Lead Sonographer

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Swindon; On-site; GBP 58,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a full-time Lead Sonographer to lead the Ultrasound Service at the Swindon site. The role involves clinical duties and significant managerial responsibilities, including staff recruitment, rostering and 7-day service planning.

The post requires HCPC registration and a management qualification, with a strong emphasis on quality improvement and adherence to national ultrasound guidelines.

Qualifications

• HCPC registration or equivalent professional body is required.
• Management qualification is desirable to support service leadership.
• Training in quality improvement is preferred to drive service development.

Responsibilities

• Undertake clinical and managerial duties and deputise for the General Manager for Imaging Services when appropriate.
• Coordinate, manage and allocate staff and resources within Ultrasound, reporting to senior leaders.
• Maintain professional standards and ensure staff uphold ultrasound practice guidelines.

Skills

HCPC registered

Management qualification

Quality improvement training

Job description

Employer Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Great Western Hospital Town Swindon Salary £57,528 - £64,750 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 16/09/2026 08:00

Lead Sonographer

Band 8a

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a unique organisation, serving as the sole integrated provider in the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire system. Our scope extends beyond boundaries as we oversee adult community services in Swindon and provide acute care from the Great Western Hospital.

Our 5,500 staff have 1.2m patient contacts a year, with 13,000 operations carried out in our Theatres, around 4,000 babies born, and our emergency attendances are now well over 100,000 per year. Those numbers only tell part of our story about what an exciting time it is to join Great Western Hospitals.

We are cultivating a culture that fosters our ambitions, prioritising equality, diversion, inclusion, wellbeing, and leadership. We aim to create an environment where every member of our team can truly thrive.

Job overview

We are seeking a full time Lead Sonographer who be responsible for the day to day organisation and management of the Ultrasound Service.

The post holder will provide clinical support and mentoring to the diagnostic imaging team of Sonographers, Student, Radiology Support Workers and Administrative and Clerical staff to actively develop the service in conjunction with NHS guidelines and directives.

Main duties of the job

1. The Lead Sonographer will undertake both clinical and managerial duties and when appropriate deputise for the General Manager for Imaging Services; will assist in the co-ordination, management and allocation of staff and resources within the Ultrasound department and report back to the General Manager, senior leadership team for Imaging and the Divisional leadership team and Trust.

2. The post holder will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in Imaging, liaising with those involved to ensure the appropriate imaging, reporting and management of the patient is provided when and where necessary. They will maintain a high professional and technical standard ensuring that all staff working in their area maintains similar standards.

3. The post-holder will undertake clinical work within the established quality standards of practice, adhering to ultrasound guidelines such as published as those published by BMUS, RCOG, RCR, FASP and NICE.

4. The post-holder will work as a practitioner in the delivery of all ultrasound imaging, reporting and management of the patient within departmental protocols.

5. To develop systems of work within the ultrasound team to ensure appropriate techniques are used to minimise the risk of Musculo-skeletal injury and that all ergonomic feature of the ultrasound equipment are utilizes to support the wellbeing of the scanning staff.

Working for our organisation

We are proud to be part of BSW Hospitals Group – a formal partnership between Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust and Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust. With a combined workforce of over 17, 600 colleagues, and budget of 1.6 billion the Group is united by a common purpose to deliver the best possible care to over 1 million people.

We are creating a health and care system that works with the people we care for, reducing the differences people currently face in access, experience and outcomes, improving the experience of our colleagues and tackling shared challenges like sustainability and finances. Every improvement we make across our Group will be guided by what creates the greatest benefit for our colleagues, our patients, our communities and our partners.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1. To develop and encourage multidisciplinary working and partnerships with other practitioners, including medical consultants, divisional clinical directors and clinical leads.

2. To ensure effective communication of all Ultrasound issues. This will include regular documented communication with the Ultrasound team in addition to communication with the senior management team within Imaging including risks around delivery of required standards.

3. To make sure where relevant a process is in place to validate requests against agreed protocols and referral guidelines and also to actively participate in the process.

4. To arrange, plan and participate in the Ultrasound Quality Assurance programme to include national screening programmes.

5. To plan maintenance schedules, initiate and monitor external engineers to breakdowns, to support prompt service resumption.

6. To be accountable for the data collection of the service activity. To assess and analyse complex data in order to identify patterns and trends to enable effective and informed decision making and long‑term planning of services.

7. To undertake and be responsible long‑term workforce planning through analysis of data to assist in the planning of caseloads and inform decisions around changing skill mix. Identifying the future needs of the service in line with modernisation and changing healthcare needs.

8. To be responsible for recruitment, retention and regular review of staffing levels and skill mix within the service to ensure these meet the needs of the services, national targets and Trust objectives.

9. Manage staff rosters, annual leave, and training to maintain a core staffing resource working towards the delivery of a 7-day service in the future.

10. To manage day to day activities of any locum or third‑party provider staff as required, supporting the ultrasound service.

Please see attached JD for full responsibilities

Person specification

Qualifications

• HCPC Registered (or equivalent professional body)
• Management Qualification
• Quality improvement training

Experience

• Experienced Sonographer
• Experience of working and managing an Ultrasound Department
• In depth experience of leading and managing teams of sonographers across different levels
• Significant experience of working in a multidisciplinary environment with a range of health professionals

Knowledge

• Demonstrable skills in leading change management with teams
• Advanced communication skills
• A proven ability to deal effectively with patients, their families and carers and the general public

Certificate of Sponsorship - Sponsorship can only be offered where the role meets the relevant eligibility criteria, including minimum salary requirements. Please note that not all roles within the organisation are eligible for sponsorship. Eligibility for this role includes:

• Current right to work in the UK, subject to verification

Meeting the Skilled Worker visa criteria, where applicable

From 4 April 2024, UK immigration policy changes increased the minimum salary levels required for Skilled Worker visas. Further information is available on the UK Visas and Immigration website.

Current employees should be aware that this position is advertised as a Great Western Hospitals position and appointment ends any TUPE protection.

Candidates are responsible for covering the cost of their own DBS check if required: £21.50 for a Standard DBS check, recoverable from the first pay, or £49.50 for an Enhanced DBS check, divided and recoverable over the initial two pay periods. Payment for DBS checks for bank posts must be settled prior to commencement. Apprentices are exempt from DBS payment.

We are committed to supporting our staff in achieving a healthy work‑life balance through flexible work arrangements. Upon joining the Trust, you have the right to request flexible working, with an unlimited number of requests allowed.

Upon acceptance of a job offer, your information will be transferred to the national NHS Electronic Staff Records System. All communication regarding your application will be conducted via email; please ensure to check your junk/spam folders as emails may occasionally be filtered there.

The Trust is a Disability Confident Employer; all applicants who have a disability can opt to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme, which means that, providing they meet the minimum essential criteria for the post, they will be offered an interview. We are also proudly accredited as a Veteran Aware organisation and have signed The Armed Forces Covenant.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.