Consultant Adult Critical Care Transfer Service (ACCTS) Cymru in Wales

Join a dynamic and forward-thinking team that combines cutting-edge transfer and retrieval medicine with critical care and anaesthesia. This exciting role is perfect for doctors, offering a unique opportunity to work at the forefront of critical care transfers in Wales. Each year, approximately 800 critical care transfers (Level 2 and Level 3) are undertaken across Wales. In response to the growing demand for critical care and the regionalisation of specialist services, the Welsh Government launched the Adult Critical Care Transfer Service (ACCTS) Cymru in 2020. As networks continue to develop and evolve, the number of transfers is set to rise, reflecting the increasing need for this essential service. ACCTS Cymru is a road-based service, deploying with state-of-the-art critical care transfer vehicles and equipment. Every mission is supported by a highly skilled team, including a critical care transfer physician, a support worker, and a retrieval and transfer practitioner.

Main duties of the job:

• The Critical Care Transfer Physician has an advanced level of relevant knowledge and skills in order to support the assessment, care and management of critically ill or unwell patients.
• Successful candidates will be deployed within this role as part of a multidisciplinary team configuration: predominantly by road, but also on occasion by air.
• Timely response to transfer requests from the critical care network made via the EMRTS Critical Care Hub (ECCH) and/or the duty transfer coordinator.
• Participate in multidisciplinary handover in the referring unit, taking responsibility for the patient's ongoing nursing care needs throughout the transfer.
• Provide and/or support appropriate assessment, stabilisation and clinical intervention in the referring hospital as part of the Critical Care transfer team, prior to transfer, in line with the Critical Care clinical and equipment standard operating procedures.
• Working closely with the duty co-ordinator and practitioner in planning and executing the safe and efficient transfer of critically ill patients that meet the Service criteria for dispatch.
• Coordinated activity in line with the Adult Critical Care Transfer Service standard clinical and operational operating procedures.

About us:

Swansea Bay University Health Board has responsibility for the health of around 390,000 people in the Neath Port Talbot and Swansea areas, with a budget of around £1 billion and employing 12,500 people. We are a University Health Board working in partnership with Swansea University, Swansea School of Medicine, the School of Health Science and the Institute of Life Science. The HB has three major hospitals providing a range of services: Morriston and Singleton hospitals in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot hospital in Baglan, Port Talbot. The Health Board is part of A Regional Collaboration for Health (ARCH), which is a partnership with Hywel Dda UHB and Swansea University, aimed at improving the wellbeing and wealth of South West Wales.

Swansea is Wales' second-largest city, and sits on the five-mile sweep of Swansea Bay. An ideal base for exploring South-West Wales, there is also much on offer for visitors in Swansea itself. Swansea has a range of shops, cozy cafes, great restaurants, art galleries as well as being able to offer good outdoor lifestyle with its beautiful coastline and beaches on the Gower Peninsula. Swansea also has excellent sporting facilities including the Wales National pool and liberty stadium home to the Ospreys and Swansea City football club.

Job responsibilities:

Selection for this rewarding role is demanding and consists of several clinical scenario assessments as well as group work and a formal interview.

Person Specification:

• Qualifications & Training
• Essential: Full GMC registration with license to practice and up to date appraisal/revalidation; Holds FRCA or FFICM CCT in Anaesthesia or ICM OR significant equivalent experience; Successful completion of relevant life support/resuscitation/trauma courses previously; Willingness to undertake the Diploma in Retrieval and Transfer Medicine if not already held; A British driving license.
• Desirable: Substantive Consultant post within Wales; Diploma in Retrieval and Transfer Medicine; Higher Degree (MD/MSc); Post graduate qualification in medical education.
• Knowledge & Skills
• Essential: Competence in management of acute illness and injury in adults; Competent in the assessment, resuscitation and stabilisation of critically unwell patients including emergency anaesthesia, ventilation and invasive monitoring; Sound judgement and decision making; Ability to manage complex work and prioritise effectively; Good understanding of the principles of clinical governance.
• Desirable: Previous attendance on an EMRTS/ACCTS clinical attendant scheme, and/or prior engagement with the EMRTS/ACCTS service.
• Experience
• Essential: Demonstrable interest in and understanding of retrieval and transfer medicine; Extensive experience of inter- and intra-hospital critical care transfers; Experience in post-graduate/multidisciplinary education.
• Desirable: Experience of critical care retrieval and transfer medicine in dedicated service; Prior experience with evidence of working within an established pre-hospital aeromedical or road-based service; Prior experience with evidence of working within an established secondary retrieval service; Prior experience working in within a trauma centre; Experience in FAST scanning and/or bedside echocardiography; Evidence of relevant teaching/instructing in critical care or transfer; Experience using simulation for education; Experience as a clinical tutor or lecturer at post graduate level.
• Personal Attributes
• Essential: Ability to lead a multi-disciplinary team in both the hospital and transport environments; Ability to maintain CPD to a high standard; A commitment to developing the service, in particular to developing relationships with hospitals and ambulance service in Wales; Able to travel to more than one ACCTS base for training, supervision and currency shifts if required; Prepared to work at more than one ACCTS base; Ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in both the hospital and transport environments.
• Desirable: Ability to speak Welsh.