Trust Fellow in Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia (ST3+ Equivalent) inNewcastle upon Tyne inNewcastle upon Tyne PUBLISHED MON 2 DEC 2024

We are delighted to be able to offer an opportunity for a highly motivated, ambitious individual to join our well integrated team in Cardiothoracic Intensive care at the Freeman Hospital.

This post is available to start February 2025 for 12 months in the first instance, with a possible extension to 24 months.

The surgical caseload in this tertiary referral centre consists of approximately 1200 adult cardiac cases per year, including transplantation, aortic surgery, VAD implantation, and adult congenital. There is a well-developed thoracic surgery and cardiopulmonary transplantation programme. We do 30-35 ECMO cases per year, mainly VA ECMO. We provide critical care support to our tertiary cardiology services which include primary PCI, heart failure, TAVI and advanced life support. Transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography is widely used and taught. There is ample opportunity for clinical research and audit.

In addition to the challenges of the role, we can offer you a commitment to teaching, education, research and audit.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.

Please read attached Job Description and Person Specification.

The post is suitable for those candidates who wish to take time out of their training programme or who are already accredited and wish to further training and experience in or cardiothoracic intensive care. It would suit and can be tailored to the needs of applicants from various disciplines such as Anaesthesia, Critical Care, Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery/Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia.

For an informal discussion and further information regarding the opportunity and Directorate, please contact:Dr Vikrant Pathania or Dr Abraham Samuel on EXT: 37488, or or

Please read attached Job Description and Person Specification.

About us

Duties and Responsibilities:

The post is based in our Cardiothoracic Intensive Care unit. The unit has twenty one level three beds (six isolation cubicles) and seven level two beds in an adjoining area. Duties are based in these areas but extend to support deteriorating patients on the wards, support for cardiology emergencies and accompanying patients during transport to other centres.

Intensive care for adult cardiac patients

We work closely with the transplant, VAD and ECMO teams, and the successful candidate will be expected to take a particular interest in the management of our complex patients requiring advanced support. There are twice daily transplant and VAD rounds with further mutual support and joint decision making as required. Freeman is unique in the UK in offering transplant services for all solid organs on one site and there are close ties with experts in other disciplines such as microbiology, radiology and haematology who frequently assist our team.

We support the cardiothoracic surgical programme which includes revascularisation, valve surgery, aortic root surgery, ASD repair, VSD repair, pericardectomy and the successful candidate will be involved in the post operative management of these patients. We are a national centre for adult congenital cardiac surgery and we care for these incredibly complex patients on our ITU following their surgery. Our cardiology colleagues require support for some primary PCI or heart failure patients and we provide support in the management of patients who have had an out of hospital cardiac arrest. We have a thoracic surgical programme which includes laser and stents for major airway obstruction, robotic and minimal invasive lung resection. We have a team specialising in the management of pulmonary hypertension and we provide critical care support for their challenging patients.

We offer advanced haemodynamic monitoring for example by PA catheter and echocardiography. Besides pharmacological cardiovascular support we use various forms of mechanical support such as intra-aortic balloon counter pulsation, Impella, LVAD, RVAD, VV and VA ECMO.

There are two medical ward rounds each day led by a consultant with an interest in Cardiothoracic Critical Care. Our morning round which is concerned with the detail of patient management and and there is an evening business round to plan for overnight care.

We have a multidisciplinary approach, working closely with, for example nursing, physiotherapy, microbiology, nutrition, pain, psychology, speech and language therapy.

The trust is in the process of adopting a paperless medical record. Our medicines prescription, administration, investigation ordering and results with various documentations are electronic, and we will be adopting a fully paperless system for critical care medical and nursing records in the near future.

Echocardiography

The appointee will have the opportunity to acquire a working knowledge of the fundamentals of echocardiography during the tenure of the post. The cardiothoracic anaesthetic department runs a week long TOE course twice a year. The appointee will be encouraged to get accredited with British Society of Echocardiography or European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging in Trans-oseophageal Echo with all possible help for theory exams and collection of cases for logbook.

Post-operative analgesia techniques, with special reference to thoracic surgery

Attendance on pain ward rounds is offered.

Cardiothoracic Theatres

Post is predominantly in ITU however attendance/experience in cardiothoracic theatres can be offered according to convenience of the department.

Audit and research

The appointee will be encouraged to undertake audit and research projects during the post.

Education

The appointee will be encouraged to participate in teaching for medical students, nursing staff and less experienced trainees, and to undertake the preparation of topical reviews. There are weekly departmental educational meetings which are co-ordinated by the Specialist Trainees.

On-call

There is a 2-tier rotational trainee / fellow rota, with advanced critical care practitioners participating in the first tier rota. A rotating ST3+ from the Northern region or an ACCP will be on a full shift rota covering ITU mainly. The appointee will be 2nd on-call on a full rota covering predominantly ITU, but providing support to theatres if required or appropriate.

The Trust Fellow appointed to this post will be allocated a consultant educational supervisor. He/she will be expected to maintain a logbook of activity, to ensure that his/her training can be easily reviewed and optimised in conjunction with the educational supervisor. This logbook should be made available for external assessment if required.

Medical Training Initiative Information

If an applicant requires Royal College of Anaesthetics sponsorship via the Medical Training Initiative scheme in order to obtain GMC registration, they will need to meet all the following requirements and to apply for a Tier 5 visa:

A. Have a basic medical qualification acceptable to the GMC;

B. Have completed at least one year in an internship post (Pre-registration House Officer).

C. Have been qualified as a doctor for at least three years;

D. Provide evidence of having worked a minimum 3 years out of the last 5 years outside of the European Union in anaesthesia and intensive care, including the most recent 12 months;

E. Provide evidence of good standing from the applicants local Medical Regulatory Council;

F. Demonstrate knowledge of English by obtaining an overall score of 7.0, with minimum scores of 7.0 in speaking, listening, reading and writing, in the 'Academic' test of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). N.B IELTS certificates are valid for only two years;

G. Have not previously attempted any part of the PLAB Test;

H. At time of MTI application, (IMG) must be living and working outside of the UK and European Union for the last 12 months minimum;

I. Provide evidence of at least 3 years anaesthesia training outside of the UK and European Union;

J. Provide two structured, supportive references from supervising consultants, both must have worked with applicant within the last 5 years;

Provide evidence of postgraduate qualification acceptable to the RCoA (eg MD Anaesthesia).

Flexibility:

In line with the Trusts core value of placing patients at the heart of everything we do, we are developing our service provision to be responsive to the needs of our patients. To meet those needs some staff groups will be increasingly asked to work a more flexible work pattern so that they can offer services in the evening or weekend. As a result any offer of employment to a consultant post will be subject to you agreeing to work a new more flexible pattern or working in the future if required, including evening and weekend work.

Please read attached Job Description and Person Specification.