Genetic Counsellor - Clinical Genetics

Leeds Teaching Hospitals; Leeds; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in the United Kingdom is seeking an experienced Genetic Counsellor to deliver high-quality genetic counselling services. The successful candidate will manage their own caseload, educate trainees, and work within multidisciplinary teams to support diverse patient needs. Expertise in genomic issues and strong communication skills are essential for this role. This position based in Leeds offers a comprehensive benefits package and professional development opportunities.

Qualifications

• Ability to work autonomously and manage independent clinical caseload.
• Experience of working within an NHS regional genetics service or equivalent.
• Knowledge of cancer genetics and genomics bioinformatics.

Responsibilities

• Provide genetic counselling for clients and families.
• Interpret complex genetic information for clients.
• Take responsibility for accepting referrals and prioritizing action.

Skills

Autonomy

Excellent communication skills

Ability to work under pressure

Education

STP Genomic Counselling qualification

MSc. in Genetic Counselling

Formal counselling qualification

Job description

Anopportunity has arisen to join the Leeds Clinical Genomics Service(previously YRGS). The servicecomprises a substantial team of Consultant Clinical Geneticists, GeneticCounsellors, Genetic Research Nurses, Genomic Associates and a large team ofadmin and support staff. The service covers a diverse population ofapproximately 4 million across a large, varied geographical area. We offer a comprehensive geneticcounselling service via telephone and video clinics, alongside face to faceclinical contacts.

Thepost-holder will be expected to provide an expert genetic counselling servicein line with the Job Description and Personal Specification. They will manage their own caseload, andthere may be scope to develop skills in specific areas depending on the needsof the service and interest of the post-holder. They will also be involved inteaching and training of genetic counselling trainees and other healthprofessionals.

Pleasenote that the service is currently located in Chapel Allerton Hospital,however the intention is to relocate to the Leeds General Infirmary site inearly 2026.

Intendedinterview date 13/1/26

Forinformal enquiries please contact Natalie Mellard (PA) at:[e-mail]

Main duties of the job

Toact as an autonomous practitioner to help individuals and families deal witha genetic conditions. This is to beachieved by helping the clients and their families to:

comprehend the medical facts,including the diagnosis, probable course of the disorder, and the availablemanagement

appreciate the way in whichheredity contributes to the disorder, and the risk of recurrence in specifiedrelatives

understand the alternatives fordealing with the risk of recurrence

choose the course of action whichseems to them most appropriate

make the best possible adjustmentto the disorder in an affected family member and/or the risk of recurrence ofthat disorder.

Toact as a significant educational resource; for trainees in genomic services,to the public, and to the wider health care system.

Tobe an experienced Genetic Counsellor providing a high quality geneticcounselling service at regional specialist level for a population of 4.2million in the Yorkshire Region. This will involve significant and specialistknowledge of all the principal issues surrounding genetics, the ability tohandle enquiries of any field in the first instance and appraisal of whatresources need to be mobilized for further patient care. The individual willbe expert in their own particular area, often managing the whole clinicalepisode.

Towork independently and unsupervised as well as in various multidisciplinaryteams in a variety of settings.

About us

TheDepartment of Clinical Genetics is currently based at Chapel AllertonHospital with a satellite unit in Hull Royal Infirmary and is part of theLeeds Teaching Hospitals Trust. Our vision is based on The Leeds Way Values.

Weare a friendly and supportive team. Wehave embraced the recent national changes to genetic testing (whole genomesequencing) modernising our pathways, adapting how we deliver patient centredcare and increasing our support to mainstream colleagues.

LeedsTeaching Hospitals is committed to our process of redeploying 'at risk'members of our existing workforce to new roles. As such, all our job advertsare subject to this policy and we reserve the right to close, delay or removeadverts while this process is completed. If you do experience a delay in theshortlisting stage of the recruitment cycle, please bear with us while thisprocess is completed, and contact the named contact if you have anyquestions.

Job responsibilities

Directpatient care

Thejobholder will:

Take responsibility for acceptingreferrals (from GP, hospital doctor etc) within a defined specialty area, andprioritise action appropriately.

Elicit clients concerns andexpectations, as well as a detailed family history.

