Consultant Microbiologist

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust; Tees Valley; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare organization in Tees Valley is seeking a Clinical Microbiologist to provide expert diagnostic advice and infection control services. You will collaborate with medical staff, engage in teaching programmes, and contribute to quality assurance initiatives. The role emphasizes a commitment to patient safety and healthcare excellence. Ideal candidates should have a medical degree and experience in microbiology. A supportive workplace with opportunities for professional development is offered.

Benefits

Health and well-being initiatives

Professional development opportunities

Staff recognition programs

Qualifications

• Experience with diagnostic and clinical microbiology.
• Ability to work collaboratively with medical teams.
• Skills in quality assurance and audits.

Responsibilities

• Provide diagnostic and clinical microbiology advice.
• Contribute to teaching and training programmes.
• Lead and participate in infection control initiatives.

Skills

Clinical microbiology expertise

Infection control knowledge

Teaching and training skills

Education

Medical Degree

Job description

Overview

To provide continuity of service. Responsibility with consultant colleagues, for providing a comprehensive diagnostic and clinical microbiology advice, and infection control service. To actively participate in both departmental and Trust matters concerning infection control and clinical governance. Share the clinical responsibility for Microbiology / Serology / Virology with the consultant team.

Participation in:

• Teaching/training of junior staff and medical staff and medical students
• Postgraduate and undergraduate teaching programmes
• Clinical and laboratory audit
• Departmental and Trust matters concerning clinical governance and audit
• Continuing professional development (CPD)

At North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust our main priority is, and always will be, to provide safe and high quality care to our patients every day; the kind of care we would want for ourselves and our loved ones. We want our organisation to be the best place to work with the right staff, in the right roles, at the right time, to ensure we deliver exceptional patient care and experience.

We will support staff through providing an inclusive and supportive workplace with health and well‑being initiatives, staff benefits and opportunities for personal and professional development. Staff recognition is very important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Star and Team of the month, colleague recognition – a note of thanks, Managers Awards, Shining Stars and Service Awards.

We support the Making Every Contact Count approach to behaviour change in the promotion of health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.

We recruit for values and "Together we are North Tees & Hartlepool".

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Optimisation of laboratory working practices
• Authorisation of results, accounting for approximately 2 hours of the working day
• Contribution to quality assurance processes within the department
• Collaboration with biomedical scientists to achieve a diagnostic service that is modern and of the highest standard
• Contribution to the business planning process for the microbiology service
• Membership of Pathology Directorate
• Support training and development of all types and grades of staff
• Participation in laboratory audits
• Offering solicited advice to medical and nursing staff
• Offering unsolicited advice where this is warranted and of benefit to the patient
• Monitoring progress of patients
• Daily visits to the Critical Care Unit (shared)
• Visits to wards on a frequent basis
• Membership of Drugs and Therapeutics Committee (when Antibiotic Lead)
• Chairmanship (when Antibiotic Lead) or membership of Trust Antibiotic Group
• Participation in audits (including antibiotic audits)
• Weekly multi-disciplinary clinical meeting for orthopaedic service – one CMM designated.
• Weekly haematology ward round – one consultant designated.
• Lead clinical role (when Infection Control Doctor) in day-to-day management of infection control related problems
• Lead role (when Infection Control Doctor) for policy and guideline development
• Contribution to prevention and management of outbreaks of infection
• Support for the Trust Infection Prevention and Control Programme
• Liaison with Infection Prevention and Control Nurse
• Liaison with the Director of Infection Prevention and Control (Director of Nursing)
• Chairmanship of monthly Infection Prevention and Control Team meetings (when Infection Control Doctor)
• Membership of Infection Control Committee
• Healthcare-associated Infection Operational Group (when Infection Control Doctor)
• Trust Sepsis Group – one consultant designated.
• OPAT group – one consultant designated.
• Liaison with the Consultant in Health Protection and the Public Health England (PHE)

Please be aware: Once sufficient applications have been received this vacancy may close early.

Additional Information

Disclosure and Barring Checks (DBS). It is the policy of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust that all successful candidates who are new to the Trust and require DBS clearance for the post they have been offered are required to pay the cost for their DBS certificate. The method of payment for this is via salary deduction from your first month's pay on commencement with the Trust. The DBS check will be undertaken during the pre-employment check screening.

For any new employees commencing employment with North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, you will be subject to satisfactory completion of a 6 month probationary period. Please note that internal applications and individuals that are appointed to fixed term appointments of less than 6 months duration are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or a bank member of staff).

Employment References. As part of our pre-employment screening process, all applicants are required to provide references covering the last three years employment history including any gaps. Applicants are requested to ensure e-mail addresses for all referees are included on their application form. Personal references are not acceptable.

Working Hours. If the hours advertised for the post are up to full time (37.5 hours per week), applications are still welcomed from individuals who may be seeking to work less than full-time hours and all requests will be considered in line with the post being appointed to for the successful applicant.

We are able to offer sponsorship for a Health and Care Worker or Skilled Worker visa, subject to candidate and position eligibility. Please review the job eligibility guidance for skilled workers here: Skilled Worker visa: Your job - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trusts are currently working together to develop a Group Structure to develop a clinical strategy for the benefit of patients, service users and colleagues within the Tees valley. As part of this collaboration a single pathology service, the Tees Valley Pathology Service (TVPS), is being developed, delivered by a hub and spoke model with the hubs situated on either the James Cook University Hospital site (JCUH) or University Hospital North Tees site (UHNT). The Microbiology processing hub is based at JCUH delivering a full repertoire of services. Technical staff work flexibly between sites. The consultant teams are working collaboratively to standardise a range of SOPs and protocols for the continued benefit of patients and staff, however they continue to work from their base organisation providing advice and support to the clinical teams from both the acute and secondary care services within the catchment area of each Trust.

Armed Forces Covenant. As a supporter of the Armed Forces and an employer of Reservists, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust are proud to be a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant, which is a promise by the nation to ensure that those who serve or who have served in the UK Armed Forces (and their families) are treated fairly. We recognise that reservists and veterans bring a variety of transferable skills and qualities to our workplace, developed through their military careers. Our commitment to supporting the Armed Forces Community has been recognised through the Armed Forces Covenant as a Silver Employer.