Consultant Neuropathologist

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Department of Clinical Neuropathology, King's College Hospital NHS Trust

Applications are invited for the post of Consultant in Neuropathology (full time 10 PAs) at the Department of Clinical Neuropathology, King's College Hospital NHS Trust, London. This is a replacement post after the retirement of a consultant in the department.

The department of clinical neuropathology at King's College Hospital has integrated units and teams including neuro histology/autopsy, neuro muscular (muscle, nerve biopsies, intra epidermal fibre density and electron microscopy), molecular and neuro-genetic for brain tumours and brain bank with a total staff of 36. The molecular neuropathology unit provides full services for brain tumour diagnosis including Methylation array, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) for paediatric and adult brain tumours.

Together with the other three consultant neuropathologists, the duty of the post is to provide neuropathology diagnostic services for King's College Hospital and King's Health Partners and the brain bank with a 1:4 on-call rota.

The successful candidate is expected to have experience in the diagnosis of brain tumours, genetics of brain tumours, muscle and nerve biopsies, and neuro-degenerative brain diseases.

Main duties of the job

The post will be based at Denmark Hill and the proposed Job Plan (10 PAs) is attached. This is subject to review within 3 months of the postholder commencing in post. The On-Call commitment is for a 1:4 rota which is classed as category A. There is a commitment to undertake routine job planned work on Saturdays or Sundays as part of the total job planned PAs.

All employees are expected to undertake work on any of the Trust's sites as required by the service. As a senior employee of the Trust, you will work in close cooperation with, and support other clinical, medical professional and managerial colleagues in providing high quality healthcare to the Trust's patients. Integral to these responsibilities are the following:

• The provision of a first-class clinical service
• Effective leadership to all staff engaged in the specialty
• Sustaining and developing teaching and research in conjunction with King's College London / KHP
• Undertaking all work in accordance with the Trust's procedures and operating policies
• Conducting clinical practice in accordance with contractual requirements and within the parameters of the Trust's service plans
• Maintaining the confidence of business plans and development strategies formulated for the specialty, the Care Group, or the Trust

About us

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK's largest and busiest teaching Trusts - and we are delighted you are considering a career with us. Our teams provide services out of five hospitals across South East London and Kent, namely King's College Hospital, the Princess Royal University Hospital, Orpington Hospital, Queen Mary's Hospital Sidcup, and Beckenham Beacon.

We employ nearly 14,000 staff, who together treat over 1.5 million patients every year. We provide a full range of local and specialist services, and our teams are nationally and internationally recognized for our work in liver disease and transplantation, neurosciences, cardiac, haemato-oncology, fetal medicine, stroke, major trauma, and emergency medicine.

Our Strong Roots, Global Reach strategy, published in 2021, sets out our BOLD vision, and commitment towards:

1. Brilliant People
2. Outstanding care
3. Leaders in Research, Innovation and Education
4. Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at the heart of everything we do.

At King's, we are proud to serve a diverse range of communities, and our staff reflect the diversity of the communities we serve, with many people also traveling from all over the world to start and develop their careers with us.

Job responsibilities

The applicant must hold Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists or European Board of Neuropathology or equivalent qualification. The applicant must hold Full and Specialist registration (and with a licence to practise) with the General Medical Council (GMC), or be eligible for registration within six months of interview. If the applicant is UK trained, they must also be a holder of a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT), or be within six months of award of CCT by date of interview. If the applicant is non-UK trained, they will be required to show evidence of equivalence to the UK CCT. Experience in pathology and at least four years in neuropathology is essential.

The applicant must have demonstrable skills in listening, reading, writing, and speaking in English that enable effective communication about medical topics with patients and colleagues, as set out in the GMC's Good Medical Practice (2013). Non-UK applicants must possess the IELTS/OET exam before obtaining a GMC licence to practice.

