Highly Specialist Physiologist (XR07)inLeedsinLeedsPUBLISHED THU 31 OCT 2024

Leeds Teaching Hospitals has an exciting opportunity for a Band 7 Highly Specialist Respiratory Physiologist/Team Lead to join our friendly and expanding team. The department is looking to recruit an enthusiastic and highly motivated individual with excellent leadership skills to lead the daily duties of the respiratory service, whilst also working autonomously in basic and advanced respiratory and sleep investigations.

The successful candidate will be responsible for leading the Paediatric Respiratory Physiology service alongside leadership responsibility for the adult team.

Experience of team work, communication and integration are essential.

The respiratory and sleep department perform a wide range of routine and specialist investigations including full lung function, mannitol challenge testing, respiratory muscle testing, capillary blood gases, hypoxic challenge tests, sleep study analysis such as overnight oximetry, limited channel studies and actigraphy. The department also supports the CPAP and NIV team with CPAP initiation, remote monitoring and treatment interventions.

The paediatric physiology service is an exciting new area for development, with the opportunity to lead on establishing specialist tests, whilst also being integrated within the adult service and having leadership responsibility.

Expected Shortlisting Date

21/11/2024

Planned Interview Date

05/12/2024

Highly Specialist Respiratory Physiologist will be expected to perform basic and advanced respiratory investigations on a rotational basis. This will include providing factual reports for a broad range of investigations (dependent on clinical skill set/area of specialty). Accountable for the day-to-day leadership/management in respiratory physiology services alongside the management team. In addition, having responsibility for the day to day running of the respiratory labs, ensuring the rotas are planned. Accountability for clinical supervision and training of other qualified professionals, junior and trainee staff. It is expected that the successful candidate regularly participates in continuing professional development, research and audit.

About us

Principal Duties & Areas of Responsibility

Clinical Duties

To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspect of own work, including the management of patients in your care.

Participates in rotational requirements within the cardiorespiratory department in non-invasive and respiratory services where required. On call and 24/7 provision of acute emergency services may be required (e.g., Cardiac Catheter Labs and/or Implantable Cardiac Devices). Demonstrating a high level of autonomy, often giving advice to medical staff with limited specialist knowledge thus directly influencing patient care outcomes.

Routinely undertakes assessment of both in-patients and out-patients prior to a range of investigations and uses own discretion in order to ensure the patient is suitable for the investigation.

Gives lead specialist advice during highly complex situations where analytical judgement is required to all other members of the multi-disciplinary team including consultant physicians.

Carries out all aspects of clinical work as approved by their Line Manager.

Lead Specialist in own clinical field. Implements change in own specialist area based on own experience and evidence-based practice.

Works within and towards national guidelines and directives, e.g., NICE guidelines.

Works as an autonomous practitioner within established departmental policies and those recognised by international organisations e.g., American Heart Association, Heart Rhythm Society - UK, Association for Respiratory Technology and Physiology, and Academy for Healthcare Science

Communicates with all members of the multidisciplinary team to ensure the best possible care for patients, including: negotiating, reassurance, empathy, and persuasiveness.

Communicates sensitive information about routine and complex investigations to patients and relatives/carers including children and those with learning and/or physical disabilities.

Calibrates and manipulates a wide range of complex, expensive, technical equipment which process, create, update and store information.

Performs / provides factual reports on a number of the following investigations on a region-wide range of patients including acutely ill paediatric and elderly patients and those with a range of physical and learning disabilities:

These investigations would be dependent on the applicants skill set and area of clinical expertise (Cardiac, Respiratory or Sleep).

- Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX)

- 12 lead electrocardiographs (ECG)

- Advanced ambulatory monitoring techniques

- Advanced haemodynamic assessments/calculations

- Capillary blood gases

- Cardiac ultrasound imaging (TTE)

- Complex Electrophysiology studies and 3D mapping studies

- Complex Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs) implantations

- Complex Permanent Pacemaker (PPM) implantations

- Complex PPM/ICD lead extractions

- Exercise testing under medical supervision

- Field exercise tests

- Fitness to fly assessments

- Full pulmonary function testing

- Mannitol challenge testing

- Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI)

- Physiologist led Exercise Tolerance Testing (ETT)

- Physiologist led PPM and ICD follow-up

- Respiratory muscle assessments

- Routine cardiac angiography and haemodynamic assessment

- Sleep physiology analysis and CPAP.

