Job summary
We are recruiting for a Registered Practitioner - Anaesthetics - who shares our vision to be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service to our patients.

This post is open to Operating Department Practitioners or Registered Nurses with recognised anaesthetic training and experience, who are committed to delivering high quality peri-operative care within a busy and supportive theatre environment.

Our Theatre service provides care for both elective and emergency patients, including admission and recovery pathways, and operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. As part of the theatre team, you will be expected to participate in a full shift rota including evenings, nights, weekends, Bank Holidays, and on-call commitments.

The successful candidate will primarily work within the anaesthetic team, supporting patients throughout the peri-operative pathway and assisting the anaesthetist in the safe delivery of anaesthesia. There will also be an expectation to work collaboratively across the wider theatre team to maintain safe and effective patient care.

At the heart of everything we do are our core values: Include, Respect, Improve.

We expect all staff to demonstrate these values throughout the recruitment process and in their everyday practice.

Main duties of the job
The post holder will receive, transfer and position patients for clinical procedure.

You will be responsible for preparing the Theatre for surgery and preparing sterile equipment/ supplies and keep waste to a minimum.

The successful candidate will be responsible for preparation, safe use, decontamination, troubleshooting and reporting of faulty complex equipment.

You will need to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team to ensure the safety and comfort of patients and be flexible to be able to work in any of the Theatre areas according to service needs.

You will also need to work on-call and out of hours working, regardless of the department you are based in, to provide emergency access to our most acutely ill patients.

This role is based within Theatres, with a requirement to rotate across all theatre areas, including the QEII site, to support a wide range of specialties. These include:

• Vascular
• Orthopaedics
• Urology
• Obstetrics & Gynaecology
• Plastics
• Robotics
• ENT
• Oral Surgery
• Ophthalmology
• General Surgery
• Emergency Surgery
• Pain Management

Candidates invited to interview will be required to take part in a practical assessment as part of the selection process.

This will be designed to assess theatre knowledge, anaesthetic skills, and safe clinical practice relevant to the Band 5 role.

About us
At East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust, we are proud of the range of general and specialist services we provide and our 6,000 or so dedicated staff ensure our patients get the best care. Our ability to be flexible and innovative in the way in which we work and deliver our services to our catchment has never been more important than it is now.

We run the following hospitals:

• The Lister Hospital, Stevenage
• New Queen Elizabeth II (New QEII), Welwyn Garden City
• Hertford County, Hertford
• Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC), Northwood

We have ambitious plans to become an outstanding, patient-led Trust where dedicated staff provide high-quality, compassionate care to our patients. We continue to undergo significant transformation and our staff and patients are at the heart of delivering this ambitious agenda.

We are committed to a positive work life balance for our employees. This means that any employee is entitled to seek to work flexible working patterns and we are committed to listen and consider all requests. Such requests, of course, have to be made and considered formally, and will need to be balanced against service needs, but our starting point will always be to find ways to support making them happen.

Job responsibilities
Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification applicant pack for further detailed information regarding this role.

Qualifications / Training
Essential

• Registered Nurse or Registered ODP
• Must be willing to undertake relevant post registration courses as advised by the Practice Educators/ Theatre Team Leaders

Desirable

• ILS/ALS
• PILS
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Evidence of mentorship & preceptorship training

Previous Experience
Essential

• Gained through undertaking relevant study
• Post qualification experience within the perioperative setting

Desirable

• Relevant experience in either an inpatient or day surgery theatre, maternity theatre or other relevant clinical area.
• Peri-operative practice, skilled in recovery and scrub
• Experience of providing clinical support outside of the theatre area

Skills
Essential

• Good interpersonal and communication skills
• Basic IT skills
• Can organise and prioritise
• Ability to demonstrate initiative
• Flexible
• Clear written and spoken English

Desirable

• Good planning skills. Can effectively and efficiently run a theatre list Can participate in the audit process
• Can perform in the role of scrub and circulating assistant, recovery or has relevant experience within a critical / acute care setting
• Has relevant experience within maternity or gynaecology surgery.

Knowledge
Essential

• Aware of the National 6 Cs campaign
• Aware of Trust's Values
• An understanding of peri-operative patient care
• Understanding of aseptic technique
• Participate in audit
• Team work
• Knowledge of the aims of the Trust

Desirable

• Knowledge of privacy / dignity & infection control relating to theatre area

Other requirements
Essential

• Understanding of, and commitment to, equality, diversity and inclusion
• Role model our Trust values every day

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.
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).