Locum Consultant in Orthopaedics

Merseywestlancs; Sefton; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Mersey West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust invites applications for a 6‑month Fixed Term Locum Consultant in Trauma & Orthopaedics with a specialist interest in foot & ankle surgery. You will join a dynamic team delivering multidisciplinary acute care across Mersey and West Lancashire.

Applicants must hold GMC registration, MBChB or equivalent, and FRCS (Orth). The role includes theatre, clinics, ward rounds, CPD, and subspecialty development within a busy NHS trust.

Qualifications

• Full GMC registration is required.
• MBChB or equivalent medical qualification.
• FRCS (Orth) is required.
• ATLS provider status as applicable.
• Postgraduate thesis or equivalent demonstrated research achievement.

Responsibilities

• Support provision of emergency and elective activity, including theatre sessions and fracture clinics.
• Attend outpatient clinics, ward rounds and SPA time; contribute to CPD, teaching, and trainee assessments.
• Develop subspecialty interests and lead multi‑disciplinary teams.
• Participate in teaching, audits and research within the department in the last 3 years.
• Share on‑call responsibilities (1:10) for trauma and orthopaedic emergencies.

Skills

Clinical knowledge

Teaching

Leadership

Communication

Auditing / research

Education

MBChB or equivalent

FRCS (Orth)

Full GMC registration

ATLS provider status

Postgraduate thesis

Job description

We want talented and enthusiastic people from all backgrounds to join #TeamMWL, with us you can learn, grow and develop yourself and your career, realising your true ambitions and aspirations.

Whatever you’re looking for in your career, you’ll find it here at MWL.

Job overview

This post is for a 6-month Fixed Term Locum Consultant in Trauma & Orthopaedics with a specialist interest in foot & ankle surgery.

This is a whole-time post offering an exciting opportunity for a highly motivated Medic to join a dynamic, rapidly expanding team delivering multidisciplinary acute care in Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals.

Applicants are required to hold Membership of the Royal College of Trauma & Orthopaedics (UK or equivalent qualifications), and to be fully registered with the General Medical Council.

Due to the imminent requirement to fill this post, Candidates who are not GMC registered or do not hold existing right to live and work in the UK, at the time of application will not progress through shortlisting stage.

Main duties of the job

Responsibilities for the new post will include supporting provision of emergency and elective activity. Activities will include theatre sessions, Fracture clinics (Virtual and F-F) outpatient clinics, ward rounds and associated administration and SPA time. In addition to CPD, teaching, research appraisal & assessment of trainees outside of DCCs will be expected.

The post holder will be expected to join the on-call with a commitment, of 1:10 (prospective cover) at Mersey West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals for Trauma & orthopaedic emergencies.

The post holder will be expected to support the general Trauma & orthopaedic service and will be encouraged to develop their own subspecialty. It requires clear vision, initiative, flexibility, and the ability to lead and coordinate the team. As well as the elective and emergency work, the successful applicants will be expected to develop their subspecialty interest and complement the sub-specialty interests of the existing consultants and meeting the needs of the local health economy.

Working for our organisation

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

Our services:

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please ensure you have read through the attached Job Description and Person Specification before submitting your application.

Proposed Interview date: 23rd November 2026

Please note, this post may close earlier than advertised if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Full GMC registration
• MBChB or equivalent medical qualification
• FRCS (Orth)
• Valid ATLS provider status (as applicable)
• Success in intercollegiate speciality examination or overseas equivalent
• Postgraduate thesis

Knowledge

• Good clinical care Maintaining good medical practice Good relationships and communication with patients Good working relationships with colleagues Good teaching and training Professional behaviour and probity Delivery of good acute clinical care

Skills

• Language Skills: Demonstrate skills in written and spoken English that are adequate to enable effective communication about medical topics with patients and colleagues
• Clinical Knowledge & Expertise: Appropriate knowledge base and ability to apply sound clinical judgement to problems
• Clinical Knowledge & Expertise: Demonstrates the necessary range, depth and breadth of competencies specified in the Acute Orthopaedic curriculum and applying to this post
• Clinical Knowledge & Expertise: Fellowship or similar advanced clinical experience in appropriate area of foot & ankle surgery
• Research Skills: Demonstrates ability to undertake robust audit / research within team structure within the last 3 years
• Teaching: Evidence of appropriate teaching experience within the last 3 years
• Communication Skills: Demonstrates clarity in written/spoken communication & capacity to adapt language as appropriate to the situation
• Communication Skills: Able to build rapport, listen, persuade & negotiate
• Problem Solving & Decision Making: Capacity to use logical/lateral thinking to solve problems/make decisions
• Managing Others & Team Involvement: Capacity to work effectively with others
• Managing Others & Team Involvement: Able to work in multi-professional teams
• Managing Others & Team Involvement: Able to supervise junior medical staff
• Empathy & Sensitivity: Capacity to take in others’ perspectives and treat others with understanding
• Empathy & Sensitivity: Sees patients as people
• Organisation & Planning: Capacity to manage/prioritise time and information effectively
• Organisation & Planning: Capacity to prioritise own workload
• Organisation & Planning: Basic IT skills
• Vigilance & Situational Awareness: Capacity to monitor developing situations and anticipate issues
• Coping with Pressure: Capacity to operate under pressure. Demonstrates initiative & resilience to cope with changing circumstances
• Evidence of relevant academic achievements, e.g. degrees, awards, in the last 3 years
• Evidence of relevant research e.g. presentations, publications in peer reviewed journals within the last 3 years

Other

• Fitness to Practice: Is up to date and fit to practise safely
• Ability to provide complete details of employment history
• All sections of application form fully completed according to written guidelines
• Professional Integrity: Capacity to take responsibility for own actions
• Demonstrates respect for all

Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.

Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience.

The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under‑ represented groups.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact [e-mail]

We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision-making process.

The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.

Certificate of Sponsorship

eVisa Update

For successful candidates on selected work and study visa routes, who have completed and paid for their applications will no longer receive a visa vignette in passport as evidence of their permission to enter the UK.

Instead, you will be issued with an eVisa only, which is accessed by creating a UKVI account.

Before travelling to the UK, we advise applicants to:

• Understand how to generate an eVisa share code

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 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.

Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment.

If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies.

Flexible Working

We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that:

• All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment.
• There is no limit on the number of requests they can make.
• Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason.

At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to also discuss flexible working options at interview stage.

Working for Team MWL

Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

The Trust is a non-smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website.

You will be expected to undertake the Trusts' commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

You must ensure that your application, including personal statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.

The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated and will check all applications against AI detection software.

Additional Information

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE, which can be found here .

An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents.

Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.

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.