Consultant in Upper GI and General Surgery

at  Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust

Company Description
Here at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, we are proud to provide expert, compassionate care for our local population. We are ranked as the third in the country for research, embedding education and training across the organisation. Our main hub is the Queen Alexandra Hospital, which is one of the largest hospitals on the south coast employing over 8,700 staff.
Our patients come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds because it makes our hospital stronger. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for getting it right for patients, colleagues, and our community, you will find a home at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust.
Job Description
Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust has a vision to be recognized as a world-class hospital, leading the field through innovative healthcare solutions, focusing on the best outcomes for our patients, delivered in a safe, caring and inspiring environment.
This is a new substantive post to meet the increasing demands for expertise in Cancer & Benign UGI surgery, and to support the busy on-call rota with increased consultant on-site involvement. Advanced minimal access and/or robotic surgery experience is of particular importance. The post is based in the UGI Surgical Unit to work very closely with 6 consultant colleagues on a day-to-day basis to cover general aspects of UGI work. We aim to appoint a well-trained specialist in upper GI surgery with sufficient general surgical experience to be confident in the management of general surgical emergencies. Training and experience in a tertiary referral centre for UGI disease will be preferable, and a higher degree, UGI publications and ongoing UGI research interests will be looked upon very favourably. Ability to work very flexibly as a team member with existing colleagues is essential.
Minimal access surgical training in emergency surgery and benign UGI surgery (including cholecystectomy, hernias & hiatal surgery) is an essential part of this post as most patients are operated on laparoscopically in this unit. Being a competent surgeon entails more than just operative skills, and evidence will be sought as to the appointee’s ability & judgement to manage post-operative complications and/or critically ill patients. They will be expected to be capable of UGI endoscopy including therapeutic procedures such as stenting.
The UGI Surgical Unit at Portsmouth is a recognised Cancer Centre for Oesophagogastric Cancer, with a busy MDT drawing patients from the Central South Coast Cancer Network (includes Portsmouth, Basingstoke, Chichester and Winchester). We routinely practice dual consultant operating, with Minimal Access surgery being our standard approach. Over the last 3 years we have implemented a Robotic Surgery program, using the Da Vinci surgical robot to assist with oesophago-gastric cancer surgery.
We have a high volume benign UGI practice with over 1000 laparoscopic cholecystectomies per year (70% of them daycase), and a busy tertiary referral practice for anti-reflux surgery with over 100 fundoplications per year. We share the General Surgical on call with our colorectal colleagues. Hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancer surgical patients are discussed at the HPB MDT on Fridays, with resectable patients going to Southampton for surgery and palliative patients managed on site.
We are a recognised Bariatric Surgical Centre with 200+ cases per year (this service is contracted to Streamline Surgical with experienced bariatric surgeons delivering the service).
The UGI Unit is based at Queen Alexandra Hospital. The UGI Unit works as a team, with close collaboration among the consultants to provide a unified approach to patient management. We share responsibility for decision-making and risk management, regularly operate together, and cover each other’s patients and lists when one is away.

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE

Essential

• Entry on the GMC specialist register via CCT (proposed date must be within 6 months), CESR or European Community Rights
• Appropriate training to Fellowship level in the management of oesophagogastric cancer
• Trained in General Surgery and able to manage common surgical emergencies
• Proficiency in upper GI endoscopy

Desirable

• Experience of robotic surgery
• Therapeutic endoscopy

CLINICAL SKILLS

• Demonstrable skills and experience of benign & malignant Upper Gastrointestinal, General Surgery and common Emergency Surgery
• Understanding of clinical risk management

KNOWLEDGE

• Able to demonstrate appropriate level of clinical knowledge
• Knowledge and use of evidence based practice
• IT skills
• Effective, confident presentation ability
• Experience in and outside speciality

This is a substantive post to meet the increasing demands for expertise in malignant and benign UGI surgery, and to support the busy on-call rota with increased consultant on-site involvement. Advanced minimal access and/or robotic surgery experience is of particular importance. The post is based in the UGI Surgical Unit to work very closely with 6 consultant colleagues on a day-to-day basis to cover all aspects of UGI work. We aim to appoint a well-trained specialist in upper GI surgery with sufficient general surgical experience to be confident in the management of general surgical emergencies. Training and experience in a tertiary referral centre for UGI disease will be preferable, and a higher degree, UGI publications and ongoing UGI research interests will be looked upon very favourably. Ability to work very flexibly as a team member with existing colleagues is essential.
Minimal access surgical training in emergency surgery and benign UGI surgery (including cholecystectomy, hernias & hiatal surgery) is an essential part of this post as most patients are operated on laparoscopically in this unit. Being a competent surgeon entails more than just operative skills, and evidence will be sought as to the appointee’s ability & judgement to manage post-operative complications and/or critically ill patients.
They will be expected to be capable of UGI endoscopy including therapeutic procedures such as stenting.
For further information on the role, please see contact details below:
stuart.mercer@porthosp.nhs.uk - Clinical Lead
adam.haycox@porthosp.nhs.uk - Care Group Manager