- Temporary pacemaker insertions

- Therapeutic radiofrequency ablation

Reports equipment faults in accordance with departmental policy.

Demonstrates personal duty of care for safe use of expensive and highly complex equipment. Is responsible for ensuring that others are fully trained in the safe use of such equipment within their specialist area.

Responsible for maintenance of stock levels by ordering from pre-agreed tender schedules and by seeking new resources as service demands change.

Responsible for day-to-day security of expensive equipment, e.g., portable devices.

Professional

Responsible for maintaining own technical competencies in clinical areas.

Responsible for reporting clinical incidents and adverse events to the Service Manager.

Maintain state registration.

Responsible for formal mentorship and coordination of training for designated staff in training within own specialist area.

Provides highly specialist training on a day-to-day basis for doctors and physiologists.

Be an active member of the in-service training programme by attendance at, and participation in, in-service training programmes, tutorials, individual training sessions, external courses and peer review.

Undertakes Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in accordance with Personal Development Plan (PDP) as developed with Line Manager.

Attends and participates in departmental staff meetings.

Maintains and develops current knowledge of evidence-based practice in each clinical area.

Responsible for the implementation and evaluation of capital and consumable equipment prior to purchase to ensure the equipment fulfils both service requirements and budget restrictions.

Frequently undertakes collection of data for use in audit, research projects and equipment testing.

Regularly undertakes clinical trials involving new and emerging technologies.

Regularly provides training in highly specialist physiological techniques to staff members including specialist physiologists and medical staff.

Collaborates with the Service Manager towards changes that may impact the wider service provision.

Organisational

Ability to prioritise and organise the clinical caseload within a designated area of Cardiorespiratory. Includes planning and organisation of expected and acute workload and deployment of more junior staff within that area.

Accountable for the delivery and day to day management of the delegated area of responsibility within their speciality.

Other

Demonstrates the ability to prioritise and organise the clinical caseload within a designated area of Cardiorespiratory. Includes planning and organisation of expected and acute workload and deployment of more junior staff within that area.

To be able to exercise initiative as an autonomous practitioner in specialist areas of the Cardiorespiratory Department. The individual uses his/her discretion to re-adjust plans as the clinical situation/need of the patient changes.

Lead specialist in own clinical field, demonstrating highly specialist in-depth knowledge and theory.

Communicates with all members of the multidisciplinary team to ensure the best possible care for the patient. Including giving detailed advice to other specialist professions which will influence patient care/outcomes. Communication skills including:

- Negotiating, e.g., with physicians who demand investigations not achievable within the service limitations.

- Reassurance, e.g., to patients who are anxious about their clinical findings.

- Persuasiveness, e.g., to young children who are scared to undergo clinical procedures.

Immediate Life Support training essential during procedures performed on acutely ill patients and those at very high risk of sudden cardiac death.

To communicate information about specialist investigations to patients and relatives/carers including children and those with learning and/or physical disabilities.

Performs, analyses and interprets a wide range of highly specialist and complex investigations, e.g., Pacemaker follow-up, Transthoracic echocardiography, physiologist led exercise testing and complex respiratory testing e.g., challenge testing, fitness to fly assessments, blood gases Generates factual reports that are documented in patient clinical notes and/or on relevant databases and directly used to influence patient management. These sources are used to aid audit and compilation of statistical information

Has highly developed level of sensory skills and good hand to eye co-ordination in order to immediately analyse and respond to complex life-threatening physiological signs. Following interpretation of these the Physiologist uses judgemental skills in order to make instantaneous decisions about further patient care.

Has a high level of manual dexterity with enhanced precision and timing skills in order to ensure the accurate application of a range of diagnostic tools, e.g., measurement of cardiac intervals to the nearest millisecond during electrophysiology studies (EPS).

Expected to undertake informal training by means of periodic in-house assessments.

Is forced to deal with confrontation from industry representatives who can be demanding and intrusive.

To comply with the Trusts manual handling policy at all times.