Senior Fellow in Paediatric Neurosurgery in Leeds

We are inviting applications for the Senior Paediatric Neurosurgery Fellow (ST8+ Level) vacancy at The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in the Department of Neurosurgery. This post has been approved for training by the Royal College of Surgeons as part of the RCS Senior Clinical Fellowship Scheme. The post is a fixed-term post for 12 months, starting in August 2024. It is designed for Senior Neurosurgical Trainees towards the end of UK training.

We are looking for a dynamic individual to meet the demands of this prestigious Fellowship post in a high-profile area of complex and demanding surgery. The department of Neurosurgery in Leeds provides world-class Paediatric Neurosurgical services. The service is consultant-led and is delivered through dedicated sub-speciality MDT services. The Fellowship is designed for senior Neurosurgical trainees at the end of their training. It will provide comprehensive sub-speciality training in Paediatric Neurosurgery in preparation for a consultant role in this field.

The Paediatric Neurosurgery post will include a thorough grounding in the clinical management, investigation and surgical techniques for optimally managing children with all forms of neurosurgical disease including hydrocephalus, brain tumours, craniofacial conditions, spasticity & SDR, spinal dysraphism, Chiari malformations, and neurovascular conditions. There are significant further opportunities to develop research. The Fellow is expected to join the close MDT co-working with Neuro-oncologists, researchers and the clinical nurse specialist team. The fellow is expected to gain independent competencies in dealing with children with the breadth of paediatric neurosurgery conditions. Consideration will be given to applicants who wish to work full or part time and those wishing to job share.

It is a requirement that the applicant has valid full GMC registration at the time of application, and it is highly desirable that they have recent or current UK NHS experience working in Neurosurgery. If shortlisted, you will be required to give a 5-minute presentation on: Should paediatric neurosurgery be delivered by standalone units or Networks. Prospective applicants are encouraged to visit the hospital, which can be arranged by contacting Mr John Goodden, Consultant Paediatric Neurosurgeon & Lead Clinician for Paediatric Neurosciences.

The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the largest trusts in the UK and provides comprehensive secondary services to Leeds and tertiary services to West and North Yorkshire. The Leeds Children's Hospital is based at the Leeds General Infirmary and is situated in the centre of the city, adjacent to Leeds University, with which there are strong links.

The Department of Neurosurgery provides a comprehensive adult and paediatric neurosurgical service to the 2.5 million people of West and North Yorkshire. Due to commissioning pathways, the catchment area for Paediatric Neurosurgery extends North to Middlesbrough and East to Hull & East Yorkshire, increasing the catchment area to approximately 3.4 million. The Neurosurgical Department is housed within the Jubilee Wing of the General Infirmary at Leeds. The paediatric neurosurgical service is located within the Leeds Children's Hospital located in Clarendon Wing at the Leeds General Infirmary.

The department of Neurosurgery in Leeds provides world-class Paediatric Neurosurgical care. The service is consultant led and is delivered through dedicated subspecialty services. The Paediatric Neurosurgical service has very strong links with Neurology, Neuroradiology, Neuropathology, and Leeds University. The Leeds Children's Hospital has one of the largest bed-bases in a UK Children's Hospital. Paediatric neurosurgery inpatient care is shared with the paediatric neurologists on a combined paediatric neuroscience ward (L52) with 12 beds.

Facilities in the Children's Hospital include a fully equipped 16-bed paediatric intensive care unit, 6-bed high dependency unit, neonatal intensive care, neonatal unit, and 8 children's operating theatres, including one paediatric emergency theatre. The PICU, neuro-theatre and ward are co-located on the same floor. The paediatric neurosurgery theatre is well-equipped with BrainLAB neuro-navigation, a Zeiss Kinevo microscope (tracked), HD & SD endoscopes, intra-operative ultrasound and facility for intra-operative neurophysiology as required. An intra-operative MRI scanner / BrainLab-integrated theatre suite opened in Spring 2019.

The paediatric neurosurgical service comprises 4 whole-time consultants (Mr Atul Tyagi, Mr John Goodden, Mr Gnanamurthy Sivakumar, Ms Rebecca Chave-Cox). They deliver a specialist first on-call paediatric neurosurgery consultant rota. They work closely with the paediatric neurology team and the paediatric neuro-rehabilitation consultant providing shared care of inpatients. They are supported by specialist nurses for hydrocephalus, craniofacial, spasticity and oncology.

The paediatric neurosurgery department's work grows each year. The paediatric operative caseload is currently around 350 cases per annum, with approximately 40 new tumour cases per year. Sub-specialist surgery services include non-syndromic craniofacial surgery, Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR), spinal dysraphism and paediatric neurovascular surgery.