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Together with other colleagues, to provide a high quality care service to patients. This includes all aspects of treatment and relevant management duties for the proper functioning of the Care Group.
2. Shared responsibility with other colleagues for providing 24 hours, 7 days a week cover for the Unit on a rota basis. Responsible also for covering colleagues' periods of annual leave and short-term sickness as detailed in your contract.
3. Provide clinical supervision of junior medical/dental practitioners as a shared responsibility with other consultant colleagues.
4. Responsible for carrying out teaching, examination and accreditation duties as required and contributing to CPD and clinical governance initiatives.
5. Responsible for outpatient clinic commitments in peripheral hospitals as agreed with the Care Group's management team where part of the service structure.
6. Contribute to the Care Group's research interests in accordance with the Trust's R&D framework.
7. Contribute to the audit programmes, Morbidity and Mortality, Clinical Governance programmes and Learning from Deaths.
8. Take an active role in the formulation, implementation and monitoring of the Care Group's Business Plan. This may include assisting with discussions regarding service plans and developments with internal and external agencies.
9. Conduct all activities within the contracted level of service and operating plan for service(s).
10. Exercise professional leadership for all staff working in the specialty. This will include fostering and developing projects focused towards these ends and ensuring that the momentum of post-qualification professional education and other appropriate training is maintained.
11. Work in conjunction with clinical and other professional colleagues to ensure that the productivity of staff within the specialty is maintained and their job satisfaction is enhanced. This may include involvement in the appraisal process for peers and/or junior colleagues.
12. Undertake Care Group management duties as agreed with the Care Group/Departmental Manager/Clinical Director.
13. Be aware of, and comply with, all Trust infection prevention and control policies, to include hand hygiene, personal hygiene, environmental and food hygiene.
14. Prepare for and undertake the protective interventions that you are responsible for in a manner that is consistent with evidence-based practice and maintaining patient safety.
15. King's is committed to providing Consultant led 7-day services and in the event of future developments the post holder would be expected to contribute equally with other Consultant colleagues.

GENERAL INFORMATION

1. You have a general duty of care for the health, safety and well-being of yourself, work colleagues, visitors and patients within the hospital in addition to any specific risk management or clinical governance responsibilities associated with this post.
2. You are required to observe the rules, policies, procedures and standards of King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust together with all relevant statutory and professional obligations, including complying with statutory and Trust core training.
3. You are required to observe and maintain strict confidentiality of personal information relating to patients and staff.
4. You are required to be responsible, with management support, for your own personal development and to actively contribute to the development of colleagues.
5. The postholder has an important responsibility for, and contribution to make to, infection control and must be familiar with the infection control and hygiene requirements of this role. These requirements are set out in the National Code of Practice on Infection Control and in local policies and procedures, which will be made clear during your induction and subsequent refresher training. These standards must be strictly complied with at all times.
6. All employees must hold an 'nhs.net' email account, which will be the Trust's formal route for email communication. You are therefore required to check this regularly and to deal with such communication promptly.
7. The Trust is committed to the Health and Wellbeing of all its staff and offers a range of guidance and services to support them, including:

• Local occupational health support
• Employee Assistance Programme which provides a wide range of support for work and personal issues, including relationship problems (personal and at work); anxiety/depression; finance/debt; work overload; legal matters; bullying; consumer issues; bereavement; pressure/stress; child care; and care of the elderly/disabled.
• Wellbeing hubs
• Proactive local organisational systems to support staff following a serious incident
• Availability of local initiatives and resources to promote workforce wellbeing
• Coaching and mentoring, peer review groups and participation

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Registerable basic medical qualification such as MBBS or equivalent
• Final FRCPath or equivalent
• Other higher degree or diploma (e.g., MD)

Registration

• Full Registration with GMC
• Name on GMC Specialist Register on date of taking up appointment

Training and Experience

• Wide experience in all aspects of Neuropathology, culminating in award of Certificate of Completion of Training by GMC, or award of Certificate of Eligibility for Specialty Registration (CESR) by GMC

Administration

• Experience in day to day organisation of diagnostic laboratory services in a busy clinical and teaching Hospital
• Familiarity with information technology and general computer skills
• Familiar with current structure of UK National Health Service and conversant with recent initiatives and changes

Management and Leadership

• Able to demonstrate leadership capability within multi-disciplinary teams
• Management course and/or qualification

Audit and Quality Improvement

• Thorough understanding of principles of medical audit
• Must have undertaken and completed audit projects
• Audit Publications

Research and Publications

• Experience of clinical research
• Publication of relevant review articles or case reports
• Relevant research experience in one or more aspects of neuropathology

Teaching

• Experience of undergraduate and post-graduate teaching and exam preparation
• Teaching skills course/qualification

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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.

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

£105,504 to £139,882 a year per annum excl. London zone Allowance.