Surgical First Assistant - Maxillofacial Surgery in Liverpool

Employer Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Aintree Hospital Town Liverpool Salary £49,387 - £56,515 per annum, pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 20/10/2026 23:59

Surgical First Assistant - Maxillofacial Surgery

Band 7

Job overview

Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an experienced Theatre Practitioner to join the Maxillofacial Surgery team as a Surgical First Assistant, primarily based at University Hospital Aintree with close links across the wider Maxillofacial service.

The Maxillofacial service provides a comprehensive range of elective and emergency care across the Aintree and Royal Liverpool sites, including facial trauma, head and neck surgery, orthognathic procedures, oral surgery, skin cancer treatment, salivary gland surgery, and complex reconstructive work. The team works collaboratively within a multidisciplinary environment alongside oncology, radiology, anaesthetics, restorative dentistry, and specialist nursing teams.

As a Surgical First Assistant, you will work closely with consultants and senior surgeons to support the delivery of safe, effective, and high-quality peri-operative care. The role involves assisting in a broad range of complex surgical procedures, including facial trauma management, reconstructive surgery, and advanced Maxillofacial interventions using specialised equipment and technology.

This is an excellent opportunity to join a highly skilled and supportive specialist team, contributing to outstanding patient care while further developing advanced surgical and peri-operative expertise within a dynamic surgical environment.

Main duties of the job

Key Responsibilities

• Prepare and set up specialist Maxillofacial surgical equipment, instruments, implants, and consumables, ensuring readiness for OMFS procedures.
• Support safe patient positioning, maintaining airway protection, pressure area care, and optimal surgical access.
• Assist surgeons during procedures by providing tissue retraction, maintaining haemostasis, cutting sutures and ligatures, and inserting drains as delegated.
• Operate specialised surgical equipment, including powered instruments, diathermy, suction devices, endoscopic equipment, and OMFS-specific instruments.
• Undertake skin closure using sutures or staples within agreed competencies and under appropriate delegation.
• Maintain aseptic technique and comply with all theatre, infection prevention, and safety standards.
• Demonstrate safe patient handling practices throughout the peri-operative pathway.
• Ensure the safe use, care, maintenance, and storage of surgical equipment.
• Perform peri-operative catheterisation when required and within competency and Trust policy.
• Apply correct draping techniques to maintain patient dignity, privacy, and a sterile field.
• Promote a safe, patient-centred theatre environment, demonstrating professionalism, teamwork, and compassionate care.

Working for our organisation

Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust comprises Aintree University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital & Royal Liverpool University Hospital.

We are part of NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group, formed on 1 Nov 2024 from the coming together of LUHFT and Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust. The Group was born from a shared aim to improve the care we provide our patients.

UHLG is one of the largest employers in the region, with over 16,800 colleagues dedicated to caring for our communities - from birth and beyond.

For the 630,000 people across Merseyside, we are their local NHS. We provide general and emergency hospital care, alongside highly specialised regional services for more than two million people in the North West.

Aintree University Hospital is the single receiving site for adult major trauma patients in Cheshire and Merseyside and hosts a number of regional services including an award-winning stroke facility. Broadgreen Hospital is home to elective surgical, diagnostic and treatment services, together with specialist patient rehabilitation. Liverpool Women’s Hospital specialises in the health of women and babies, delivering over 7,200 babies in the UK’s largest single site maternity hospital each year. The Royal Liverpool University Hospital is the largest hospital in the country to provide inpatients with 100% single bedrooms and focuses on complex planned care and specialist services.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Support scrub staff in preparing and setting up specialised Maxillofacial surgical equipment, ensuring all instruments, implants, and devices required for OMFS procedures are available, checked, and ready for use.

Ensure safe and appropriate patient positioning for Maxillofacial surgery, maintaining airway protection, cervical spine alignment, and pressure‑area care to optimise surgical access and patient comfort.

Assist the operating surgeon throughout Maxillofacial procedures, including cutting sutures and ligatures, inserting drains, maintaining haemostasis, and providing effective tissue retraction to facilitate safe and efficient surgical progress.

Correctly prepare, handle, and operate specialised Maxillofacial surgical equipment, including intra‑oral endoscopes, powered instruments, diathermy units, suction devices, and OMFS‑specific retractors and tools.

