Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia

Countess of Chester Hospital; Chester; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust seeks a Consultant in Intensive Care and Anaesthesia to join the department. The post entails ICU hot weeks, on‑call and weekend cover, plus weekday anaesthetic sessions to meet a 10 PA contract.

The successful candidate will hold CCTs in ICM and anaesthesia (or be within six months of attained CCTs). The unit includes 21 ICU beds and supports a tertiary arterial hub, with flexible level 2/3 care and expansion plans.

Qualifications

• CCTs in ICM and Anaesthesia are required or within six months of completion.
• Consultant-level expertise in intensive care and anaesthesia to cover ICU hot weeks and on‑call duties.

Responsibilities

• Provide intensive care cover alongside the ICU team.
• Attend on‑call and weekend ICU rota as well as weekday anaesthetic sessions.
• Contribute to anaesthesia services when not in ICU to meet a 10 PA contract.
• Support surge capacity and maintain appropriate consultant-to-patient ratios.

Education

CCT in Intensive Care Medicine (ICM) and Anaesthesia

Job description

Working Full time: 10 PAs per week

The department is seeking to appoint a Consultant in Intensive Care and Anaesthesia. The candidate will integrate into the team of existing consultants to provide a complete intensive care service, including the equivalent of a full‑time commitment to ICU hot weeks, ICU on call and weekend cover as well as weekday anaesthetic sessions.

This post has arisen from a vacancy in the Department of Anaesthesia & Intensive Care. It will add resilience to ICU consultant staffing and support an appropriate ratio of consultants to patients as described in GPICS guidelines.

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) consists of 21 single rooms, each of which can be used for either level two or three care. Fifteen beds are commissioned on a flexible level 2/3 basis, funded as seven level three and eight level two beds. The additional rooms allow for future expansion, provide surge capacity and allow the ICU team to work flexibly to accommodate patients while maintaining staff patient ratios. The unit supports the tertiary South Mersey Arterial hub’s activity.

The successful candidate will hold CCTs in both ICM and anaesthesia. It is also open to those who are within six months of attaining their CCTs.

The successful candidate will be responsible for providing intensive care cover along with the other Intensivists. Currently most of the Intensivists are also Anaesthetists who provide elective and emergency anaesthesia care when not on their intensive care hot weeks or on the ICU. The ICU on-call commitment will be 1:12 (including this post) to cover the ICU on call rota. The weekend on-call commitment will be 1:12 for long days and overnight on call. There are additional short‑day weekends (so that there are two Intensivists for the morning ward rounds) making the overall weekend commitment 1 in 7.

Irrespective of other commitments, the post holder will contribute fully to the ICU on call, daytime and weekend ICU consultant cover. In addition, the successful candidate will also undertake additional sessions in anaesthesia to work a 10 PA contract with core 1.5 SPA included to meet the needs for appraisal and revalidation.

The Trust’s services are provided from three locations:

• The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 473 general and acute beds.
• Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 60 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility.
• Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.
  

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust employs 5,964 staff (headcount) to provide care and treatment to a population of over 400,000 people living in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire.

The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System. Due to its location on the border with North Wales, the Trust also works closely with the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.

The Trust treats patients from England and some parts of Wales. During 2024/2025, there were approximately 643,000 patient attendances (inpatient, A&E, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery

For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Dr K Tizard Job title: ICU Clinical Lead Email address: [e-mail] Telephone number: 01244365461

For informal discussion about this post please contact the consultant as detailed above.