Consultant in Critical Care with a subspecialty interest

at  Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Consultant in Critical Care (single or dual specialty applications welcome including those with a subspecialty interest).
This is a post for a consultant with a responsibility to Adult Critical Care (and associated specialty where applicable) at Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (MCHFT) The post has arisen due to retirement as well as a desire from the Trust to strengthen its critical care service.
The Trust is delighted to be a reference site for the New Hospitals Programme and anticipate that this will further support the development of an even more modern critical care unit.
The post will suit a motivated applicant who wishes to support the team to further develop the local critical care into a sustainable service, meeting the needs of a district general hospital, fit for the future. There is additional opportunity to pursue cross specialty links and engage in shared expertise to the benefit of patients and colleagues.
The successful candidate will join the existing team of substantive Critical Care Consultants and provide medical cover for a modern 11 bedded Critical Care Unit. There is the ability to flex to 18 beds in times of clinical need.
Applicants must be on the Specialist Register or be within six months of obtaining their Certificate of Completion of Training in Intensive Care Medicine (ICM). International applicants or those with a background in a second specialty (e.g., anaesthesia) with extensive interest and experience in ICM are encouraged to make further enquiries regarding their suitability for the post.
The successful candidate will join the existing team of substantive Critical Care Consultants providing medical cover for an eleven bedded Critical Care Unit.
There is opportunity for those with dual CCTs to have a substantial commitment to their partner specialty. For applicants with a single specialty CCT, the department will either support a full-time critical care job plan or offer clinical sessions in an area of subspecialty interest.
The post-holder will be responsible for providing comprehensive clinical management for critically ill patients in the critical care unit and beyond. They will work their daytime duties in critical care, and associated subspecialty where applicable, within their job plan.
The Consultant role requires interaction across multiple disciplines and collaborative working. The expectation of the role is that the appointed candidate can offer expert clinical opinion on a range of problems, both emergency and elective within Critical Care, and the associated subspecialty (if applicable).
The post is offered on a full-time basis (10 PAs); however, the Trust would welcome discussion with individuals looking for a more flexible working pattern to support a different work life balance.
Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (MCHFT) provides good quality, safe and effective healthcare to the people of Cheshire and beyond. The Trust, which manages Leighton Hospital in Crewe, Victoria Infirmary in Northwich, and Elmhurst Intermediate Care Centre in Winsford, was established as an NHS Trust in April 1991 and became a Foundation Trust in April 2008.
We employ almost 5,000 members of staff, provide around 540 hospital beds, with a range of services including accident and emergency, maternity, outpatients, therapies, and children’s health.
The Trust is also part of Central Cheshire Integrated Care Partnership (CCICP), a unique local health partnership that provides a range of community services for people across South Cheshire and Vale Royal.
During the Coronavirus pandemic, the Trust was recognised nationally for its Be Safe Be EquiPPEd campaign, which aimed to make the Trust as safe as possible for staff and patients, through supporting the correct use of PPE.
The results in the 2020 national NHS Staff Survey showed improvements in all elements of the safety culture theme, with 92% of respondents feeling their role made a difference to our patients. We were also recognised nationally for our workforce health and wellbeing initiatives.
At Mid Cheshire, we value our staff and appreciate that in order to give our patients the best quality, compassionate care, we also need to look after our colleagues.
The contract will be for 10 Programmed Activities (PAs), and it is envisaged there will be a split on average of clinical duties into 5.5 PAs in Critical Care and 2.5 PAs in the associated specialty (if applicable). However, there is some flexibility in this to accommodate specific clinical interests of the successful candidate.
A consultant of the week model (Mon-Fri 8am-6pm – split as per job planned preference) is the current working pattern with ongoing amendments proposed to improve continuity of care and sustainability. Each morning the duty consultant is supported by a 2 nd consultant intensivist (8am to 1pm) who also provides support to the outreach team; this second consultant session is worked by all as part of their regular job plan.
CC1 (Critical Care 1) is currently split into a 3 day and a 2.5-day responsibility to critical care. There are plans in place to change this to a Monday-Thursday “consultant of the week” model to better improve continuity of care whilst maintaining sustainable working patterns. Other DCC (Direct Clinical Care) is split between CC2 (Critical Care 2) and the associated specialty (if applicable).
The current on call rota is on a 1 in 8 basis. There is one consultant on call (non-resident) after 18:00 every day of the week. Weekend on calls are split Fri/Sun and Sat with DCC cover varying depending on time of year.
Summer weekend working consists of a resident morning session (08:00-12:00) and a 3-hour flexible resident session whereby the consultant will reattend site to review the patients. During winter, consultants are job planned to be resident during the hours of 08:00-18:00. The on-call commitment between/ after these hours is non-resident.
There are plans in place to sustainably further recruit to additional critical care posts over time to reduce the frequency of on call commitments

Please refer the Job description for details