Consultant Hepatologist

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust; Shrewsbury; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS Trust in England is looking for a Consultant Hepatologist to join their Gastroenterology team. The role involves independent patient care, participation in the on-call rota, and involvement in clinical governance and training. The Trust serves a large community providing a wide range of acute services, fostering a collaborative work environment. This position closely supports patient pathways and requires strong teamwork and clinical skills.

Qualifications

• Must be responsible for patients' ongoing care alongside consultants.
• Experience with gastrointestinal patient issues is essential.
• Strong skills in audit, governance, and teaching junior staff.

Responsibilities

• Provide independent care for patients with GI complaints.
• Participate in clinical governance and audit activities.
• Join the Upper GI / Hepatobiliary Cancer MDT.

Skills

Teamwork

Clinical care expertise

Crisis management

Education

Medical degree and specialist training

Job description

Job overview

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is looking to appoint a Consultant Hepatologist to join our existing team. The Department of Gastroenterology provides a service to the county of Shropshire and Mid Wales and currently consists of 13 Consultant Gastroenterologists and 1 Consultant Hepatologist working across both hospital sites. Contribution to an out of hours on call rota is core to this role.

Main duties of the job

Clinical

• To be responsible and work independently for the continuing care of patients alongside consultant staff.
• To participate in the Gastroenterology on call rota.
• To work independently caring for patients with gastrointestinal complaints, caring out a mixture of emergency and elective care.
• To participate in audit and governance and support the training of junior medical staff and other staffing groups that care for our patients.
• To carry out appropriate administrative duties in support of clinical commitments.
• To be a core member and participate in the Upper GI / Hepatobiliary Cancer MDT.
• To develop enhanced clinical skills, especially in the assessment and management of acutely ill patients.
• To have excellent team‑working skills with the abilities and professional attitude to work well in a multi‑professional team.
• To deliver clinical and quality targets agreed both nationally and locally with clinical teams and commissioners.
• To follow patients throughout their clinical pathways.

Working for your organisation

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) is the main provider of acute hospital services for around half a million people in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and mid Wales. Encompassing some of the most picturesque parts of England and Wales, the Trust’s catchment stretches from the Cambrian Mountains in the west, to Newport and the fringes of the Black Country in the east. The main towns include: Bridgnorth, Ludlow, Market Drayton, Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Whitchurch (in Shropshire); Newport, Telford and Wellington (in Telford & Wrekin); and Newtown and Welshpool (in Powys) – all beautiful and unique. Our main service locations are the Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) in Shrewsbury which are located 20 minutes’ drive apart. Together they provide 99% of our activity. Both hospitals provide a wide range of acute hospital services including accident & emergency, outpatients, diagnostics, inpatient medical care and critical care.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

A formal job plan will be agreed between the successful candidate and their Clinical Director and consultant colleagues, on behalf of the Medical Director within 3 months of starting in post. A full‑time job plan is based on a 10 PA working week. The job plan will be reviewed annually and is a prospective agreement that sets out the consultant's duties, responsibilities, and objectives for the coming year. It covers all aspects of a consultant’s professional practice, including clinical work, teaching, research, education and managerial responsibilities. It will provide a clear schedule of commitments, both internal and external and will include personal objectives, detailing links to wider service improvements and trust strategic priorities.

For a full‑time contract, the job plan will be divided on average per week (pro‑rata for a part‑time post) as:

• 7.5 Programmed Activities (PAs) of Direct Clinical Care – includes clinical activity, clinically related activity and predictable and unpredictable emergency work. Clinic templates are for 3.5 hours to allow 0.5 hours for additional clinic‑related admin (phone calls, time to admit from clinic) within the 1 PA allocated.
• 2.5 Supporting Professional Activities (SPAs) – includes CPD, audit, teaching and research. 1.5 of these will be to support revalidation. The remainder are directed at Trust priorities and may include educational supervision, lead roles, and other activities to be reviewed annually as part of the job‑planning process. SPA time sufficient for quality assurance activities will be provided. Consultants may carry out a maximum of one SPA session off‑site at a time suited to their individual timetable and in keeping with the requirements of the activities. Direct Clinical Care PA time will be sufficient to deal with the clinical admin generated by inpatient, outpatient and endoscopic activity.
• Out of Hours Activity – There will be a requirement to take part in an on‑call rota primarily for GI bleeds with a frequency of approximately 1 in 10. Weekend on‑call will require on‑site input on Saturday and Sunday mornings, as well as an on‑call from home to advise on other gastrointestinal cases emergencies at other times.