Assistant Clinical Photographer in Manchester

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an Assistant Clinical Photographer to join our small, friendly Medical Illustration Team at The Christie. We are a primarily oncology related service, covering colorectal, urology, gynaecology and plastic and reconstructive surgery. This role involves working within strict protocol-driven non-invasive photography of patients as delegated by the qualified clinical photographers; this includes Clinical Photography of patients using standardised representational photographic techniques for diagnostic, record, teaching, publication and research purposes, ensuring patient safety and wellbeing whilst involved in their care.

You will be expected to hold a foundation degree, equivalent qualification or experience in photography.

Main duties of the job

We invite applicants who are enthusiastic to start a career in Clinical Photography and are dedicated to putting the patient at the centre of all their decisions during the working day. The successful candidate will be supported through a structured training and development pathway, including the opportunity to undertake the PGCert in Clinical Photography, developing the knowledge and skills required to progress to a Band 5 Clinical Photographer position upon successful qualification. You will be working as a valued member of our small team to provide comprehensive, standardised high quality clinical photography and administrative duties whilst following strict protocols and undertaking relevant training.

Working for our organisation

The Christie is one of Europe’s leading cancer centres, looking after more than 64,000 patients a year. We are based in Manchester and serve a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, but as a national specialist around 25% patients are referred to us from other parts of the country.

We are the largest radiotherapy provider in the NHS with one in 20 treatments delivered at The Christie. We have up to 15 linear accelerators operating across our network of sites. We operate the largest chemotherapy unit in the UK on our main site and treatments are also provided at 13 other networked sites, and in patients homes. And as a specialist tertiary surgical centre, we focus on rare cancers, complex procedures, and multidisciplinary approaches to cancer surgery, specialising in colorectal, peritoneal, gynaecological, urological and plastic surgery.

We are also an international leader in research, with world first breakthroughs for over 100 years. We have been named by the UK’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), as one of the best hospitals providing opportunities for patients to participate in clinical research studies, with more than 800 studies open at any time, caring for over 3,000 patients.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical: Core Responsibilities

• Working within strict protocol-driven non-invasive photography of patients as delegated by the qualified clinical photographers.
• Undertake Clinical Photography of patients using standardised representational photographic techniques for diagnostic, record, teaching, publication and research purposes in the studio, ensuring patient safety and wellbeing whilst in their care.
• Support with administration and team coordination as required
• Ensures standardisation of images by accurately logging exposure and magnification details.
• Assist with clinical videos of patients as necessary to illustrate their conditions
• Carries responsibility for deciding the most appropriate photographic technique to best demonstrate the patient’s condition from the options available.
• Produces images which represent the condition accurately so that they are both medically and legally valuable i.e. medico – legal.
• Uploads images onto the image management/PACS system as required.
• Ensures that the work passing through the department is of a highly professional nature and that the rules of confidentiality are adhered to at all times.
• Undertakes non-clinical photography including production of teaching materials working closely with clients in the planning and production of their work ensuring deadlines are met and briefs are followed.
• Undertakes all photography within Health and Safety requirements.
• Follow the Trust's control of infection and hand washing policies.
• Carries responsibility for the safe use, maintenance and storage of valuable digital photographic equipment.

Management

• Adheres to department protocols and policies.
• Is aware at all times of the requirements to follow data protection and Caldicott requirements with particular awareness of sensitivity of the images being produced and works within trust guidelines and policies with regard to patient consent and confidentiality to clinical photography.
• Provides advice and guidance in interpreting legislation and policy guidelines to Trust staff when required regarding consent, confidentiality and photography.
• Ensures correct archiving and labelling of digital images on departmental server. Controls access to the information in line with the Data Protection Act.

Leadership

• Supports the departmental manager to create a suitable, supportive and safe team environment.

Communication

• Regularly interacts with patients, carers and relatives who may have varying levels of ability to understand or whose first language is not English.
• Provides and receives complicated and sensitive information, and gives explanations and instructions clearly and concisely where barriers to communication may exist.
• Uses tact and diplomacy when persuading distressed patients/relatives to co-operate with the photographic procedure
• Communicates with and refers to other healthcare professionals as necessary.
• Responds appropriately to all telephone and personal enquiries in a sensitive and helpful manner.
• Attends and contributes to regular department meetings.

Policy and Service Development

• Contributes to the identification of areas for change and development.

Administrative

• Provides cover at department reception as necessary
• Books in patient details on department database as required.
• Answering telephone requests
• Templating and printing images

Training and Education

• Maintains a personal development plan and CPD record to keep in touch with appropriate technical and professional developments

Audit and Research

• Assists with audits when necessary.

Personal and Professional Development

• Is active in enhancing own personal knowledge and self-development.
• Attends mandatory and statutory training as required.
• Attends relevant education, training and study days as required.

Supplementary

• Physical effort involving carrying heavy camera equipment (up to 8 Kilos) on a daily basis, when taking photographs or assisting with videos

This job description is not intended to be exhaustive but reflects the main responsibilities of the post holder. Other duties may be required from time to time, which are commensurate with the grade of the post. This job description is subject to regular review and appropriate modification.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Foundation degree or equivalent qualification or experience in photography

Experience

• Experience working in the NHS or in a clinical setting
• Experience of general/non-clinical photography and using a DSLR camera
• Sound knowledge of professional protocols and procedures including: Caldicott, data protection, consent and confidentiality and the copyright law

Skills

• Good interpersonal skills with a caring attitude
• Good communication skills, both written and verbal
• Team player
• Flexible

Knowledge

• Sound knowledge of digital imaging and photo editing
• Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite
• Anatomical views

Values

• Ability to demonstrate the organisational values and behaviours

Other

• Demonstrate compassion and empathy
• Enthusiasm and initiative to meet service needs
• Understand and accept the need to maintain confidentiality

The closing date for this post may be extended if there are insufficient applicants or brought forward if there is a high volume of applicants.

Sponsorship Information - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.

Pre-Employment Checks -To confirm your suitability for the role, we will carry out pre‑employment checks in line with NHS Employment Check Standards. These include:

• Identity verification
• Right to work check
• Disclosure and barring service (DBS)/Criminal record check (dependent on role, payment of this will be the applicants responsibility)
• Professional registration and/or qualification check
• Occupational health assessment
• Employment history and reference validation

All applicants external to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust will be required to provide their HMRC employment history to cover the most recent three years employment. This information will used to validate employment history andreferences.

If you require sponsorship, we will assess your eligibility based on current government guidance. If the role is not eligible and you cannot demonstrate your right to work, your conditional offer may be withdrawn.

If You're Offered the Role - you will be agreeing to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there.

The Inter-Authority Transfer (IAT) process is a critical and beneficial component of ESR and will form part of the recruitment process. In the event that you are successful following interview your previous NHS employment data, if applicable will be transferred from your current / most recent employer.

Sponsorship Information - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.

No Smoking Policy - You should be aware the Trust operates a No Smoking Policy and therefore employees are not permitted to smoke at work.

Additional Information - We want to ensure that everyone who works at the Christie or uses our services is welcomed, valued and treated with dignity and respect. The Christie values diversity and is committed to ensuring equal opportunities for all and fair representation across the organisation at all levels. In support of these commitments, we particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority people and people with disabilities for this post. Appointment will be only on merit.

We are committed to creating a balanced and diverse workforce. As such we welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. Together we will foster inclusion and tackle inequity and health inequalities in cancer care.

As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust is committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity in all our activities. We have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery in any of its forms, including slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour, and human trafficking. We are fully committed to acting ethically and with transparency in all our business dealings and relationships, and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our organisation or supply chains.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

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