Interpret medical, family andpsychosocial history and confirm diagnostic information about family members

Calculate risks of clients andfamilies being affected by various genetic disorders (including recurrencerisks and carrier risks). Identify changes of risk within the family and takeresponsibility for communicating and applying new scientific information forthe benefit of the family over an open-ended time frame, through follow-upsystems and audit measures.

Communicate genetic information toclients and their relatives at an appropriate level following assessment ofthe individual situation. Identify and respond to emerging issues for theclient and family.

Receive, analyse and interprethighly complex and frequently conflicting information, and use this to makeclinical judgments and manage the implications of this.

Make judgments about, order,interpret and communicate normal and abnormal genomic (and other) testresults to patients and health care professionals. This may involveperforming phlebotomy in a variety of health care settings or clients homes.

Provide accurate information on therange of options open to a client/family including reproductive andrisk-reducing options

Take a lead role in the provisionof predictive genetic test consultations with patients.

Organise and partake in jointcounselling with colleagues (e.g in cases of complex family dynamics), whereindividual factors would indicate its utility.

Expertly communicate highlysensitive and potentially psychologically damaging information, which maycause high levels of distress e.g.

o breaking the bad news of positive predictive and confirmatory testsfor an untreatable condition such as Huntingtons disease, or a conditionthat causes a high risk of developing various cancers.

o giving a couple an unexpectedabnormal prenatal finding, or news that their fetus is affected with a severecondition where termination of pregnancy is an option

o counselling terminally ill patientsabout the chances that their illness may be the result of an inherited gene that they have a highchance of having passed it onto their children

Assess when clients have additional needs (e.g. therapeuticcounseling or psychiatric support, support group, social care services) andmobilise resources and make onward referrals for this

Communicate with clients who arebereaved and provide support e.g. around termination of pregnancy, death atyoung age etc.

Initiate timely interventions,sometimes acting as patient advocate e.g. in termination of pregnancy, timingof risk-reducing surgery etc.

Use expert counselling skills andtechniques to counsel clients about various testing options and facilitatedecision-making. Manage clients who have great difficulty accepting aclinical diagnosis or a genetic test result.

Identify and manage conflict withinfamilies created by sensitive genetic/genomic information.

Manage conflict when clientsdemands are incompatible with professional responsibilities and resources.

Use advanced counselling skills tocommunicate sensitively and expertly in difficult and often unexpectedsituations, e.g.;

o in the presence of language and/orcultural differences or disability requiring the aid of an interpreter

o when dealing with cases where thereis antagonism and anger or in a highly sensitive atmosphere e.g. in complexethical cases where expectations differ

o in cases of psychiatric illness orlearning difficulties where expert communication skills are required

Assess an individuals ability tounderstand the highly complex nature of genetics/genomics and adapt theinformation, concepts and options to suit their individual needs, this maymean devising visual aids, diagrams, models and skill in assessing languageand cultural needs etc.

Advise on factors that reduce risk(e.g. risk-reducing surgery, high dose folic acid) and on factors thatinfluence risk (e.g. contraceptive pill, HRT).

Prepare letters to patientssummarising clinic consultations and giving test results using theappropriate level of detail. This involves skilled use of dictation tools toappropriately delegate work to secretarial staff.

Be aware of, and follow, acceptedprotocols and policies on a departmental, local and national level.

Work independently and unsupervisedas well as in various multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) in a variety of healthdisciplines. This may include lone home visiting and patient care in hospitaland other health care settings.

Manage own caseload; orderinginvestigations and other procedures as required using departmental recallpolicies. This will include interpreting genomics test results (as part of amultidisciplinary team if necessary). The jobholder will take responsibilityfor a particular area subspecialty.

Ensure that all clinical documentsare legible, up to date and accurate.

Possess the personal skills anddevelopment that allows significant self-reflection and insight in order tocomprehend and utilise dynamic counselling processes.

Communicationwith Colleagues

Thejobholder will:

Liaise with laboratory colleaguesto order and communicate about genomic tests and to discuss complex testresults which are difficult to interpret

Liaise with relevant colleagueswhen arranging timely interventions e.g. a termination of pregnancy followingan abnormal prenatal result, invasive specialist investigations,risk-reducing surgery etc.

