At our Paediatric Unit, we prioritise quality and compassion, offering both highly specialised acute medical care and innovative services such as our Children's Hospital at Home nursing team. This unique approach allows us to support families while focusing on the most unwell patients. Your role will encompass clinical governance, teaching, and participating in enriching departmental activities like Grand Rounds and protected teaching sessions. As you lead in audits and embrace research opportunities alongside experienced specialists, you will not only grow professionally but also help shape the future of paediatric care. Bring your caring nature and expertise to a role that truly values your contribution—you’ll find your passion for care fulfilled at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
This post is for a Senior Clinical Fellow in Paediatrics. This is a fixed-term wholetime post offering an exciting opportunity for a highly motivated medic to join a dynamic, rapidly expanding team delivering multidisciplinary acute care in Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals.The successful candidate must hold full registration with the GMC and have existing right to live and work in the UK, at the time of application.
There is a requirement for on-calls with this role, paid at banding supplement 1A.
This is a full-time post and the holder will be expected to work flexibly on the Tier 2 rota of 1 in 12. Duties will cover all areas in the Department including inpatients, the Children's Observation ward, Outpatients, the Neonatal Unit, Paediatric Emergency Department and Maternity Unit for high risk deliveries.The role also encompasses elements of Clinical Audit, Clinical Governance, teaching of medical students, nursing staff and junior doctors.
About us
Department Facilities
The primary aim of the Paediatric Unit is to provide the best possible quality of acute medical care for the children from our local community. This includes services for the newborn as well as the care of children and young people. Our philosophy of care is one of quality, both in excellence of medical care and in the flexibility of service provision.
The Department has pioneered different approaches to Paediatric care. We have a successful Childrens Hospital at Home nursing team which enables us to extend the range of acute care that we can offer in a way that is very responsive to the needs of children, young people and their families. It allows medical staff to concentrate on the most severely unwell children and babies and also offers our excellent team of children's trained nurses the opportunity to care for patients in a very individual and responsive way. All shift leaders on the wards are Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS) trained.
There are Paediatric Nurse Specialists/Senior Nurse teams who work with children who have Diabetes, Respiratory diseases (including cystic fibrosis, BPD, asthma and allergies), Epilepsy and Complex Health Needs. There are 5 Advanced Paediatric Nurse Practitioners (APNPs) who provide a nurse led Childrens Observation Ward, a clinical service supporting on occasion the SHO rota in addition to senior nursing duties.
The Trust has a Nurse Specialist for Safeguarding Children who works closely with the clinical staff and with the Named Consultant, Named Nurse and Named Midwife for Safeguarding..
Paediatric and Neonatal Facilities
Paediatric inpatient services at Whiston Hospital are as follows:
Ward 3F
Combines all inpatient speciality paediatric beds both medical and elective surgery including 2 dedicated paediatric high dependency beds, open 24 hours a day. The ward also accommodates the childrens phlebotomy service
The Department is responsible for looking after all children admitted with head injury, and also provides pre- and post-operative oversight of children admitted to the hospital under the care of consultants from other specialities within the Trust.
Childrens Observation Ward (ChObs)
Located adjacent to the dedicated Childrens Emergency Department
Neonatal Unit
The Neonatal Unit is a Level 2 unit, located adjacent to the Delivery Suite at Whiston Hospital. There are ventilators and nasal CPAP machines on the Unit and facilities to ventilate babies short-term prior to transfer out to a Level 3 unit. Babies under 27 weeks gestation and also those who require long-term ventilation/intensive care are transferred to the Regional Level 3 Neonatal Units. The Neonatal Unit also has a portable ultrasound scanner.
Paediatric Outpatient Facilities
General Paediatric Outpatient Clinics are held at Whiston, St Helens, and Newton Community Hospitals and Lowe House Community Hub in St Helens. Specialist clinics for diabetes, asthma, cystic fibrosis, BPD, cardiology, epilepsy and haematology are held regularly in the Hospitals. Joint clinics are held with visiting specialist consultants in the fields of paediatric neurology, epilepsy and cystic fibrosis.
Duties and Responsibilities
This is a full-time post and the holder will be expected to work flexibly on the 1 in 12 Tier 2 rota. Duties will cover all areas in the Department including inpatients, the Childrens Observation Unit, Outpatients, the Neonatal Unit, Paediatric Emergency Department and Maternity Unit for high-risk deliveries.
The post holder will be allocated to support consultant outpatient clinics and undertake a Registrar review clinic to see ward follow ups on specific allocated weeks on the rota.
The role also encompasses elements of Clinical Audit, Clinical Governance, teaching of medical students, nursing staff and junior doctors.
Regular Departmental activities include:
1. Daily Consultant Post Take Ward Round
2. Audit on a bi-monthly basis
3. Specialist Clinics as detailed above
4. Paediatric Grand Rounds/Topic Presentation Friday AM
5. Protected Teaching for ST1-3 and F1/2 grades Wednesday AM
The successful candidate will have the opportunity to rotate through a sub specialist clinic of their choice in cardiology, diabetes, epilepsy and respiratory.
On-Call Sessions
The rota provides robust clinical cover 24 hours a day with 2 registrars working night shift.
When on call, the Senior Clinical Fellow will supervise paediatric Tier 1 doctors working on the General Paediatric Wards, Emergency Department, Neonatal Unit as well as the Labour and Postnatal Wards. The post holder will be resident when on call. Consultant Paediatric advice will be available when needed. The post holder will also undertake to be available exceptionally for such irregular commitments outside normal scheduled hours as are essential for continuity of care.
Educational Supervision and Appraisal
The post holder will be allocated an educational supervisor who will meet with them at least 3 times a year to discuss training needs and progress.
The post holder will also enrol in The Trusts appraisal programme and join the electronic system with allocated appraiser to ensure appraisal occurs annually. The post holder is responsible for arranging their appraisal on the due date.
Research and Audit
The department has very active audit and research programmes with lead consultant for Audit (Dr Elbadri) and lead consultant for Research (Dr Garr).
The post holder will be expected to become involved in both audit and research during their employment with the Trust.
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