Advertised role location: ROYAL VICTORIA HOSPITAL
Official document: Band 6_Trainee Clinical Perfusionist (docx)
JOB DESCRIPTION

POST: Trainee Clinical Perfusion Scientist

LOCATION: Cardiac Theatres, Royal Victoria Hospital

BAND: 6

REPORTS TO: Perfusion Manager Head of Service

RESPONSIBLE TO: Senior Clinical Perfusion Scientist

Job Summery / Main Purpose:

To undertake training as a Clinical Perfusion Scientist to devolpe the skills and ability to deliver safe cardiopulmonary bypass alongside other additional perfusion techniques as a vital member of the multidisciplinary team during cardiac surgery.
During the 2-year training period, the trainee will be required to attend Bristol University to study towards an MSc in Clinical Perfusion Science alongside hospital based development of their clinical skills by undertaking a minimum of 150 supervised cases and successfully passing the Society of Clinical Perfusion Scientists of Great Britain and Ireland’s practical accreditation exam, leading to professional registration with The College of Clinical Perfusion Scientists of Great Britan and Ireland.

Clinical Perfusionists are highly specialised professionals working within a diverse multidisciplinary team, whose primary responsibility is to take over the function of the patient's heart and lungs using artificial means during cardiac surgery. They are constantly making autonomous clinical and technical decisions, which have a direct impact on the mortality and morbidity of patients

The post holder will perform increasingly advanced clinical perfusion science activities under supervision, which are initially routine or predictable, leading on to a broad foundation of knowledge and skills essential for qualification at the end of training.

General Responsibilities

Employees of the Trust are required to promote and support the mission and vision of the service for which they are responsible and:
At all times provide a caring service and to treat those with whom they come into contact in a courteous and respectful manner.
Demonstrate their commitment by their regular attendance and the efficient completion of all tasks allocated to them.
Comply with the Trust’s Smoke Free Policy.
Carry out their duties and responsibilities in compliance with the Health and Safety Policies and Statutory Regulations.
Adhere to Equality and Good Relations duties throughout the course of their employment.
Ensure the ongoing confidence of the public in-service provision.
Maintain high standards of personal accountability.
Comply with the HPSS Code of Conduct.

Main Duties / Responsibilities:

The Clinical Perfusion Department at RVH cover all aspects of cardiopulmonary bypass and blood preservation in adult cardiac surgery as well as service provision for acute, vascular, trauma and obstetrics blood procurement.

Under direct supervision by an experienced qualified Senior Clinical Perfusion Scientist the trainee will develop skills in a range of both routine and emergency perfusion techniques, including but not limited to the following:

CLINICAL PRACTICE

Set up, prime and run the cardiopulmonary bypass machine under supervision, to maintain life support for the period of cardiopulmonary bypass according to broad occupational and clinical policies as well as recent scientific evidence, seeking advice when necessary.

Regularly undertake By-pass initiation and termination which requires a high level of hand eye and sensory coordination, similar to that required for suturing/intubation.

Take personal responsibility for simultaneously monitoring and making fine adjustments to large quantities of patient parameters on the bypass machine and to clinically respond and react to any changes in the patient’s condition. This requires intense concentration for the duration of individual cases which can last up to 12 hours.

Sample, analyse and interpret arterial / venous blood gases and patient coagulation status in the form of activated clotting times.

Administer drugs, including colloid / crystalloid fluids, vasoactive drugs, cardioplegia solution, potassium, anticoagulants, haemostatic drugs, sodium bicarbonate and osmotic diuretics as clinically indicated.

Monitor a wide range of highly complex and routinely conflicting clinical information on a minute-to-minute basis such as blood oximetry; cardiac output; systemic vascular resistance; ventilation; anticoagulation; cerebral oximetry; renal status and blood glucose levels, and take appropriate autonomous action in both alpha and pH stat blood management.

Develop skills to review patients notes for relevant medical history, pathology and diagnosis which may impact decisions concerning conduct during the procedure such as perfusion technique, cannula selection, type of equipment, intravenous fluids and drugs additions to primes following departmental protocol.
Assess, interpret and manage complex clinical, auditory, visual and perceptive information and take appropriate action eg. Blood pressure and flow, anticoagulation, patient/blood temperatures and blood gases during provision of routine cardiopulmonary bypass for patients under strict supervision of a Senior Clinical Perfusionist.
Stripping down and cleaning of Perfusion equipment.
Assist with data acquisition and auditing of Clinical Perfusion data.
Assist with stock maintenance.
Attendance and participation in training courses as required.
Maintain good perfusion practise adhering to the professional code of conduct and professional guidelines of the Society of Perfusion Scientist of Great Britain and Ireland.
Complete trust mandatory training.
Perform other duties of comparable responsibility that may be assigned by Chief / Senior Clinical Perfusionists.