Apply knowledge of wound‑healing principles and undertake skin closure using sutures or staples as delegated by the surgeon.

Maintain strict adherence to sterile technique and theatre protocols, ensuring aseptic practice throughout all peri‑operative stages.

Demonstrate safe patient handling and positioning techniques, using appropriate aids and equipment during Maxillofacial procedures.

Take responsibility for the care, safe use, and maintenance of Maxillofacial surgical equipment, ensuring all devices are used appropriately and stored correctly.

Perform peri‑operative catheterisation when required, in line with Trust policy and competency assessment.

Carry out correct draping techniques to maintain patient dignity, ensure privacy, and prevent contamination.

Contribute to a safe, patient‑centred theatre environment, promoting high standards of care, professionalism, and compassion throughout the surgical process.

Person specification

Qualifications

• RGN/AHP/HCS/ODP
• post-registration Surgical First Assistant surgical skills course
• Advanced life support
• extended clinical skills/assessment

Experience

• Demonstrable post registration experience. Familiar with care of the critically ill/unstable patient.
• A competent practitioner with evidence of gaining and practicing some or all of the clinical and operational skills obtained it the job description.
• Proven leadership and management skills
• Experience of working effectively within a MDT setting. Flexible approach to work.
• To have experience as theatre nurse within surgical theatres

Knowledge

• To have knowledge of change management
• To understand the importance of teamwork as well as being able to work autonomously with an enthusiastic and self-confident manner
• To be aware of the physical demands of assisting and retracting for long periods

Other

• To possess clinical credibility to influence across both professional and organisational boundaries
• Contribute to the development of teaching strategies appropriate to the learning needs of junior medical staff/colleagues
• Share expertise with other areas

Skills

• Excellent verbal and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex and sensitive information.
• Has evidence of leadership ability and how this has impacted on recent roles. Excellent interpersonal skills
• Demonstrate ability to work on own initiative. Demonstrate ability to prioritise with time management.
• Ability to manage highly complex clinical and operational situations that involve staff from all levels within the organisation, in circumstances where information is often conflicting or not fully known.

Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview.

The Trust is committed to promoting a healthy work-life balance and achieve fair, equitable and consistent practice. We welcome flexible working requests and will consider a variety of flexible working arrangements from day one of your employment. Not all roles are suitable for every flexible working opportunity all of the time. Flexible working options may include reduced hours, compressed hours, fixed shifts, time back in lieu and home working.

The Trust is committed to promoting equality and diversity; we value the contribution of individual talent, skills, knowledge and experience and aim for a workforce demography representative of the local community. We encourage applicants from the following groups that are currently under‑represented in our workforce black, Asian and minority ethnic, lesbian, gay, bisexual and Transgender (LGBTQ+), disabled, male and age 16-24.

Trust policy requires that the cost of submitting & processing the successful applicant/s DBS application be recovered via salary deduction following start in post. The amount of £25.70 (standard disclosure) or £46.70 (enhanced disclosure) will be deducted from salary, in manageable monthly instalments for up to 3 months following commencement of employment. Bank posts require upfront payment.

From April 2017, Skilled visa applicants and their adult dependant(s) will be required to provide a criminal record certificate from each country they have lived in consecutively for 12 months or more in the past ten years.

Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.

This organisation has a zero-tolerance approach to the abuse of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All staff must ensure they adhere to the organisations safeguarding children and adults’ policy and comply with the Local Safeguarding Children and Adult Board procedures.

Staff should be mindful of their responsibility to safeguard children and adults in any activity performed on behalf of the organisation in line with the requirements of statutory guidance and legislation.

All employees (and volunteers)are expected maintain their safeguarding knowledge and skills by completing mandatory safeguarding training which includes understanding and recognising the signs of abuse and neglect and taking appropriate action.

As an organisation, we have adopted the Merseyside Domestic abuse workplace scheme which supports our staff who are experiencing Domestic Abuse /any forms of sexual violence.

If you have any personal requirements that will enable you to participate in our recruitment process please contact a member of the Recruitment Services by phone on 0151 706 4666 at the earliest opportunity to ensure that measures can be put in place to enable your application for this post.

Please note: new entrants to the NHS will commence on the first pay point of the relevant band.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

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.

Application numbers

This vacancy may close early if it receives a high number of applications.

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