Lead Physicist (Bristol)

Overview

As a Lead Physicist with us, you\’ll play a pivotal role in radiotherapy physics on site. You will be a Medical Physics Expert (MPE) closely involved in radiotherapy treatment, dosimetry, calibration, and QA of the Linac and associated equipment. You will manage maintenance and issues for the Linac and equipment in collaboration with local engineers, oversee radiotherapy treatment planning and patient dosimetry on site, and contribute to service improvements both on-site and companywide.

What You\’ll Do

• Be the radiotherapy Medical Physics Expert (MPE) on site and work as part of the GenesisCare radiotherapy MPE team, closely involved in all radiotherapy treatment; collaborate with radiographers, clinical oncologists and other clinical staff and support the centre manager/lead radiographer in all aspects of safe and effective radiotherapy treatment delivery.
• Be specifically involved as an MPE in any plan or treatment on site that is unusual or varies from standard policy/procedure, or be fully aware of such situations where another MPE has been involved; if involved in such a situation for another site, fully inform the MPE on that site.
• Gain competence in the entire patient pathway to provide redundancy and the ability to problem solve issues that arise.
• Responsible for training and reviewing the skills of all clinical staff on site in radiotherapy machine QA and dosimetry, machine maintenance tasks, patient dosimetry, treatment planning and checking, and ensuring up-to-date training records for these categories are in place for all staff.
• Have overall responsibility for calibration of the Linac on site traceable to NPL standard.
• Be responsible for calibration of all dosimetry equipment on site.
• Be responsible for all other Linac QA on site, including IMRT patient-specific QA, daily and weekly QA, and all other scheduled or unscheduled QA.
• Be responsible for all radiotherapy-related QA on patient imaging equipment on site (CT/MR scanners, IGRT etc), including daily QA and regular radiotherapy QA.
• Have responsibility and oversight of all QA on site carried out by other staff (technologists, radiographers, dosimetrists, etc.).
• Work as part of the GenesisCare physics and dosimetry team and contribute to ongoing improvement and development of the physics and dosimetry service at all treatment centres.
• Liaise with, and give assistance to, in-house and/or manufacturers\’ engineers in case of machine or equipment downtime or failure, including out-of-hours work as necessary.
• Liaise with in-house and/or manufacturers\’ engineers over scheduled servicing and maintenance, including out-of-hours work as necessary.
• Maintain up-to-date and thorough records of all machine and equipment downtime, failure, maintenance and FCOS.
• Provide scientific and technical responsibility for patient dosimetry and treatment planning on site, including data and software.
• Provide oversight of all staff on site carrying out patient dosimetry and treatment planning, ensuring adherence to GenesisCare policies and procedures and staff competence.
• Carry out patient dosimetry and planning and plan-checking as required to support the dosimetrist on-site and to support treatment planning on other GenesisCare sites.
• Work with the Radiation Protection Supervisor (RPS) to ensure all radiation protection requirements are met and good practices followed on site.
• Maintain own Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in accordance with GenesisCare and professional standards.

Qualifications & Experience

• Extensive clinical experience as a Radiotherapy Physicist such that the post-holder is considered a Medical Physics Expert (for the purposes of IRR2017 etc.).
• Extensive experience with Linac Quality Assurance & dose calibration.
• Experience with Elekta LINACs and Mosaiq is desirable but not essential.
• Experienced in advanced IMRT/VMAT treatment planning techniques and plan checking; Pinnacle TPS experience is desirable but not essential.
• VMAT patient-specific QA.
• Electron planning & treatment.
• CT scanner QA.
• Problem-solving, self-management (organised and self-motivated), team-working, and interpersonal and communication skills to deal confidently and diplomatically with doctors and colleagues when issues arise.
• Able to teach and train clinical colleagues (Doctors, Radiographers, Dosimetrists, Technologists, physicists, etc.).
• Able to present and explain technical aspects of radiotherapy to non-clinical/non-technical staff (e.g., BDMS, visitors, patients).
• Advanced user of Microsoft Excel; statistical analysis; comfortable delivering oral presentations.
• Experience with MRI, 4DCT, Stereotactic/SABR, FFF MV X-Ray dosimetry is desirable but not essential.
• IGRT experience desirable.
• Previous experience in the UK Private Health Sector is desirable.

Other Requirements

• Registration with the UK HealthCare Professions Council (HCPC) as a Clinical Scientist in Radiotherapy Specialism and Medical Physics Expert Status on the RPA2000 register. Suitable candidates without HCPC registration or MPE status will be considered on an individual basis.
• Flexible working, including travel to attend meetings and training and to work in other GenesisCare centres.
• Working some contractual hours outside 9am-5pm or on weekends as necessary to fulfil the role and to minimise machine or service downtime.

Why GenesisCare

GenesisCare UK is the leading provider of private oncology services in the UK, pioneering a transformation in cancer care. Through innovative, personalised treatments, we are enhancing patient quality of life, life expectancy, and overall survival rates. We are a team of over 600 highly trained physicians, healthcare professionals and support staff operating 14 specialist outpatient cancer centres across the UK. Our aim is to provide world-class care, offering the latest proven treatments including advanced diagnostics, medical oncology, radiotherapy, and Theranostics. We take an integrated approach to cancer care, focusing on treating the whole patient, not just the cancer. Our personalised treatment programmes include wellbeing services in partnership with Penny Brohn UK and exercise medicine, proved to enhance patient outcomes. We collaborate with universities and leading clinicians globally, and we are dedicated to research and developing improved cancer treatments. Our UK clinical trials programme aims to broaden access to new therapies. We are committed to innovation and working together to make great things happen. We invest in our employees to provide growth, learning, and development opportunities within their roles.

Benefits

• 25 days of annual leave, plus bank holidays, with option to buy more or sell back annual leave.
• Complimentary private medical and dental coverage, access to Employee Assistance Program, and Income Protection.
• Free access to our world-class radiotherapy for you and your immediate family, if required.
• Competitive Company Contributory Pension Scheme.
• Well-being resources (Babylon Health and Headspace Wellbeing).
• Free parking at most centres where available.
• Exclusive retail discounts.