Speciality Doctor Anaesthetics
Branch: South West Acute Hospital
Location: SWAH Southwest Hospital
Contract Type: Temporary
Closes: Fri, 20 November 2026 @ 3:30 PM
Interview Dates: To be confirmed

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Specialty Doctor in Anaesthetics
SWAH
Job Description (September 2025)

Title: Specialty Doctor
Specialty: Anaesthesia & Critical Care
Base: South West Acute Hospital
Responsible to: Clinical Lead Anaesthesia & Critical Care

Job Summary
Purpose of Post

• To help support and maintain a 24 hour Emergency Anaesthesia and critical care service in the SWA hospital
• To help provide support for a 24 hour epidural service
• To help cover the Intensive Care work
• To aid the work of the Chronic Pain Service
• To work with Consultant staff to provide a comprehensive anaesthetic service across the Western Trust (principally South West Acute site)

The appointees will be expected to participate in the overall provision of anaesthetic services within the Department, to deputise for absent colleagues, to work flexibly, to ensure service and patient care, to achieve value for money through making the most effective use of available resources. This job description is intended to cover the main aspects of the posts; the actual pattern of work is negotiable to meet service needs and is based on the Job Plans outlined in Appendix 3.

Profile of Hospital
The SWAH is a 300-bedded DGH offering a comprehensive range of clinical services in the southwest region of Northern Ireland. Clinical services provided are elective general surgery, gynaecology, obstetrics, and critical care. In addition there is acute medical services, paediatrics and radiology. The workload in this unit has increased with the re-alignment of acute surgical and medical services from the nearby Omagh Hospital & Primary Care Complex (OHPCC) in line with the proposal in DBS (Developing Better Services).

Work of Department
The staff of the department consists of 9 full-time consultant anaesthetists and 6 specialty doctors. All staff are based in the SWAH, but provide cover for elective day-surgery activity on the OHPCC site. Emergency cover is based solely in the SWAH site.

On the SWAH site, there are 4 main theatres and 1 day case theatre which provide in-patient elective and emergency services for general surgery and gynaecology. Day-surgery services are also carried out in the 3 theatres on the OHPCC site and this is a service set to see significant development. The department also provides acute and chronic pain management services. There is a maternity unit with approximately 1200 deliveries per year which is supported by the anaesthetic department and includes a 24 hour epidural service. The 10-bedded Critical Care Unit has capacity for 4 HDU beds and 3 ICU (ventilated). This is a state of the art facility with integrated CIS/ARKS.

Emergency work out-of-hours is covered by resident anaesthetists (SAS grades) supported by an on-call consultant.

The post is based in the SWAH. However as the Trust strives to make best use of its overall theatres resources, it is possible that in the future anaesthetists will provide anaesthetic services in the other site within the Trust (e.g. OHPCC). It is likely that a post-holder will cover anaesthetic sessions, subject to adequate supervision, in OHPCC on a day-case basis. There are no plans to provide clinical cover at other sites. Any changes to this would require mutual agreement, which should not be unreasonably withheld.

Full participation in C.P.D. activities is encouraged within the Department and the post-holder is entitled to leave as per national terms and conditions of service. There is an active educational programme including audit and morbidity and mortality meetings. Staff of all grades are encouraged and expected to attend and participate in these meetings.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Provision of General Anaesthesia services for the specialties and in the areas outlined above according to service need
• To provide and to assist with the delivery of care to patients with critical illness
• To support continuity of elective and emergency services during periods of consultant and other anaesthetist's leave
• To support the emergency anaesthetic, maternity and critical care services out-of-hours through participation in duty outside normal hours
• To support acute pain services at the SWA Hospital
• To undertake professional development activities, audit and engage in appraisal
• The post-holder will be encouraged and supported to develop specialist areas of practice in line with service requirements (e.g. Ophthalmic, ECT anaesthesia)

Supervision Arrangements
The post-holder will be responsible to the Lead Clinician in Anaesthetics and Critical Care. During normal working hours the consultant supervision will be provided by the consultant assigned to the theatre list or critical care, or if no consultant is assigned, an identified consultant will be present on the hospital site during normal hours (usually ICU or on-call consultant). Out-of-hours the consultant on-call provides cover.

The post-holder will be expected to have the skills and experience to safely anaesthetise adult patients who are straightforward or those who present only moderate difficulty, without immediate supervision. The post-holder will be expected to stand in for absent consultant staff on certain lists. The Clinical Lead and the post-holder will agree which lists are appropriate to cover.

Continuing Professional Development
CPD is actively encouraged within the department. The post attracts a minimum of 1 CPD/audit/admin session per week. Further sessional time may be available by mutual agreement. The post-holder will not be expected to undertake clinical duties during this time. The session can be held flexibly in both time and location.

Proposed Job Plan
The post is based on an average of 48 hours worked per week, with the post-holder initially working on a 1:6 on-call basis. There is a dedicated 4 hours session for SPA activity per week. Out-of-hours work is allocated according to a 6 week rolling plan. Prospective cover is included for colleagues' normal annual leave in the current 6 person rota. Estimations are that the illustrated job-plan on a 1:6 basis would attract 12.5 PAs. With a tier of 5 on the rota it is calculated that these posts would attract 14.5 PAs in total.

Terms and Conditions

• The full-time appointment will be for 10 PAs per week.
• The successful applicant will normally be appointed to the grade for a one year probationary period which, if confirmed, will be extended without term and held until retirement under the terms and conditions of service.
• The appointee will maintain registration with the General Medical Council (London).
• Annual leave entitlement is 5 weeks and 2 days (27 days) per year until 2 years' service have been completed in the grade and 6 weeks and 1 day (31 days) thereafter for practitioners remaining in the grade.
• The post will be subject to termination at any time, by three months' notice in writing given on either side.

Personnel Specification
Job Title and Band: Specialty Doctor – Anaesthetics
Location: South West Acute Hospital – WHSCT

Essential criteria:

• Hold Full Registration with the GMC (London) and licence to practice
• Have at least 4 years' full-time postgraduate training (or equivalent), at least 2 of which in a specialty training programme or as a Fixed Term Specialty Trainee in Anaesthesia; or have equivalent experience and competencies
• Wide experience in general anaesthesia, regional anaesthesia and peri-operative care
• Demonstrable skills in written and spoken English adequate for effective communication about medical topics

Desirable criteria:

• Experience in obstetric, paediatric anaesthesia, inter-hospital transfers and critical care, pre-assessment and pain management
• FRCA or equivalent
• Postgraduate qualification (e.g. MD, PhD, MRCP)
• Relevant life support courses: ATLS, ALS, FCCS, APLS

The Trust is an equal opportunities employer. Successful applicants may be required to attend for a Health Assessment. As part of recruitment it may be necessary for the Trust to carry out an Enhanced Disclosure Check through Access NI before any appointment is confirmed. All staff are expected to display the HSC Values at all times.

Shortlisting and appointment are made under the Merit Principle. Successful applicants will be required to demonstrate their eligibility to work in the UK.