Liaise regionally, nationally andinternationally with other laboratories, departments of histology, surgery,screening, fetal medicine, midwifery, neurology, psychiatry, cardiology toobtain and provide information

Liaise with colleagues in othergenomics centres to obtain and provide information and to establishunderstanding and co-operation within the legal constraints of patientconfidentiality.

Write letters to referringclinicians and other clinicians appropriate to that episode of care.

Liaise with medical colleaguesabout issues that have diagnostic or clinical complexity. This may be as partof a formal MDT.

Identify and discuss cases ofethical complexity

Appropriately use databases and ITpackages/web applications in patient care.

Educating,advising and contributing to service improvement

Thejobholder will:

Carry out audits and clientsatisfaction surveys and present findings to departmental members.

Act as an educational resource,including formalised teaching sessions and informally providing advice whereappropriate.

Take part in duty rotas forproviding advice to patients, colleagues and the wider healthcare system.This can involve taking and acting on urgent referrals for clients indistress or in a vulnerable situation.

Form part of MDTs (includingsupporting patient care in the mainstream setting).

Develop and utilise patientinformation leaflets.

Present findings of research, auditand clinical practice to large groups of staff or members of the public;within the Trust, regionally, nationally, or internationally.

Participate in the teaching ofgenomics and related subjects to medical personnel, other health careprofessionals and members of the public.

Prepare and present clinical,psychosocial and scientific journal articles in departmental journal clubs,supervision journal club and at departmental teaching sessions.

Act as an educational resource formedical and other personnel attached to the clinical genetics/genomics team and associated organisations involvedwith patients care e.g. voluntary bodies, patient support groups.

Work on a variety of managerialworking groups where specific tasks have to be undertaken influencingdepartmental policy decisions. This will include dissemination to otherdepartmental members and to colleagues within a wider context.

Actively seek opportunities to beinvolved in service development within the department, the Yorkshire, Humberand North East region, and the Genetic/Genomic Counselling profession as awhole. Identify areas where development or changes are needed and proposealternatives

Be a valuable resource formainstream colleagues as genomic testing becomes more widespread within theNHS.

Comply with LTHT health andwellbeing policies to ensure staff and client safety, and ensure allincidents are reported and documented.

Ensure any complaints (formal and informal) are escalated andresolved appropriately following LTHT policies.

Trainingand mentoring

Thejobholder will:

Support, mentor and provideclinical supervision to a variety of personnel; e.g. MSc. students, TraineeGenetic counselors and STP Genomic Counsellor Trainees.

Organise training packages andinduction for new staff members.

Contributingto research

Thejobholder will:

Identify participants to take partin clinical research organized through the departmental research team.

Take opportunities to contribute toGenomic Counselling research locally, nationally or internationally.

Person Specification

Skills & behaviours

• Ability to work autonomously and manage independent clinical caseload.
• Ability to work within a multi-disciplinary team
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to reflect on own practice, including through the formal supervision process
• Alignment with LTHT core values and behaviors
• Resilient and able to work under pressure

Experience

• Ability to analyse research findings to inform practice development.
• A knowledge of genomics obtained through graduate/post-graduate courses.
• Familiarity with databases and word processing.
• Knowledge of cancer genetics.
• Knowledge of genomics bioinformatics
• Experience of teaching
• Experience of research and audit

Additional Requirements

• Phlebotomy (or be willing to be trained)
• Ability to travel to peripheral hospital sites or make home visits in a timely manner adhering to LTHT information governance policies
• Full UK Driving license
• Able to fulfil Occupational Health requirements for the post including clearance on blood borne viruses in compliance with Trust Policy.

Qualifications

• STP Genomic Counselling qualification with associated professional registration or working towards registration and within the last six months of training
• OR MSc. in Genetic Counselling AND hold GCRB Registration, or be eligible to submit a notification of intention to register, or be working towards application (preferably in the next available cohort)
• OR Professional qualification (registered nurse or midwife) AND meet all the Set B criteria for eligibility to register with GCRB (see appendix). AND hold GCRB Registration, or be eligible to sub
• Experience of working within an NHS regional genetics service or equivalent
• Relevant training in Genetics and Counselling in order to perform at a highly specialist level. Evidence of continuing professional development
• Formal counselling qualification
• PhD in genetics/health/social care

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.