Radiotherapy Physics Lead Scientist

East And North Hertfordshire Nhs Trust; Tankerton; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

High-Cost Area Supplement 15%

Flexible working patterns considered

Job summary

East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust is seeking a Radiotherapy Physics Lead Scientist to join the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre's radiotherapy physics team in Northwood. You will lead the physics team, oversee treatment planning, machine QA, and staff training to ensure safe, high-quality radiotherapy services for patients.

The role combines development and routine duties, with emphasis on clinical leadership, project management, and adherence to national standards and regulations.

Qualifications

• HCPC registered Clinical Scientist with radiotherapy physics expertise.
• Honours degree in a relevant subject; MSc or higher preferred.
• Completion of scientist training program or equivalent experience.
• Strong English communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Perform treatment planning and checking in external beam, brachytherapy, and stereotactic sections.
• Manage and coordinate projects with the project lead.
• Provide training on treatment planning, machine QA, and related areas; assess staff competency.
• Act as a Medical Physics Expert within Radiotherapy Physics.
• Line manage and supervise staff, including trainees.

Skills

Team leadership

Medical Physics

Project management

Staff training

Quality assurance

Communication

Excel

Word

Access

Radiotherapy physics

Education

Honours degree in a relevant subject

MSc or higher degree

Scientist training program or equivalent

HCPC registered as Clinical Scientist

Good written and spoken English

MPE registration or within 1 year

Tools

Excel

Word

Access

Job description

We are recruiting for a Radiotherapy Physics Lead Scientist who shares our vision to be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service to our patients.

The Radiotherapy Physics department provides a specialist technical radiotherapy physics service to the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, contributing to safe treatment of patients for radiotherapy.

It is responsible for ensuring the accurate calibration, according to national recommendations, of all radiotherapy treatment machines and providing a routine quality control service for all equipment used in planning, verifying and treating radiotherapy patients.

The aim of this post is to act as a lead physicist within the radiotherapy physics team. You will be responsible for an area of radiotherapy physics determined both by your own skill set and the current needs of the department. You will work across multiple areas of the team at various times

This post will involve both development work and routine work within the department.

At the heart of everything we do are our core values: Include, Respect, and Improve. We encourage you to embrace these values throughout the recruitment process and in your role with us.

Main duties of the job

To perform treatment planning and checking within two sections of the department (external beam, brachytherapy, stereotactic).

To manage and coordinate allocated projects in collaboration with the project lead.

To provide appropriate training for physics and radiography staff with respect to treatment planning, machine QA and either brachytherapy or stereotactic and to assist in the assessment of staff competency for physics staff.

To undertake a role as a medical physics expert within the radiotherapy department

To line manage and supervise staff. This may include those on training programmes in radiotherapy physics.

Working for our organisation

At East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, we are proud of the range of general and specialist services we provide and our 6,000 or so dedicated staff ensure our patients get the best care. Our ability to be flexible and innovative in the way in which we work and deliver our services to our catchment has never been more important than it is now.

We run the following hospitals:

• The Lister Hospital, Stevenage
• New Queen Elizabeth II (New QEII), Welwyn Garden City
• Hertford County, Hertford

We have ambitious plans to become an outstanding, patient-led Trust where dedicated staff provide high-quality, compassionate care to our patients. We continue to undergo significant transformation and our staff and patients are at the heart of delivering this ambitious agenda.

We are committed to a positive work life balance for our employees. This means that any employee is entitled to seek to work flexible working patterns and we are committed to listen and consider all requests. Such requests, of course, have to be made and considered formally, and will need to be balanced against service needs, but our starting point will always be to find ways to support making them happen.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

In addition, you will receive a High-Cost Area Supplement of 15% of your basic salary, subject to a minimum payment of £4,870 and a maximum payment of £6,137 per annum pro rata.

We welcome applications from those who would relish the opportunity to be part of new and developing cancer service, building on the excellent reputation, research and patient experience the Cancer Centre already delivers.

Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification information pack for further detailed information regarding this role.

