Consultant in Medical Microbiology & Infection Services

at  Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

This is a replacement consultant post, and forms part of our Infection Sciences Department. The post-holder will be based and work at the Denmark Hill site, and will support and develop our Infection service at DHS. This service consists of Microbiology, Virology, Infection Prevention and Control and the evolving Infectious Diseases (ID) and OPAT services.
The appointee will deliver Infection services for in/out-patients and the local CCG as part of the microbiology consultant team and play an active role in the general workload of the department including overseeing the junior doctors. There is a 1:9 on-call commitment providing ‘second on’ out-of-hours cover for a week at a time (Band B).
The post holder will join the microbiology “duty day” rota, providing senior supervision and support to trainees, fellows and the laboratory in managing significant microbiology results, complex clinical queries (by telephone and EPIC referral system), and authorisation of results. Ward-based consults are encouraged (by trainees and consultants) to optimise patient management and outcomes. The post holder will also be expected to provide support for the interpretation and authorisation of serology results, working in conjunction with other consultants and clinical scientists. The successful candidate will provide regular microbiology support to the adult Critical Care Units as part of a team of Infection Consultants, and if the candidate has sufficient ID experience, will join the ID consults, outpatient clinic and OPAT services on a rotational basis. All infection consultants have a responsibility to promote antimicrobial stewardship in their area of clinical cover, and contribute to prospective audit and feedback to the clinical teams. He/she will also join a team of other consultants with dedicated PAs to cover infection control and provide support to the Director of Infection Prevention and Control and the IPC nursing team.
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s largest and busiest teaching Trusts – and we are delighted you are considering a career with us.
Our teams provide services out of five hospitals across South East London and Kent, namely King’s College Hospital, the Princess Royal University Hospital, Orpington Hospital, Queen Mary’s Hospital Sidcup, and Beckenham Beacon.
We employ nearly 14,000 staff, who together treat over 1.5 million patients every year.
We provide a full range of local and specialist services, and our teams are nationally and internationally recongised for our work in liver disease and transplantation, neurosciences, cardiac, haemato-oncology, fetal medicine, stroke, major trauma, and emergency medicine.
1. The provision of a comprehensive infection service including advice regarding appropriate specimens, involvement in specimen analysis, validation and interpretation of results for transmission to clinicians, and management of individual patients through full clinical liaison
2. In conjunction with King’s consultants, senior nurses and the IV team work closely with the antimicrobial stewardship lead and clinical colleagues across the Trust to ensure appropriate and cost-effective use of antibacterial and antifungal agents
3. Ensure full compliance with clinical governance and clinical effectiveness requirements of the Trust
4. To contribute to the Audit Programme: participation in clinical audit and quality control within the laboratory is expected
5. Ensure adherence to the requirements of the Data Protection Act and conformity to the requirements of the Caldicott Guardian for King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
6. Liaise closely with UKHSA’s Health Protection Units and Regional Epidemiologist and report promptly any information that may be of local or wider public health importance
7. Collaborate with reference and epidemiological facilities in the reporting and investigation of infections, control of outbreaks, assessment of vaccines, development of laboratory methods, involvement in surveys etc
8. Responsible for carrying out teaching, examination and accreditation duties as required and contributing to Continuing Medical Education and clinical governance initiatives
9. To undertake Divisional management duties as agreed with the Clinical Director
10. To be aware of, and comply with, all Trust infection prevention and control policies, to include hand hygiene, personal hygiene, environmental and food hygiene. To undertake annual training/updates in infection prevention and control.
11. To be accountable for implementation of the Code of Practice within own department / area of responsibility.
12. To prepare for and undertake the protective interventions that you are responsible for in a manner that is consistent with evidence-based practice and maintaining patient safety.
13. To take part in the annual appraisal and job planning cycle towards GMC revalidation.

GENERIC STATEMENTS:

The appointee will be required to maintain General Medical Council (GMC) full and specialist registration with a licence to practise and revalidation, and should follow the GMC’s Code of Good Medical Practice .
All medical staff are required to undertake the employing body’s Induction as soon as possible after commencing work. They are also expected to have a local induction to their place of work which will be undertaken by their line manager or nominated person and sent to Learning & Development for record keeping.
Whilst the duties of the appointment will be primarily at the hospital(s) stated, the appointment will be made to King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and there will be a commitment to attend occasionally at any other hospital or clinic at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust , as may be necessary from time to time, e.g. in emergencies.
It is the responsibility of staff to be familiar with the employing body’s policies that affect them, and work within the scope set out in them. These can be found on the employing body’s Intranet site, any queries should be raised via the line manager. Managers are responsible for ensuring staff know of, and work within the employing body’s policies, procedures and protocols.
Members of staff should be skilled in IT to the required level for the job.
1. You have a general duty of care for the health, safety and well-being of yourself, work colleagues, visitors and patients within the hospital in addition to any specific risk management or clinical governance accountabilities associated with this post.
2. You are required to observe the rules, policies, procedures and standards of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust together with all relevant statutory and professional obligations.
3. You are required to observe and maintain strict confidentiality of personal information relating to patients and staff.
4. You are required to be responsible, with management support, for your own personal development and to actively contribute to the development of colleagues.
5. The post holder has an important responsibility for and contribution to make to infection control and must be familiar with the infection control and hygiene requirements of this role. These requirements are set out in the National Code of Practice on Infection Control and in local policies and procedures which will be made clear during your induction and subsequent refresher training. These standards must be strictly complied with at all times.
All employees must hold an ’nhs.net’ email account which will be the Trust’s formal route for email communication. You are therefore required to check this regularly and to deal with such communication promptly.
7. This job description is intended as a guide to the general scope of duties and is not intended to be definitive or restrictive. It is expected that some of the duties will change over time and this description will be subject to review in consultation with the post holders.
8. You are appointed to the service of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust as a whole, and may be required to work at any of the KCHFT sites as determined by the duties of the post or as reasonably directed

Please refer the Job description for details