The adult Neurosurgical Department has 64 adult beds in two wards with an additional 7 bedded dedicated Neuro-intensive Care Unit as well as a 7-bedded dedicated High Dependency Unit. There are four adult operating theatres including one dedicated to emergency surgery 24 hours per day. There is an integrated spinal service offering all aspects of spinal surgery which is made up of 3 Neurosurgical and 7 Spinal Orthopaedic Consultants. The current adult caseload is approximately 3000 inpatients per year and approximately 2000 operative cases per year.

The Neurosurgical Department has close links with the other neuroscience specialties that are all on site including Neuroradiology, Neurology, Neuroanaesthetics and Neurophysiology. The Neuro-pathology department is based on the St James' hospital site and provides a full histopathology service, including an intra-operative frozen section service. A well-equipped molecular pathology service provides up-to-date oncology profiling of paediatric and adult tumours, including H3K27M, IDH, TERT, BRAF, and 1p19q testing.

The Neuro-Radiology Department is based at the Leeds General Infirmary and comprises 6 Consultants, three of whom provide Endovascular services for adults and children with neurovascular conditions. The General Infirmary at Leeds is a Level 1 Trauma unit for both adult and paediatric patients and there are close links with surgical specialties including trauma, maxillofacial, plastics and ENT surgery. An intra-operative High-field 3T MRI complex opened in Spring 2019. This further enhances the capability of the department and the training of the Fellow.

A Neurosurgery Skills Lab simulation facility equipped with Zeiss operating microscope and endoscopic equipment is available for 24h use. This allows basic and advanced skills training including micro-neurosurgery (including vascular anastomosis), and endoscopic training.

The fellowship is intended to allow an experienced peri-CCT UK-based neurosurgical trainee the opportunity to gain more experience over a one-year period in paediatric neurosurgery. This post has been approved for training by the Royal College of Surgeons as part of the RCS Senior Clinical Fellowship Scheme. The RCS accreditation has been very valuable with the first two Fellows both achieving successful Consultant appointments.

The Fellow is expected to be capable of working with increasing levels of independence as they progress through this one-year post. It is expected that sufficient experience will be obtained from this fellowship to allow the Fellow to offer themselves for appointment to a Consultant position involving a substantial commitment to paediatric neurosurgery. They will gain experience in the assessment, investigation and operative management of patients presenting with the full range of acute and elective paediatric neurosurgical pathology. The additional sub-specialist supra-regional services delivered in Leeds will further enhance this experience.

Our values are part of what make us different from other trusts, so we see this as a strength, as well as a responsibility. They have been developed by our staff and set out what they see as important to how we work. Our five values are: Accountable, Empowered. All our actions and endeavours will be guided and evaluated through these values. Additionally, the following are core values which relate specifically to this post: The beliefs and attitudes that underpin effective performance within the job role. Emphasis should be on the requirements of the role not the individual when completing this section. Examples might include: quality focus, mistakes are used as a continual learning experience, honesty, integrity etc.

Additional Requirements: Provide complete details of employment history. Evidence that career progression is consistent with personal circumstances. Desire to develop career in Paediatric Neurosurgery as a subspecialty interest. Aware of own training / career development needs. Demonstrates probity. Enthusiasm for all aspects of Paediatric Neurosurgery. Ability to work effectively within a multidisciplinary team.

Up to date GCP certification from NIHR. Demonstrates understanding of research, including awareness of ethical issues. Demonstrates an interest in and commitment to the specialty beyond the mandatory curriculum. Evidence of papers / publications in peer-reviewed journals. Evidence of presentations in national / international relevant scientific conferences. Evidence of relevant academic and research achievements, e.g. prizes, awards, distinctions, other achievements. Evidence of interest in, and experience of teaching.

Recently completed or approaching completion of UK higher neurosurgical training or equivalent. Demonstrable interest in developing consultant level subspeciality skills in Paediatric Neurosurgery. Evidence of surgical experience through provision of relevant logbook summary. Evidence of relevant academic and research achievements, e.g. prizes, awards, distinctions, other achievements. Evidence of interest in, and experience of teaching.

Full registration with GMC with current Licence to Practice please state GMC number. Experience of at least 1-year working within Neurosurgery in NHS in UK. Skills in written and spoken English demonstrated by either: (1) undertaken undergraduate medical training in English; or (2) academic International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score of.

MBBS or equivalent medical qualification. ARCP Outcome 1 at ST6 or equivalent experience. Passed UK Neurosurgery Speciality Fellowship Examination (or equivalent) - FRCS(Neuro.Surg). CCT in Neurosurgery.

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.