Job summary
We are a large and friendly department with over 65 Consultants, 11 SASs, up to 40 Residents and post CCT Fellows. We are very proud to be a MDHU (Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit) with 4 Military Consultants and a variable number of Military trainees of various grades. We have 4 qualified AAs in a bespoke programme designed for the benefit of, and led by the department. The department also hosts 3.5 WTE Acute Pain Nurses, Peri-Operative team, 20 WTE Pre Operative Assessment Nurses and 5 Administrative and Clerical st

Main duties of the job
As a department we have a reputation for being cohesive, innovative and providing excellent education and support to our trainees, Trust Grades and Consultants. We were delighted to be one of the first Departments in the UK to achieve ACSA accreditation from the RCOA and reaccredited again in 2023. We have also had a successful Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) visit and were particularly commended for our Surgery School and our Surgical High Care Unit.

The hospital has 30 operating theatres and 5 remote suites where anaesthetic services are delivered. The department provides anaesthetic services to all sites in the Trust and supports subspecialties including:

• Major General: Colorectal, Upper GI (including Oesophagectomies), Bariatrics, Gynaecology, Urology. Including robotic surgery (4 robotic theatres)
• Major Head and Neck and ENT (including free flap surgery)
• Orthopaedics, including significant amount of regional anaesthesia
• Renal transplant and Renal Vascular access surgery
• Plastics
• Paediatrics
• Obstetrics
• Pain
• Non-theatre: Interventional Radiology, CT MRI, Gastro Endoscopy and Cardiology.
• Periop Medicine: Anaesthetic Preassessment clinic, dedicated Bariatric Upper GI clinic and MDT, CPET, daily Surgical High-Care Ward round and Surgery School (www.surgeryschool.co.uk)

About us
Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust provides a range of acute services at Queen Alexandra Hospital (QAH). QAH is a very large, busy district general hospital and has gone through a major redevelopment in 2009, when three pre-existing hospitals were brought together to create a modern and spacious new block, where Anaesthetics, Obstetrics and Intensive Care departments are now all housed. There are over 7,500 full time equivalent staff, including Ministry of Defence employees, who are fully integrated into the activities of the hospital. The Emergency Department is one of the busiest in the UK, treating in excess of 180,000 patients each year. Similarly maternity services are responsible for the delivery of around 6,500 births per year, making it one of the largest maternity services on the south coast. The Trust is also home to the Wessex Renal and Transplant Unit and it holds prestigious Cancer Beacon Status for the Head and Neck Cancer Services. Queen Alexandra Hospital has around 1,200 beds, including cots (NICU), 30 theatres and superb critical care facilities with a 24 bedded ICU.

Job responsibilities
The job plan for these posts is for 10.25 PAs with 7.5 DCC (Direct Clinical Care), typically 3 clinical days per week and initially 2 SPA plus participation in the Consultant on-call rota (0.75 PA). Typical job plans comprise a mixture of fixed and float sessions. The proposed timetable for each job is attached but the exact sessions (including sub specialties) and working days will be reviewed and altered by agreement with the successful candidate prior to commencement in the post.

On-call
The department operates a 2 tier Consultant led on call rota. This is Category A on call. Each tier has a frequency of 1 in 40 giving a combined frequency of 1 in 20. The second on call consultant works in the emergency theatres during the evenings approx. 17:30 20:30 and is then second on call from home, where they are very infrequently called. At the weekend the second on call consultant works in the emergency theatres between 07:45 - 17:00 and is then on call from home. The first on call consultant is the first port of call from home.

Commencement of duties
These posts are currently vacant and the appointee will be required to take up the post no later than six months from the date of the offer of an appointment, unless a special agreement has been made between the appointee and Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust.

If you consider it unlikely that you will be able to take up the appointment within such a period, you are advised to point this out at the time of your application.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Full registration and Licence to Practice with the General Medical Council
• Primary Medical Qualification (e.g. MBChB)
• A higher degree e.g. FRCA or equivalent
• Entry onto the GMC Specialist Register for Anaesthesia via CCT or CESR (or within 6 months of proposed date of award of CCT)

Desirable

• Higher qualification in Anaesthesia e.g. EDRA
• Possession of Additional Degree (MD, BSc), diploma or post-graduate qualification e.g. MRCP
• Completion of relevant Subspecialty Fellowship
• Award of external Prizes or Honours

Experience
Essential

• Evidence of completion (or equivalent) of 8 relevant Higher Training modules
• Evidence of completion (or equivalent) of 2 relevant Advanced Training modules

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.

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 (Opens in a new tab).

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 (Opens in a new tab).

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