Specialist grade in Microbiology and infectious sciences in Stockport

Stockport NHS Foundation Trust and Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust are seeking a full-time (10 PAs) substantive Specialist Grade Clinical Microbiologist / Infectious Sciences Doctor. This is a new specialist grade post, established in line with the 2021 SAS doctor contract reform. The post holder will bring a strong commitment to high-quality patient care, clinical governance, innovation, delivery of performance targets and training excellence.

This is a cross-site post, with duties at both Stepping Hill and Tameside General Hospitals, providing microbiological and infection prevention and control advice to both Trusts and associated community and primary care services. The post holder will develop close working relationships with clinicians and staff across both sites, encourage the safe and optimal management of infection, and support specialty training, antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention and control. There is a clear expectation to develop a specialist clinical interest and take a leadership role within the team.

Participation in both the workday and out-of-hours consultant clinical microbiology rotas is expected across the component Trusts. Stepping Hill Microbiology Laboratory holds UKAS accreditation and serves Stockport and the High Peak. Close clinical relationships are maintained through weekly MDT meetings.

Main duties of the job include providing laboratory liaison, expert microbiological and infection control advice, and antimicrobial stewardship across both Stepping Hill and Tameside General Hospitals, including clinical reviews on ward rounds. Duties include sharing oversight of specimen processing with consultant colleagues, validating and interpreting results, and advising clinicians and GPs on diagnostic tests, antibiotic usage and patient management. The post holder participates in ICU ward rounds, antibiotic stewardship rounds and microbiology discussion meetings, and supports the IPCNs in day-to-day infection prevention and control.

The post holder communicates results and technical advice to all service users, maintains confidentiality, reports incidents per Trust policy, and attends Directorate and Trust meetings, including SAE/SUI meetings as required. The role involves contributing to policy and service development, assisting with UKAS compliance, developing a specialist clinical interest, and taking a leadership role to support safe, effective service delivery. The post holder also assists in training junior medical staff.

Participation in the workday and out-of-hours clinical microbiology rotas is expected, as part of the consultant out-of-hours rota (currently ~1 in 5 weeknights and 1 in 7 weekends), providing advice to Stockport, Tameside, Mid Cheshire and East Cheshire.

We hold a unique position in the Stockport community as the provider of healthcare and we are one of its largest employers. We believe that the best organisations are those that reflect the communities they serve. We are therefore seeking to improve the diversity of our workforce to make it truly representative of our local population. We actively encourage applications irrespective of race, age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage & civil partnership, or pregnancy or maternity. Recognising those communities that are underrepresented within our workforce, we would particularly welcome applications from you.

If you require support with your application please contact a member of the recruitment team, who can discuss alternative application methods. We recognise that flexible working is important. We take requests for flexible working seriously, consider any request we receive and try to work with you, so we can explore if your request may fit with the needs of the service.

Benefits we offer to you: Between 27-33 days of annual leave plus