Person specification

Education and Qualifications

• Good (1st or 2nd class) honours degree in a relevant subject
• Relevant MSc or higher degree
• Completion of scientist training program or equivalent experience
• HCPC registered as a Clinical Scientist
• Good written and spoken English
• MPE registration or within 1 year of submission of portfolio

Knowledge

• Broad knowledge of radiation and associated areas within Medical Physics.
• Highly developed, specialist level of theoretical and practical knowledge across the full range of working procedures and practices within Radiotherapy Physics.
• Advanced theoretical and practical knowledge of Radiotherapy equipment, dosimetry and treatment planning, including sufficient knowledge and experience to act as a Medical Physics Expert in Radiotherapy Physics.
• Advanced theoretical and practical knowledge of relevant legislation, national standards, professional and other guidelines, including IRR, IR(ME)R ISO9001-200, other relevant BSI and ISO standards, professional and regulatory body reports and guidelines.
• Knowledge and ability to understand and use to their full extent a range of computerised treatment planning systems, including knowledge of treatment planning system algorithms and areas where their limitations may affect clinical decisions Understanding of patient and staff risks arising from treatment planning computer system errors, equipment failure, treatment errors and incorrect dosimetry
• Understanding of patient and staff risks arising from treatment planning computer system errors, equipment failure, treatment errors and incorrect dosimetry

Personal Qualities

• Able to deal with occasional distressing circumstances when working with terminally ill patients in Radiotherapy.
• Good negotiation skills with staff and suppliers to optimise Radiotherapy Physics services
• Able to deal with complex and unpredictable situations affecting patient treatments.

Other Requirements

• Evidence of continuing professional development.
• Understanding of hazards posed by, and precautions needed with: Ionising radiation, Non-ionising radiation, Electricity (medium and high voltages), Cross-infection, Bio-hazards, Fumes, Solvents, Tools at elevated temperatures, Compressed medical gases, Cleaning agents and other hazardous materials
• Occasional exposure to uncontrolled radiation hazards, e.g. spillages, monitoring of radiation activated targets, leak testing of sources, radiation emergencies

Skills

• Demonstrate an ethos of putting the patient at the centre of all aspects of work, utilising scientific thinking to optimise patient treatment.
• Evidence of team leadership and an ability to motivate staff
• Able to use judgement involving facts that require analysis, interpretation and comparison of a range of options as, for example, in analysing the results of scientific measurements or treatment plans, which may conflict, and deciding upon an appropriate course of action
• Able to supervise projects and small groups of staff.
• Able to prioritise and manage own work
• Highly developed physical accuracy and dexterity, for making precision measurements and adjustments on equipment, often under time pressure to ensure radiotherapy equipment is returned to clinical use as soon as possible.
• Use of fine tools for equipment adjustment
• Able to lift large, cumbersome medium/heavy weights on occasion (e.g. test instruments, measuring equipment and calibration jigs onto radiotherapy equipment).
• Able to concentrate when subject to constantly unpredictable working patterns (e.g. when interrupted to provide urgent advice affecting patients’ treatments).
• Able to concentrate for prolonged periods in safety -critical areas (e.g. carrying out or analysing radiation measurements or checking patients treatment plans)
• Able to use Excel, Word, Access etc. to set up documents and spreadsheets and extract information, including the use of advanced tools eg macros
• Able to design, develop and adapt software solutions to meet the needs of radiotherapy physics and radiotherapy
• Able to exercise own initiative when dealing with issues within own specialist area of competence
• Able to communicate highly complex information e.g. advice to consultant oncologists on patient treatment options, equipment status or operation to other professional groups.
• Able to present scientific papers at national and international conferences.
• Able to train groups of other professional staff.
• Able to deliver teaching and training on complex Radiotherapy Physics -related subjects.
• Expected to act independently, without supervision, within professional guidelines, but can refer to his manager where necessary. The individual's manager assesses work at intervals
• Evidence of CPD
• Able to deal with occasional distressing circumstances when working with terminally ill patients in Radiotherapy.
• Good negotiation skills with staff and suppliers to optimise Radiotherapy Physics services.
• Able to deal with complex and unpredictable situations affecting patient treatments

Previous Experience

• Significant experience in Radiotherapy Physics including: analysing and judging treatment options, identifying problems with patient-related equipment, exercising judgement to solve problems and making decisions on how equipment is to be used safely and correctly, all usually under time-pressure.
• Specialist training and practical experience in the use and calibration of radiotherapy equipment (including linear accelerators and treatment planning computers), specialist test and measurement equipment and dosimetry equipment calibration.
• Significant experience in planning and checking complex patients treatment plans in one of brachytherapy, external beam or stereotactic radiotherapy
• Team leadership
• Experience in planning and checking patients treatment plans in an additional area from brachytherapy, external beam or stereotactic radiotherapy
• Experience of imaging modalities other than CT

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Radiotherapy Physics Lead Scientist • Northwood