Nuclear Medicine Lead Clinical Scientist - Regional Support Lead

Job summary

We are recruiting for a Nuclear Medicine Lead Clinical Scientist who shares our vision to be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service to our patients.

The nuclear medicine department is part of the wider radiation services team at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre. We are looking for a lead clinical scientist to provide MPE, RPA and RWA support for the Trust and to support nuclear medicine services in a number of external Trusts under service level agreements.

The nuclear medicine department provides diagnostic, in-vitro investigations and radionuclide therapies to cancer and non-cancer patients and provides specialist scientific advice and technical support to nuclear medicine services within the Trust and to nuclear medicine services at other hospitals.

You will be a HCPC registered Clinical Scientist, qualified to act as an RPA, RWA and MPE in nuclear medicine. As an experienced and committed clinical scientist you will lead the delivery of scientific and technical support to nuclear medicine services.

You will have plenty of opportunities to manage staff as the department is currently accredited for STP training and also has a number of staff Route 2, practitioner training programs and apprenticeships.

At the heart of everything we do are our core values: Include, Respect, and Improve. We encourage you to embrace these values throughout the recruitment process and in your role with us.

Main duties of the job

1. Lead on the provision of radiation protection and scientific support to several hospitals. Working closely with the head of nuclear medicine you will be part of the leadership team delivering services to a number of Trusts.
2. Work alongside local service leads to ensure organisations deliver statutory obligations with respect to the safe use of ionising radiation.
3. Support and line manage clinical scientists, contribute to staff development and assist in the supervision of trainees undertaking the STP programme or equivalent.
4. Lead on the implementation, development and optimization of nuclear medicine imaging, including CT in SPECT/CT.
5. Lead on QA programs for nuclear medicine equipment.
6. Participate in the delivery of clinical Nuclear Medicine services provided by the department.

About us

At East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, we are proud of the range of general & specialist services we provide & our 6,000 or so dedicated staff ensure our patients get the best care. Our ability to be flexible & innovative in the way in which we work and deliver our services to our catchment has never been more important than it is now.

We run the following hospitals:

• The Lister Hospital, Stevenage
• New Queen Elizabeth II (New QEII), Welwyn Garden City
• Hertford County, Hertford
• Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC), Northwood

We have ambitious plans to become an outstanding, patient-led Trust where dedicated staff provide high-quality, compassionate care to our patients. We continue to undergo significant transformation; our staff & patients are at the heart of delivering this ambitious agenda.

We understand that finding and starting a new job is an important life decision. If you need reasonable adjustments for a disability, or a life event, such as menopause - so that we can consider your application fairly & to get the best out of you during the selection process, please let us know.

We are committed to a positive work life balance for our employees. Employees are entitled to seek to work flexible working patterns & we are committed to listen and consider all requests. Such requests, of course, have to be made & considered formally, & will need to be balanced against service needs, but our starting point will always be to find ways to support making them happen.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• BSc Honours degree in Physics, Medical Physics
• Masters degree in Medical Physics, Medical Imaging or similar
• HCPC Registered Clinical Scientist
• RPA2000 Certified Medical Physics Expert (MPE) in Nuclear Medicine
• Evidence of continuous professional development

Desirable

• PhD in a related field
• Corporate IPEM membership
• Chartered Scientist (CSi)
• Post-graduate research expertise in a related field
• RPA 2000 certification for RWA
• RPA certification for RPA

Previous Experience

Essential

• Work with ionising radiation
• Used to working in multidisciplinary teams
• Experience in diagnostic Nuclear Medicine / PET image analysis and processing applications
• Experience of protocol development and optimisation, including multi-modality optimisation
• Experience in Molecular Radionuclide Therapy and Dosimetry
• Experience in QA for SPECT/CT, PET/CT, calibrators, intraoperative probes, and gamma counters
• Evidence of working at MPE level in diagnostic nuclear medicine, PET and radionuclide therapy
• Experience of patient involvement; providing appropriate counselling regarding procedures and radiation risks
• Demonstrated experience providing advice to stakeholders on compliance with the IR(ME)R regulations
• Practical experience in Radiation Protection related to NM and PET

Desirable

• Experience of evaluation and procurement of nuclear medicine equipment
• Experience of working with / supervising trainees on STP, route 2 or other training schemes
• Experience of participation in research or development, presentation, publication of scientific work

Skills

Essential

• Must be able to manipulate radioactive substances with care and precision
• Must be able to operate sensitive radiation detection and imaging equipment with care and precision
• Proficiency in operating a variety of medical image processing systems and working with radiation equipment, some of which is heavy
• Ability to solve scientific / technical problems
• Able to lead projects for the introduction of new equipment or new techniques in nuclear medicine
• Able to communicate and work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team
• Able to communicate highly complex information across professional boundaries
• Able to work with complex and unpredictable situations
• Excellent oral and written presentation skills

Knowledge

Essential

• Extensive specialist knowledge of Medical Physics and Nuclear Medicine
• Knowledge of the principles and practical issues of the use of radioactive materials in humans, and the associated radiation detection and measuring equipment
• Knowledge and experience of applying IRMER2017 and IRR2017 in nuclear medicine to enable advice to be given and to allow policies and protocols to be developed
• Sufficient knowledge and experience to act as a Medical Physics Expert in Nuclear Medicine

Desirable

• Sufficient knowledge and experience to act as a Medical Physics Expert in PET
• An understanding of computer systems, programming and networking.
• Knowledge of other imaging modalities

Other Requirements

Essential

• Ability to travel across sites
• Ability to work under pressure with multiple and varied demands throughout the working day
• Professional appearance and agreeable manner as the post involves working at other organisations
• Analytical skills for the highly complex analysis of patient studies and research and development data
• Strong numerical and statistical skills, including the ability to use spreadsheets and statistics software packages
• Ability to show initiative
• Knowledge of general IT software packages (MS Office)
• Some working outside of core hours is required
• Honest
• Open minded, treats colleagues with dignity and respect
• Concern for the well-being of patients and a commitment to work for the aims of the department and the Trust.
• Experience and evidence of engagement around equality, diversity and inclusion issues in relation to policy, service development and service delivery in respect of both services to users and the management of staff
• Role model our Trust values every day

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.
UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration.