Clinical Scientist - Band 7

United Lincolnshire Hospitals; Lincoln; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

NHS Pension

Flexible working

Career development

Job summary

United Lincolnshire Hospitals seeks a motivated clinical scientist to join the Radiotherapy Physics team in Lincolnshire. You will contribute to the dosimetry, QA and maintenance of radiotherapy treatment machines, and support treatment planning as required.

The post requires HCPC registration, a physics degree (BSc/MSc) and recent experience in clinical radiotherapy physics. You will work within a skilled MDT, with opportunities for development, teaching, and involvement in national standards

Qualifications

• B.Sc. (Hons) in Physics with 1st or 2.1 class or equivalent.
• M.Sc. in Medical Physics or equivalent.
• Professional registration with HCPC and membership of a relevant professional body.
• Recent experience in clinical science, ideally radiotherapy physics.

Responsibilities

• Participate in Radiotherapy duties, assisting in dosimetry and QA of treatment machines and equipment.
• Provide support for treatment planning and dosimetry within Radiotherapy Physics.
• Contribute to development projects and service improvements within the section.
• Work as part of a multidisciplinary team delivering effective and compassionate patient care.
• Maintain records and participate in audits and quality assurance activities.

Skills

Scientific problem solving

Radiotherapy physics

Communication skills

Education

B.Sc. (Hons) Physics

M.Sc. Medical Physics

HCPC registration

Professional membership

Job description

We are committed to developing a workforce that reflects the community it serves and welcome applicants from all sectors of the community.

We recognise that outstanding care can only be delivered through our people. We want to attract people who can help us deliver our vision. We want in return to help people achieve what they wish in their careers in the NHS at ULTH.

We are always keen to welcome highly skilled, committed and compassionate individuals to our hospitals – people who put patients at the heart of everything they do and are ready to help us achieve our vision.

Our Group values guide everything we do. They are:

Compassionate - We care about people - Compassionate is the act of showing empathy, kindness, and respect to others, recognising their individual needs and circumstances. It involves listening, understanding, and supporting others in a way that makes them feel valued, safe, and cared for.

Collaborative - We work together as a team - Collaborative is working inclusively and respectfully with others to achieve shared goals. It involves open communication, valuing diverse perspectives, and building trust to create a supportive and effective team environment.

Innovative - We strive to improve - Innovative is the process of exploring new ideas, approaches, and technologies to improve care, services, and working practices. It involves creativity, curiosity, and a willingness to take risks in a safe and supportive environment.

If you believe in them too, then you are ready to join the ULTH team.

We’ve taken great pride in building working environments where staff always feel valued, cared for and part of a team. Without doubt this is a challenging yet very rewarding job that is at the centre of health and care in Lincolnshire - making a positive difference to our patients.

Our Trust is situated in the beautiful county of Lincolnshire and is one of the biggest acute hospital trusts in England, serving a population of more than 700,000 people. We provide acute and specialist services to people in Lincolnshire and neighbouring counties. We have an annual income of £710 million (22/23) and we employ nearly 8,600 people.

Our Group Board have recently agreed a new vision statement – “Caring and building a healthier future for all” – stating their ambition for our Trust and the wider group to be among the best.

We also have a five year Integrated Improvement Plan setting out how we will achieve our strategic objectives, for patients, services, people and partners, the last recognising that our future success depends on our ability to ensure the Lincolnshire healthcare system is successful in achieving its ambition to help people live healthier lives and provide care closer to where people live.

Our latest CQC report increased our ratings for being effective and well-led from ‘Requires Improvement’ to ‘Good’. Our rating for caring remained as ‘Good’.

This is in recognition of the huge amount of work that our amazing staff have done to improve the quality of care for our patients in recent years.

We are committed to helping our staff balance their work and home lives and ensure they feel supported, valued and appreciated.

So,what is in it for you?

• Flexible working: Depending on the needs of your role, we will consider requests for flexible and/or part-time working for whatever reason you should need it. We recognise flexible working will not look the same for everyone, because it depends on the nature of the role and the needs of the individual.

Types of flexibility could include:

• Part-time - less than 37.5 hours per week.
• Off-site/remote working - working from home or other sites for part or all the week.
• Compressed hours – usually full-time hours but over fewer days or shifts.
• Staggered hours – having different start and finish times.
• Set shift patterns – to allow for predictability
• NHS Pension:A generous and flexible pension scheme with contributions from us as your employer fully protected against inflation and guaranteed by the government
• Annual Leave: Starting at 27 days a year, rising to 33 days after 10 years plus eight bank holidays (for staff covered by Agenda for Change) For Medical Workforce positions (Consultant and Specialty Doctor), the full-time entitlement commences from 32 days per annum. For all other Medical Workforce positions, the full-time entitlement commences from 27 days per annum.
• Bank working:The chance to work extra hours at enhanced rates and we will pay you weekly too, ideal if your income needs a quick boost.

In addition, there ismore.

• Family & Childcare: Including on-site nurseries at Lincoln County Hospital and Pilgrim Hospital Boston, maternity, paternity, adoption & shared parental leave following a set period of employment.
• Health & Wellbeing: including counselling, mental health first aid, physiotherapy, eye tests.
• Learning & Development including Lincolnshire Talent Academy, leadership training, medical education, clinical education, Lincolnshire clinical research
• Financial support and benefits including Cycle2Work, car lease scheme, home electronics. Free on-site parking and free tea and coffee and the ability to save and borrow through your salary.
• Rewards & Recognition including staff awards, long service awards, retirement awards, examples of excellence and staff lottery.

Enjoy a better quality of life in one of the UK’s most welcoming counties. Whether you’re taking the first exciting steps in your career, itching for a new challenge or searching for a better place to raise a family, Lincolnshire welcomes everyone. Discover a range of rewarding health and social care careers in a county that’s friendly, fascinating, affordable and brimming with everything you need to live a happy life.

Job overview

We are looking for motivated and enthusiastic scientist to join our team.

The Radiotherapy Physics department provides a specialist technical radiotherapy physics service to the Lincolnshire Oncology Centre, contributing to safe treatment of patients for radiotherapy. It is responsible for ensuring the accurate calibration, according to national recommendations, of all radiotherapy treatment machines and providing a routine quality control service for all equipment used in simulating, planning, verifying and treating radiotherapy patients.

This role will include:

• To contribute to routine clinical service provision in all areas of radiotherapy physics.
• To work as part of the clinical scientist group, across machine quality assurance & dosimetry, treatment planning & brachytherapy.
• To contribute to developmental and project work within the section, taking a lead or supporting role as appropriate.
• To work as part of a multi-disciplinary team providing effective, caring and compassionate services to patients.

Main duties of the job

Participate in Radiotherapy duties as required, assisting in the dosimetry and maintenance of Radiotherapy Treatment machines and associated equipment, and assisting Treatment Planning as required.

Work scheduled late shifts and weekends to facilitate software upgrades, commissioning, QA etc, and work flexibly to support the service; Participate in the morning run-up when required.

Manage clinical development projects assigned to them by senior scientists.

Keep careful records of all work performed and complete other appropriate records.

Be an active member of the radiotherapy physics service.
Be managerially responsible to the Head of the Radiotherapy Physics service through area leads.

Perform/assist in quality assurance, maintenance and repair work related to external beam and brachytherapy treatment machines, simulators, the CT Scanner and associated equipment.

Participate in the maintenance and calibration of physical assets used for dosimetry, ensuring that all equipment is working effectively and safely.

Participate in performing inter-departmental audits at local, national and international levels.

Perform treatment planning and treatment planning related developments.

Participate/assist in radioiodine ablation therapy.

Attend and participate in training courses as required and to participate in scientific meetings and conferences, as appropriate.

Be state registered as a Clinical Scientist with the HCPC and maintain such registration.

Working for our organisation

Lincoln Hospital is a thriving university city and with the opening of the medical school, it provides all major specialties and a 24-hour major accident and emergency service
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust has been granted teaching hospital status, after demonstrating evidence to significant teaching commitment. From now on it will be known as United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS) and United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) have come together in a Group arrangement, with the goal of improving the care provided to patients across the county.
This will not constitute a formal merger of the two organisations, but will bring the Trusts together under a single Board and Executive Leadership Team, with the goal of improving the care that is provided to patients both in the community and in hospitals across Lincolnshire. Both Trusts will retain their separate statutory names and legal obligations.
The Group will be known as Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group (LCHG).

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Communication and Relationship Skills
Able to communicate complex information effectively with colleagues in pressured situations, such as equipment failure or breakdowns.

Able to work as part of a team and foster good working relationships with colleagues and suppliers.

Responsible for ensuring effective communications within their service and across professional boundaries, overcoming barriers to understanding.

Analytical and Judgemental Skills
Perform patient specific QA measurements, using a range of equipment and software, and analyse and advise on clinical suitability. Analyse and interpret the results. To include understanding of when escalation to an MPE is appropriate.

Analyse quality assurance and commissioning data related to external beam and brachytherapy treatment machines, CT scanners and associated equipment. Exercise judgement on when tolerances are exceeded, escalating as appropriate.

Analyse and interpret patient dosimetric calculations, assessments or measurements, e.g., electron cut-out factors, and investigate deviations from the required dose.

Advise on the acceptability of individual dose assessments, compare options and suggest treatment modifications to meet clinical tolerances.

Understand and apply relevant legislation, national standards, professional and other guidelines, e.g. IRR, IR(ME)R, ISO 9001, Data Protection Act, Caldicott and other relevant BSI and ISO standards, professional and regulatory body reports and guidelines.

Planning and Organisational Skills
Able to plan work required for commissioning new equipment within agreed time frames, often forming part of a wider plan, and involving multiple staff groups.

Understands the radiotherapy pathway and systems, enabling the effective management and support of clinical workflows.

Responsibilities for patient/client care
Provide specialist clinical technical services within Radiotherapy Physics, assisting in the dosimetry, QA and maintenance of radiotherapy treatment machines and associated equipment, as well as in routine radiotherapy treatment planning as required; this work requires familiarity with the Radiotherapy Physics Quality Assurance procedures and national guidelines.

Develop and maintain specialist knowledge in Radiotherapy Physics.

Take the lead in particular projects (under supervision) intended to provide service development and improvement, achieved particularly through hardware and software developments.

Propose and play a part in the development of clinical and scientific procedures and work instructions to implement changes in clinical or scientific practice under the service quality management system.

Responsible for safe use of equipment by other staff members.

Responsibility for human resources (including training)
Participate in the teaching, training and supervision of staff, students and other trainees, as required. This may include the preparation and giving of lectures on areas of Radiotherapy Physics to Scientific, Technical, Clinical, nursing and ancillary staff.

Able to plan workload for self and junior colleagues to ensure machine QA is completed within maintenance window, or dosimetry equipment is calibrated within appropriate time frame.

Keep careful records of all work performed and maintain department records as required.

Prepare reports, analyse and present scientific data when needed.

Participate in the development and introduction of new treatment technologies, techniques and dosimetry.

Freedom to Act
Work independently, balancing the demands of routine planning, QA and dosimetry work, within clearly defined occupational policies with developmental projects.

Participate in wider radiotherapy activities, undertaking projects and tasks in accordance with agreed priorities and strategies.

Physical Effort
Must be able to frequently sit in a restricted position for several long periods during a work session.

Able to move complex equipment, sometimes in confined spaces, and to install or remove delicate hardware components, taking appropriate anti-static precautions.

Able to lift medium/heavy weights on occasion (e.g. large monitor screens, Lead shielding blocks), attach scanning equipment to treatment machines, move large water reservoirs etc. Safe systems of work are imposed to minimise risk of injury.

Mental Effort
Frequent requirement for concentration and is able to respond appropriately when subject to frequent unpredictable working patterns (e.g. when interrupted to provide urgent advice on the processing of data for a particular patient or treatment machine) or to meet service requirements, e.g., QA sessions.

Able to manage time flexibly to meet the requirements of the service.

Able to concentrate frequently and for prolonged periods (e.g. carrying out computer software development, troubleshooting, installation and testing or a sequence of Quality Assurance measurements) and processing measured beam data for the treatment planning system, commissioning measurements and radiation dosimetry.

Emotional Effort
Able to deal with stressful circumstances (e.g. working to restore clinical systems to working order when patients and staff activity has been disrupted)

Person specification

Education

• B.Sc. (Hons) in Physics 1st or 2.1 class or an appropriate relevant science or equivalent
• M.Sc. in Medical Physics or equivalent
• Professional registration as a Clinical Scientist with Health and Care Professions Council
• Member of an appropriate professional body

Skills

• Strong abilities in solving scientific, mathematical and algorithmic problems
• Specialist skills in Radiotherapy Physics
• Effective written and oral communication skills

Knowledge

• Highly developed specialist knowledge of Radiotherapy Physics and peripheral knowledge of other areas within Medical Physics
• Understanding of patient and staff risks arising from equipment or process failure and staff error, with respect to Radiotherapy. Able to exercise judgement on complex facts or situations requiring urgent interpretation and analysis, followed by a comparison of the possible options for action
• Significant understanding of relevant legislation, national standards, professional and other guidelines relevant to Radiotherapy e.g. IRR, IRMER, Advancing Safer Radiotherapy
• Specialist knowledge of a wide range of clinical radiotherapy techniques and work practices with an understanding of the clinical data flow patterns and processing used by the relevant professionals in Radiotherapy
• Good understanding of legislation, national standards, professional and other guidelines relevant to Radiotherapy Physics practice in general e.g. IRR, IRMER, ISO 9001
• Manual dexterity and understanding to handle delicate electronic instruments and components

Specialist attributes

• Ability to work individually and as a team member
• Ability to effectively manage unpredictable workloads and resources

Personal Qualities

• Ability to work in line with and role model Group values

Experience

• Recent experience in clinical science, ideally radiotherapy physics
• Evidence through, for example, CPD and Appraisal, to confirm professional career progression and continuing learning
• Experience in research and development activities
• A track record to demonstrate developing experience in project management

ULTH recognises that everyone is different, and values the unique contribution that individual experiences, knowledge and skills make in delivering quality healthcare and becoming a model employer. We are committed to transforming our organisational culture by actively committing to implementing the Trust Single Equality Scheme, and other policies, such as the Dignity in Care policy and the Dignity at Work policy. We will continue to promote equality and challenge discrimination in all service provision, recognising and meeting the needs of the diverse communities we serve. We will strive to provide an environment in which people want to work and to be a model employer leading in good employment practice.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, ULTH reserves the right to close this advert prior to the closing date.

We welcome applications from the UK Armed Forces Community. On the application form please tick “Member of the Armed Forces Community” if the below applies to you.

You are:

• A Veteran
• A Military Reserve
• Partner/Spouse of those Serving NB: partners/spouses are only eligible whilst their partner is serving in the Armed Forces

All new employees will be subject to a charge for the DBS check that is required for the post. The Disclosure & Barring Service application form (formerly CRB) will be provided by ULTH and the fee will be deducted from your salary over a 3 month period.

Candidates are advised to read the attached guidance on using AI technology. When you complete your application, you are required to declare that the information in your application form is true and complete.

Please note, for applicants with previous NHS service: If successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). This retrieves key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.