Str Higher Clinical Fellow In Neonatal Transport

University Hospitals Plymouth Nhs Trust; Plymouth; On-site; GBP 67,000 - 77,000; Full time

Job summary

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust is seeking a neonatal transport specialist to join the SoNAR South team based at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth. The role focuses on managing transfers, clinical governance, and collaboration with neonatal units across the region.

The successful candidate will work within a multidisciplinary team, contribute to audits, and participate in education and training activities to enhance the service.

Qualifications

• GMC registration on the Specialist Register or eligibility
• MRCPCH or equivalent
• Evidence of neonatal transport experience
• NLS Provider (or equivalent)
• Ability to teach undergraduates, junior doctors and other healthcare professionals

Responsibilities

• Deliver care to critically ill infants on a rotational basis
• Involve in transport of term and preterm neonates, including critically ill
• Participate in audits and clinical governance activities
• Contribute to education, simulation and multidisciplinary training
• Support neonatal unit activities at Derriford Hospital and SoNAR team

Skills

Leadership

Communication skills

NLS/ARNI instruction

English proficiency

Education

MRCPCH (or equivalent)

CCT/CCST in Paediatrics

Neonatal SPIN

Job description

Job summary

The South West Neonatal Advice and Retrieval (SONAR) team is the neonatal transport service covering the South West Neonatal Operational Delivery Network (ODN) area, from Gloucester to Truro. This region has a birth rate of over 45,000 deliveries per year. The SoNAR South team runs 12 hours a day Monday to Friday and undertakes approximately 220 journeys per year. The service covers both acute transfers and repatriations between the 12 neonatal units in the region (St Michael's and Southmead in Bristol, Plymouth, Bath, Taunton, Swindon, Gloucester, Exeter, Truro, Torbay, Barnstaple and Yeovil) as well as acute transfers into Bristol Children's Hospital for subspecialty opinions. We are part of the SoNAR transport service, and work closely with SoNAR North, which is based in Bristol.

The SONAR South team is based within Derriford Hospital, Plymouth. The NICU at Derriford is within the same building and is a tertiary level neonatal intensive care unit. The transport team is able to deliver cooling, nitric oxide and HFOV during transfer.

Main duties of the job

Clinical

• Management and delivery of care to critically ill infants on the neonatal unit in a tier 2 capacity on a rotational basis
• Involvement in the transport of term and preterm newborn infants, including those who are critically ill, as part of the SoNAR
• Partaking in the daily ring around and liaison with colleagues in surrounding neonatal units, taking and recording referrals into SoNAR

Governance

• Participating in clinical audit of service provision in keeping with key performances indices for neonatal services
• Reviewing of clinical incidents and completing exception reporting
• Development and implementation of clinical guidelines and protocols
• Involvement in relevant quality improvement programmes
• Close working with clinical governance leads in the conducting of mortality reviews

Research, Teaching and Training

• Collaboration with the clinical education and simulation teams in the conducting of multidisciplinary educational sessions
• Coordination of neonatal road shows in neighbouring units with the support of SoNAR leads
• Where possible to collaborate with academic and clinical colleagues to enhance UHP's research portfolio
• Other areas of relevant special interest will be supported eg Cardiology, NLS/ARNI instruction, simulation etc

About us

We are a people business where every member of staff matters and can make a difference. Patients are at the heart of everything we do. Joining University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust means becoming part of a team of dedicated staff, who are committed to leading the way through innovation, clinical excellence and great customer care. The Trust has great opportunities for career development in a highly progressive working environment. We offer all of this in a vibrant, modern city with a historic reputation for adventure.

Details

Date posted: 23 October 2026

Pay scheme: Hospital medical and dental staff

Grade: Doctor - other

Salary: £67,325 to £77,348 a year Per Annum

Contract: Fixed term

Duration: 12 months

Working pattern: Full-time

Reference number: 216-G3-NEO8331582

Job locations: Derriford Hospital, Derriford Road, Plymouth, PL6 8DH, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

The successful candidate will be trained in order to become proficient and competent at delivering the majority of transfers on their own (with consultant support) and where necessary a consultant may accompany the fellow or registrar on the transfer.

Knowledge and skills gained during this placement would include effective transport triage, call conferencing, prioritisation of journeys, appropriate team composition, enhanced patient assessment, management of the critically ill neonates during transfer and other transport related clinical skills. They would be expected to have good communication and leadership skills in order to facilitate good handover of information between units.

The successful candidate would also be expected to undertake audit and service evaluations to improve the service.

The successful applicant will also have some duties on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Derriford Hospital. The service undertakes approximately 3500 Intensive Care and High Dependency Care days and around 4500 Special or Transitional Care days per year. The service benefits from a team of 8 Consultant Neonatologists, 1 Nurse Consultant, 9 ANNPs, 6 ENNPs as well as a two tier team of junior medical staff whose cover duties are exclusively to the neonatal service. The unit supports the nursing team to train as Qualified in Speciality (QIS) adhering to BAPM staffing guidance.

All successful candidates must exhibit personal characteristics of the highest standard. These include honesty, reliability, enthusiasm, initiative, resilience, conscientiousness, and an insight into their own abilities.

Person Specification

Certification

Essential

• GMC registration on the Specialist Register or eligibility for registration
• CCT/CCST in Paediatrics or equivalent including CESR (Paediatrics) or eligible for CCT and registration within 6 months of interview

Desirable

• Completion of RCPCH approved NTN GRID Training in Neonatal Medicine resulting in CCT/CCST in Paediatrics (Neonatal Medicine) or equivalent including CESR (Paediatrics) with subspecialty recognition in Neonatal Medicine or Neonatal Board certification from North America, Canada or Australasia (or eligible for CCT and registration within 6 months of interview)

Academic Qualification

Essential

• MRCPCH (or equivalent)

Desirable

• BSc, MSc, DM/MD, PhD or equivalent higher degree
• Neonatal SPIN

Experience

Essential

• Evidence of experience and practice in tertiary neonatal medicine (minimum 2 years at middle grade)
• Advanced skills in neonatal medicine
• NLS Provider (or equivalent)
• Level 3 Child Protection competency
• Neonatal Transport Experience

Desirable

• Specialist interest within neonatology
• Evidence of experience and practice in complementary domain eg cardiology, genetics, neurology, PICU, transport
• NLS or ARNI Instructor
• Advanced IT skills
• Formal qualification in neonatal transport medicine

Teaching

Essential

• Ability to teach undergraduates, junior doctors, and other health care professionals
• Evidence of commitment to lifelong learning

Desirable

• Formal training in medical education, eg. \"Teaching the teacher\" or similar courses

Management

Essential

• Evidence of previous management experience

Desirable

• Formal education and training in NHS management

Clinical Governance

Essential

• Understanding of the principles and importance of clinical governance
• Knowledge and experience of clinical audit, including one or more completed projects

Desirable

• Formal audit or quality improvement training
• Evidence of successful change management

Personal Attributes

Essential

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English (success in IELTS or equivalent)
• Evidence of established leadership skills
• Can prioritise work and manage own time

Desirable

• Willingness and enthusiasm to develop services and areas of personal specialist interest

Employer details

Employer name: University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Address: Derriford Hospital, Derriford Road, Plymouth, PL6 8DH, United Kingdom

For questions about the job, contact: Abi Simmons, Consultant Neonatologist, [e-mail], 01752432741

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.

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years.