Highly Specialised Physiologist

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is situated on the west coast of Lancashire, with services covering the local authority areas of Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre. The Trust is part of the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System (ICS) supporting a population of around 1.6 million people. We have three main hospitals providing acute services to around 330,000 local residents. The organisation also provides specialist tertiary care for cardiac and haematology services, delivers community health services to over 445,000 residents including those in North Lancashire and hosts the National Artificial Eye Service across England. Plus, we provide urgent and emergency care services to an estimated 18 million people who visit the seaside resort each year.

The Lancashire Cardiac Centre is a tertiary cardiac provider for the people of Lancashire & Cumbria. The centre has well-established invasive and non-invasive services covering a wide range of diagnostic and treatment including cardiac intervention, structural cardiac procedures including TAVI, device implantation including ICDs and CRTs, extraction, electrophysiology and mapping procedures. We are looking to recruit experienced cardiac sonographers in the Cardiac Investigations Unit. The successful candidates will work as part of a highly skilled team of sonographers alongside the Imaging consultants to deliver the busy service. The specialised team perform over 13,000 TTEs, 650 Dobutamine and Exercise Stress Echocardiography each year as well as the advanced techniques within Cardiac Ultrasound such as Transesophageal echo (TOE), 3D TTE/TOE and Contrast Echocardiography. As part of our tertiary centre work, we also provide Paediatric and Adult Congenital Echocardiography in partnership with Liverpool and Alder Hey.

Main duties of the job:

• To perform routine and specialist, complex investigations such as transoesophageal echo, stress echo, 3D echo, contrast studies and inter-procedural TOE, interpreting the results and producing a clinical report by applying advanced theoretical knowledge.
• To review Echo studies and reports performed by others and provide highly specialised advice on interpretation and reporting.
• To provide specialist advice to clinicians regarding procedure results to enable development of individual care plans as appropriate.
• To undertake complex troubleshooting and maintenance of imaging equipment and any other equipment within the department.
• Perform and interpret a variety of non-invasive cardiology procedures such as ECG and blood pressure monitoring as may be required during various imaging procedures.
• Interpret a variety of invasive cardiology procedures such as left and right angiography for use in performing stress echocardiography.
• To participate and actively support research and development activities and clinical trials within the department.
• To provide input to the departmental databases for audit and analysis of procedures and results and ensure that these are updated by all users.
• Collaborate and actively assist the echo service manager when creating business plans for improvement and development of new services in echocardiography.

Person specification:

• Education and Qualification: BSc Clinical Physiology or equivalent, Immediate Life Support or Advanced Life Support, Register Academy of Health care Scientists (AHCS), Active Membership of at least one of the following: British Cardiac Society (BCS), Society of Cardiological Technicians (SCST).
• Experience and Knowledge: Evidence of ongoing personal development, evidence of continual professional development, interested in research in the area of echocardiography, proven expertise in advanced echocardiography, grown-up congenital heart disease experience.
• Skills and Ability: Dynamic & enthusiastic, interpretation of investigations and findings, able to produce structured and relevant reports, extensive knowledge of national professional and NHS guidelines relating to service provision and quality, personal development in areas of leadership, NHS management training/experience, knowledge of financial management, resource allocation and procurement, experience in service planning and development.

If the role you have applied for requires a Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) check we will administer this as part of your pre-employment checks. Please note, you will be required to repay the cost on appointment. This will be collected via a salary deduction. You can choose whether to pay this over 1-3 months from your salary or as a one-off payment on commencement in post. The level of check required depends on the role that you have been offered. Currently the charges are - Basic DBS check £25.50, Standard DBS check £25.50 and Enhanced DBS check £53.50. You are encouraged where possible, to register for the DBS update service. This is an annual registration fee of £16. By registering for the update service you will not have the additional cost of repeated disclosures. Should you withdraw your application, you may be required to reimburse the cost of the DBS check. DBS checks remain free of charge for volunteer positions.

Please note that every effort will be made to keep the vacancy live until published closing date, though there may be instances where such interest is generated, that for administrative reasons the post may close earlier. Please note that in line with national NHS guidelines this Trust operates a strict non-smoking policy. Members of staff are not permitted to smoke on Trust premises or grounds at any time nor take breaks during working hours for the purposes of smoking. The Trust does not offer interview expenses to shortlisted candidates unless indicated in the advert.