COMMUNICATION 

Communicate in an effective, clear, concise and exact manner as a core member of the cardiothoracic surgical team, providing and receiving complex and contentious information. Empathise with others in theatre to promote safer practice.
Frequently relay sensitive information to members of staff and the Clinical Perfusion Manager to ensure appropriate continuation of care of the patient.

 Participate in discussions with clinicians within and outside immediate surgical team as a means of devising an appropriate care pathway for patients. This is particularly important when patients exhibit underlying pathology that is relatively incompatible with cardiopulmonary bypass.

KNOWLEDGE

Keep up-to-date with new techniques and research developments in order to maintain best perfusion practice.
Maintain a current knowledge base of physiological conditions and disease processes relevant to the conduct of cardiopulmonary bypass.

Reflect on practice, particularly in the context of unique cases.

Become familiar with and work within the broad guidelines for “best practice” set out by the Society of Clinical Perfusion Scientists of Great Britain and Ireland.

ANALYTICAL AND JUDGEMENTAL SKILLS
1.    Be able to use specialist knowledge to inform sound clinical judgements/decision-making for complex cases and advise trainees on the same, often in the absence of a full clinical picture.
2.     Monitor a wide range of highly complex and routinely conflicting clinical information on a minute-to-minute basis and take appropriate autonomous action.
3.     Discuss and evaluate options for best practice with colleagues in order to optimise patient outcomes.
4. Adapt to meet individual patient needs, often in highly charged difficult critical clinical circumstances.
5. Reflect on clinical practice with senior colleagues.
INFORMATION RESOURCES
1.    Create own clinical perfusion reports by employing clinical perfusion data acquisition software and manage own data acquisition database attached to this software. 
 
2.    Maintain accurate paper and database records of clinical data and add appropriate data in accordance with Trust policies.
 
3.    These records should be easily accessible by all for the purpose of audit, stock control, financial analysis, performance management, professional registration and benchmarking.
 
Ensure that all information is handled according to Trust policy.

PHYSICAL SKILLS

1.    Use highly developed auditory, visual and perceptive skills, including precise hand and eye co-ordination, to ensure safe management of cardiopulmonary bypass.
 
2.    Act quickly and think clearly and frequently under acute time pressure to resolve an emergency situation.
 
3.    Demonstrate keyboard skills for data administration and report writing.
 
4. Demonstrate accomplished manual dexterity essential for manipulation and construction of extracorporeal circuit.

PHYSICAL EFFORT
1.    Have due regard for personal and others’ safety as dictated by Trust moving and handling regulations. Ensure up to date with own mandatory manual lifting and handling training.
 
2.    On a daily basis, move extremely heavy (greater than 350kg) and cumbersome perfusion equipment, requiring intense physical effort, between clinical areas on your own and without any mechanical aid.   
3.    Unload, unpack and rearrange heavy (15kg) perfusion equipment and varying height levels on a regular basis.
 
4.    On a multiple number of occasions during a shift, dismantle and remove clinical waste safely from clinical areas, performing a vertical lift of a 60 litres clinical waste bin weighing in excess of 20kg into hospital waste containers. Clean equipment and service areas of contaminated waste.

Help to transport patients on mechanical circulatory support to other areas in the hospital, moving heavy equipment (50kg) attached to the patient, often walking backwards.

Sit for long periods of time on a frequent basis, unable to leave the side of the heart-lung machine. Keeping focus on visual displays and medical equipment at varying heights and locations, within the clinical setting.

MENTAL EFFORT
1.    Frequently maintain, on a daily basis, intense levels of concentration in all aspects of patient management for prolonged periods of time up to 12 hours on an individual case, in particular to monitor and manipulate vital patient parameters. This can often occur at short notice following a full day’s work.
 
2.   Always be dynamic to the constant demands of the working environment, where a percentage of the workload is not planned 24 hours in advance. Respond to catastrophic clinical situations outside of cardiac theatres i.e. Cardiology and intensive care with no advanced warning and quick response time is the difference between life and death.

