Job Description

This post is for an enthusiastic, dynamic clinician who wants to be involved in a novel and innovative approach to delivering cardiovascular services. The post will be based at Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (LHCH) and will be centred on the development and delivery of a community-based cardiovascular diagnostic & assessment services to the population of Knowsley, Merseyside. There will be an option for a subspecialty session per week, if appropriate.

The original aim of Knowsley PCT was to commission a single, cohesive provider of community-based cardiovascular services (CCVS) in order to improve health outcomes in a patient-focussed manner. In addition, there was a strong desire to achieve equality of access across the region and to avoid/reduce the "unnecessary" use of secondary care services.

Dr Clare Hammond, consultant cardiologist, currently oversees the clinical quality aspect of the service and supports service current delivery alongside cardiology consultant colleagues. Direct clinical activity in the form of community-based clinics will form the cornerstone of this post but there is enormous potential to improve and refine the current service model as well as develop innovative cardiac rehabilitation and heart failure services within both localities.



Knowsley CCVS 4 direct clinical sessions (community clinics) - 3 of these sessions will be fixed and the fourth will be "flexible" providing cross-cover for annual leave/study leave.



Admin work 2 sessions per week



Subspeciality 1 fixed if appropriate



SPA 1.5 sessions per week



Triage 1 session per week



As the largest single site specialist heart and chest hospital in the UK, we, at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, have a clear vision 'to be the best cardiothoracic integrated healthcare organisation'.



We provide specialist services in cardiothoracic surgery, cardiology, respiratory medicine both in the hospital and out in the community.



We serve a catchment area of 2.8 million people, spanning Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales and the Isle of Man, and increasingly we receive referrals from outside these areas for highly specialised services such as aortics.



Our reputation for strong performance is important in delivering the best care for our patients and high quality clinical services. This is underpinned by a culture of research and innovation, delivered in modern estate and our encouragement of flexible working in a variety of forms.



Please visit our website - https://www.lhch.nhs.uk/



Please follow this link for a tour of our site - https://bit.ly/36ylsoq



The post is flexible in its nature and structure and full-time, part-time and job-share applications will be considered. The successful applicant(s) will be based at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital and will work alongside Dr Clare Hammond, Consultant Cardiologist and Clinical Lead for Community Cardiology, in order to organise, develop and deliver a CCVS to the population of Knowsley.



Community-based clinics commenced in early April 2010 and are established in the three main "zones" of the borough of Knowsley (Kirkby, Huyton and Whiston). Eight clinical, consultant-led sessions are delivered per week. These are required to provide sufficient assessment and diagnostic capacity to meet pre-specified key performance indicators, each clinic being supported by ECG technicians and a highly specialised physiologist providing echocardiography. The successful applicant will be responsible for delivering high-quality patient care in the community setting, requesting appropriate non-invasive investigations and providing concise clinical diagnosis and management plans to the referring healthcare professionals. They will have the full support of colleagues at LHCH and access to diagnostic services (non-invasive and invasive) at LHCH if required. Administrative support and technician-led reporting of non-invasive tests are already in place at LHCH and can be expanded if necessary.



The successful candidate will have full secretarial support, a personal computer (training available if required) and office accommodation.



The Trust supports the requirements for continuing professional development as laid down by the Royal College of Physicians and is committed to providing time and financial support for these activities.



The Trust has the required arrangements in place, as laid down by the Royal College of



Physicians, to ensure that all doctors have an annual appraisal with a trained appraiser and supports doctors going through the revalidation process.



The Trust supports the provision of a mentor for newly-appointed consultants.



RESEARCH & AUDIT



Equivalent to one half-day per month. LHCH has a strong pedigree in the field of clinical research and audit and had a highly productive clinical quality and audit department. The successful applicant will, ideally, have some research experience and will be encouraged to contribute to the Centre's research profile. The nature of the CCVS and the detailed data collection that will accompany it, lends itself perfectly to epidemiological studies and other clinical research as well as detailed audit projects. The success of the CCVS will be dependent on the quality of the data collected and subsequently audited and a number of key performance indicators will be based on clinical quality. It will be essential that the successful applicant(s) engages fully with this process and can disseminate all relevant findings to the cardiology directorate via monthly-held audit meetings.



TEACHING & TRAINING



The successful applicant(s) will be required to continue the process of CCVS awareness amongst the community-based clinical staff working for the Knowsley population. Practice CVD leads could be invited to attend the CCVS (as observers) and those with a particular interest could receive more regularly training sessions. There is opportunity, in conjunction with the ICB to establish a more formal training programme for GPs interested in cardiovascular medicine. This could involve sessions in the community and at LHCH and ultimately improve the standard of cardiovascular medicine delivered in the community as a whole. LHCH is committed to the concept of specialist-nurse delivered services and the post-holder will be expected to actively contribute to their education and training.