Job summary
Working Full time: 10 sessions per week

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a full-time consultant in Plastic and Reconstructive surgery to join our expanding department in the beautiful city of Chester. This role is predominantly to aid with a surge in demand of skin cancer referrals as well as supporting general plastic services. The successful candidate will be expected to have an interest in general plastic surgery with a large proportion of skin cancer cases making up the bulk of elective work. The post also involves some orthoplastic support for lower limb cases in Oswestry as well as locally.

Permanent and locum applications will be considered.

Main duties of the job
Duties and Responsibilities

The appointee will be responsible for the care of patients referred by general practitioners, other hospital departments and will undertake clinics, ward rounds and theatre lists. 'Programmed Activities' as appropriate. The job plan will be a 10PA job plan which will be agreed in discussion between the successful candidate, the Lead Clinician in Plastic Surgery, and with Planned Care operational management team. This will be subject to Annual Review.

Total 'Programmed activities' = 10

On-Call Commitment
The appointee will be expected to participate in a 1 in 4 on call service. This is currently under review and subject to change. Consultant on call from home, generally for telephone advice for junior doctors.

About us
The Trust's services are provided from three locations: o The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 473 general and acute beds. o Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 60 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility. o Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population. The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust employs 5,964 staff (headcount) to provide care and treatment to a population of over 400,000 people living in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire. The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System. Due to its location on the border with North Wales, the Trust also works closely with the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The Trust treats patients from England and some parts of Wales. During 2024/2025, there were approximately 643,000 patient attendances (inpatient, A&E, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery.

Details
Date posted: 15 October 2026
Pay scheme: Hospital medical and dental staff
Grade: Consultant
Salary: £113,565 to £150,569 a year pa
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 210-2026-711
Job locations: Countess of Chester Hospital, Liverpool Road, Chester, CH2 1UL, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
See Job Description for further details.

Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values. An applicant guide to help and support you through your recruitment journey can be accessed at the bottom of this page.

If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the essential criteria described in the person specification for an available position, please answer YES to the question: Do you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme?

Please inform the team if you have any special support needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection processes.

The trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post.

If a DBS is required for your role, you are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee applies which is payable to the DBS Service. Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs will be deducted from their salary over the first three months of employment.

New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.

Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website.

The Trust will not sponsor where the starting salary does not meet immigration rules.

Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.

Good luck with your application.

Person Specification
Qualifications and Skills

• Essential: FRCS (Plast)
• Essential: On GMC Specialist Register for Plastic Surgery or within 6 months of CCT/CCST at the time of application
• Essential: Fellowship or equivalent experience in orthoplastic / lower limb trauma
• Desirable: Other specialist fellowship

Clinical Experience and Effectiveness

• Essential: Wide clinical experience in general Plastic Surgery
• Essential: Independent management of skin cancer and experience in orthoplastic / lower limb trauma
• Essential: Independent management of all plastic and hand trauma
• Desirable: Other sub interests such as breast, hand or skin are also desirable

Teaching and Training Experience

• Essential: Experience / Interest teaching
• Essential: Training the Trainers Course
• Desirable: Other Teaching skill Courses or qualifications

Management and Administrative Experience

• Essential: Demonstrate the use of Clinical Audit within the Service
• Essential: Demonstrate the use of research and evidence base to practice
• Desirable: Relevant experience in undertaking and organisation of Audit
• Desirable: Research and publications relevant to post

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here: Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Employer details
Employer name: Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Countess of Chester Hospital, Liverpool Road, Chester, CH2 1UL, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.coch.nhs.uk/working-with-us.aspx

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Consultant Plastic Surgeon/Clinical Lead, Mr Rishi Sharma, rishi.sharma1@nhs.net, 01244366265

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