EMOTIONAL EFFORT

1.     Maintain calm during emergency and high-pressure situations, being able to communicate effectively and clearly to all colleagues within the multidisciplinary team.
 
2.    Maintain respect for the dignity of patients in all clinical circumstances, including emergency situations and in the event of patient fatality during a procedure.

3. Be aware and sympathetic of changes in the teams’ morale from external pressures, from negative stories in the news, changes to working conditions, or reduction in staffing levels.
 
WORKING CONDITIONS
1.    On a daily basis frequent handling and disposal of dangerous materials to minimise exposure of large amounts of hazardous products to yourself and others.
 
2.    On a daily basis have frequent direct exposure to uncontained patient blood and other bodily fluids and infectious material whilst managing the single most invasive device used in routine surgery and patient management.

3. Ensure continued immunisation from hepatitis B and seek immediate medical assistance if exposed to any needle stick or splash of an infectious fluid.

4. Will be required to work in stressful situations for long periods of time sometimes up to 24 hours. Death or injury of a patient is a real possibility sometimes a reality, and your performance has an impact.

Frequently required to work in a draft at low temperatures (18 °C.) for
long periods of time wearing only thin clothing which must be bare below the elbows.

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS
 
         Communicate confidently with and provide advice to:
Theatre Staff
Surgeons
Anaesthetists
Senior Nursing Staff
Ward Staff
Physicians Assistants
Surgical Assistants
CICU Staff / Recovery Staff
Cardiologists
Intensivists
Theatre Coordinators
 
General Responsibilities

Employees of the Trust are required to promote and support the mission and vision of the service for which they are responsible and:
At all times provide a caring service and to treat those with whom they come into contact in a courteous and respectful manner.
The post holder will promote and support effective team working, fostering a culture of openness and transparency. The post holder will ensure that they take all concerns raised with them seriously and act in accordance with Belfast Trust’s Whistleblowing Policy and their professional code of conduct, where applicable.
Demonstrate their commitment by their regular attendance and the efficient completion of all tasks allocated to them.
Comply with the Trust’s Smoke Free Policy.
Carry out their duties and responsibilities in compliance with the Health and Safety Policies and Statutory Regulations.
Adhere to Equality and Good Relations duties throughout the course of their employment.
Ensure the ongoing confidence of the public in-service provision.
Maintain high standards of personal accountability.
Comply with the HPSS Code of Conduct.

Information Governance  

All employees of Belfast Health & Social Care Trust are legally responsible for all records held, created or used as part of their business within the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, including patient/client, corporate and administrative records whether paper based or electronic and also including e-mails.  All such records are public records and are accessible to the general public, with limited exceptions, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Environment Regulations 2004, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Employees are required to be conversant and to comply with the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust policies on Information Governance including for example the ICT Security Policy, Data Protection Policy and Records Management Policy and to seek advice if in doubt.

For further information on how we use your personal data within HR, please refer to the Privacy Notice available on the HUB or Your HR

Environmental Cleaning Strategy

The Trusts Environmental Cleaning Strategy recognises the key principle that “Cleanliness matters is everyone’s responsibility, not just the cleaners” Whilst there are staff employed who are responsible for cleaning services, all Trust staff have a responsibility to ensure a clean, comfortable, safe environment for patients, clients, residents, visitors, staff and members of the general public.

Infection Prevention and Control

The Belfast Trust is committed to reducing Healthcare associated infections (HCAIs) and all staff have a part to play in making this happen. Staff must comply with all policies in relation to Infection Prevention and Control and with ongoing reduction strategies. Standard Infection Prevention and Control Precautions must be used at all times to ensure the safety of patients and staff.
This includes:-
Cleaning hands either with soap and water or a hand sanitiser at the appropriate times (WHO ‘5 moments’);
Using the correct ‘7 step’ hand hygiene technique;
Being ‘bare below the elbows’ when in a clinical environment;
Following Trust policies and the Regional Infection Control Manual (found on intranet);
Wearing the correct Personal Protective Equipment (PPE);
Ensuring correct handling and disposal of waste (including sharps)  and laundry;
Ensuring all medical devices (equipment) are decontaminated appropriately i.e. cleaned, disinfected and/or sterilised;
Ensuring compliance with High Impact Interventions.

Personal Public Involvement

Staff members are expected to involve patients, clients, carers and the wider community were relevant, in developing, planning and delivering our services in a meaningful and effective way, as part of the Trust’s ongoing commitment to Personal Public Involvement (PPI).

Please use the link below to access the PPI standards leaflet for further information.

http://www.publichealth.hscni.net/sites/default/files/PPI_leaflet.pdf

Clause: This job description is not meant to be definitive and may be amended to meet the changing needs of the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.

Training period

You will follow the Society of Clinical Perfusion Scientists of Great Britain and Ireland 2-year training programme including block release to attend the University of Bristol to gain their MSc Clinical Perfusion Science while maintaining a clinical Logbook documenting a minimum of 150 supervised cases.
Following on you will be required to undertake the professional body’s Practical and Viva Voce examination to gain accreditation status for autonomous clinical practice.

Each trainee will have a mentor/tutor to guide them through their training program in line with guidance from the College of Clinical Perfusion Scientists of Great Britain and Ireland.. In house training will consist of practical learning and theory. The trainee will have access to a computer/internet, Perfusion department books, journals, papers and guidelines plus the trust and University libraries. Visits to other departments and cardiac centres will be arranged.

Periodically the trainee will have interviews with their mentor and Clinical Perfusion Manger to access their progress. Competency assessment forms will be used so professional and personal development can be monitored.

JOB SPECIFICATION

JOB TITLE / BAND: Trainee Clinical Perfusion Scientist / Band 6

DEPT / DIRECTORATE: Cardiac Theatres, Royal Victoria Hospital / ACCTSS & Surgery


Notes to applicants:
You must clearly demonstrate on your application form under each question, how you meet the required criteria as failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted. You should clearly demonstrate this for both the essential and desirable criteria.
Shortlisting will be carried out on the basis of the essential criteria set out below, using the information provided by you on your application form. Please note the Trust reserves the right to use any desirable criteria outlined below at shortlisting. You must clearly demonstrate on your application form how you meet the desirable criteria.
Proof of qualifications and/or professional registration will be required if an offer of employment is made – if you are unable to provide this, the offer may be withdrawn.

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA


The following are ESSENTIAL criteria which will initially be measured at shortlisting stage although may also be further explored during the interview/selection stage.
You should therefore make it clear on your application form whether or not you meet these criteria. Failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted. The stage in the process when the criteria will be measured is stated below.

Factor
Criteria
Method of Assessment

Qualifications/ Registration
Relevant Life/Biological Science BSc (Hons) Degree (e.g., Clinical Physiology).

Shortlisting by Application Form

Other (e.g. Driving etc.)

Eligible for entry to and willingness to attend two-year MSc in Clinical Perfusion Science at Bristol University with monthly block release to attend classes.

Shortlisting by Application Form

Knowledge
Skills
Abilities
Ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
Ability to communicate effectively.
Ability to use initiative.
Good IT skills.
High level of organisational skills.
Flexible and co-operative with capability to work irregular work patterns.
Able to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a sterile working (theatre) environment.

Interview

DESIRABLE CRITERIA


Desirable criteria will ONLY be used where it is necessary to introduce additional job related criteria to ensure files are manageable. You should therefore make it clear on your application form how you meet these. Failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted.

Factor
Criteria
Method of Assessment

Knowledge
Skills
Abilities
Interest and knowledge of cardiovascular physiology or experience in Perfusion.
Clinical work experience.
NHS/theatre experience.
Voluntary clinical work experience.
Experience of working within a Team.

Shortlisting by Application Form

NOTE:
Where educational/professional qualifications form part of the criteria you will be required, if shortlisted for interview, to produce original certificates and one photocopy of same issued by the appropriate authority. Only those certificates relevant to the shortlisting criteria should be produced. If educational certificates are not available an original letter and photocopy of same detailing examination results from your school or college will be accepted as an alternative.

If successful you will be required to produce documentary evidence that you are legally entitled to live and work in the United Kingdom. This documentation can be a P45, Payslip, National Insurance Card or a Birth Certificate confirming birth in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland. Failure to produce evidence will result in a non-appointment.

Where a post involves working in regulated activity with vulnerable groups, post holders will be required to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority.

HSC Values

Whilst employees will be expected to portray all the values, particular attention is drawn to the following values for this role