the Physics behind nuclear detection equipment
• Maths skills for decay calculations and project work
• Good grasp of Excel and Word

Desirable

• Knowledge of Quality
• Management Systems

Values

Essential

• Ability to demonstrate the organisational values and behaviours

Other

Essential

• Travel and working away from base

Desirable

• Driving license
• Able to do some work without supervision

Employer details

Employer name

The Christie NHS FT

Address

CMPE Radiation Protection Nuclear Medicine - D00013

Manchester

M20 4BX

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

413-82294-CMPE-AK