Consultant Microbiologist
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust
Job overview
We are looking for 2 friendly, enthusiastic infection specialists to join the existing consultant to provide infection and infection prevention advice to DGFT and the wider community. The posts will be based at Russells’s Hall Hospital, Dudley. The posts are full time, but applications are welcome from individuals wishing to work part time.
The BCPS Microbiology service is of a significant size and provides opportunity for:
- Joint working on antimicrobial stewardship and IPC policies
- Case review (peer review) meetings
- Development of ID services (for a suitably qualified candidate)
- Research
- Excellent training for junior doctors (currently 1 ST grade at RWT and 2 ST grades at SWBH)
- Combined CPD meetings
The successful candidates will join the current BCPS Consultants as they work together to develop this agenda.
Microbiology medical staff at all sites have access to attend the Hub laboratory, to support troubleshooting, quality improvement, and innovation in the speciality. Each consultant has been allocated a laboratory section to lead. There is the option for consultants to have a regular attendance at the hub laboratory built into their job plan if desired
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The appointees will provide a clinical advisory service with continuing responsibility for care of patients with infections in liaison with clinical consultant colleagues. The clinical work will include ward liaison, ITU ward rounds and development of clinical guidelines. The post holder will attend MDT meetings as required and will support antimicrobial stewardship and OPAT.
The appointees will be expected to provide a comprehensive microbiology service including authorisation and interpretation of results and liaison with the hub laboratory. There is the opportunity to work one day alternate weeks at the hub laboratory enabling involvement with clinical governance and development of laboratory SOPs.
Working for our organisation
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust is one of the largest NHS trusts in the West Midlands providing primary, acute and community services and we are incredibly proud of the diversity of both our staff and the communities we serve. We are building a workforce that can help us to fulfil our values, improve the quality of care for patients, and solve the health care problems of tomorrow. We’re passionate about the value that diversity of thinking and lived experience brings in enabling us to become a learning organisation and leader in delivering compassionate care for our patients.
We are delighted that we have been rated as “Good” by CQC. We have achieved numerous awards; The Nursing Times Best Diversity and Inclusion Practice and Best UK Employer of the Year for Nursing Staff in 2020.
The Trust is a supportive working environment committed to creating flexible working arrangements that suit your needs and as such will consider all requests from applicants who wish to work flexibly.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
It is anticipated that some of the activities listed below will evolve as BCPS develops.
- To liaise with clinicians, hospital staff and general practitioners in the diagnosis, management and prevention of infection in collaboration with the existing Consultant Microbiologist. This will include positive blood culture ward rounds including a regular critical care round to review the most unwell patients, ward rounds with the antimicrobial pharmacist to the acute admissions areas to provide support and review of key antimicrobial prescribing decisions based on alert antimicrobial usage and the review of individual complex patients by request from consultant colleagues.
- Together with all the BCPS Microbiology consultants ensure that professional standards are maintained in the laboratory. Safety, quality assurance and standards required to satisfy UKAS accreditation are the duty of all staff.
- Authorisation and interpretation of results issued by the laboratory.
- In conjunction with the Clinical Lead and the clinical governance committee and in co-operation with the Service lead (BMS) to ensure that the service is cost-effective and that tests are clinically relevant.
- To provide, in conjunction with the Infection Control & Prevention Doctor, infection prevention and control advice to DGFT and the wider community and to assist in the implementation of infection & prevention policies.
- To co-operate with the UK-HSA West Midlands and Environmental Health Officers in management and prevention of communicable diseases within the community.
- To undertake on-call consultative microbiology in co-operation with the team of Consultant Microbiologists. This includes a commitment to undertake weeknight and weekend on-call. It is expected that the post-holder will do 6 hours of predictable DCC on Saturday when on-call and Monday is given as time off in lieu for this. Cover for absence (study/annual leave or illness) will usually be arranged between the Consultants.
- To formulate and assist in implementation of policies for the use of antimicrobials in DGFT. Support of antimicrobial stewardship and where appropriate attendance at antimicrobial stewardship committee and medicines management committee meetings.
- To participate in the planning of pathology services in co-operation with other Consultant Pathologists within BCPS.
- To participate in audit activities.
- To participate in the Trusts’ Undergraduate Medical Training Programme for students from Birmingham University Medical School. Also, to participate in postgraduate teaching programmes for medical, laboratory and nursing staff.
- To develop relevant research interests. Laboratory space is restricted however projects may be accommodated within the laboratory.
- To participate in the Royal College of Pathologists programme for Continuing Professional Development, as outlined in College guidelines published in January 1999 to include elements of Microbiology and Virology. Both financial support and time are available for study leave by agreement with the Clinical Director for BCPS.
The four partner Trusts of the Black Country Provider Collaborative (Dudley Group NHS FT, Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust, and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust) are actively working in partnership to deliver a collective vision focused on providing "better, faster and safer care to the population of the Black Country and beyond".
To support these visions, we are actively looking at new models of care which:
- Better protect elective / planned care service delivery across the system by organising on a 'hot and cold' arrangement
- Consider optimal use of resources through consolidation and specialisation, and
- Seeks to reduce unwarranted variance, level up / standardise care through a 'Networked service solution' approach across the four sites
Against this context, although this post is hosted by The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, there may be an expectation to work flexibly across the four partner Trusts to better meet patient and service needs.
Flexible Working - As a major employer in the Black Country and West Birmingham region we are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work life balance. We want the Black Country and West Birmingham region to be the best place to work and as such will consider all requests to work flexibly taking into account personal and individual circumstances alongside the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the Recruiting Manager as part of the on-boarding process.
Qualifications - Please be advised that if the post that you are applying for requires any level of qualification (e.g. A-Levels, Degree etc) or Professional Registration (e.g. Nursing and Midwifery Council, General Medical Council etc) you will be required to provide proof as part of the pre-employment process. By submitting your application you are giving the Trust permission to check the qualification certificates provided back to the source provider. Please note that a sample of all applicant’s qualifications will be checked with the educational institution or provider. Furthermore, a sample of all applicants’ qualifications will be checked back to the educational institution or provider to interview letters to further deter fraud.