Consultant Cardiothoracic Anaesthetist

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest and largest NHS hospital trusts in the country, with around 16,000 staff and an annual budget of £1.7 billion. The Trust is a top-five provider of specialised health services, delivering high-quality care, clinical excellence, research, and innovation. We support patients with rare and complex medical, surgical, and neurological conditions, cancers, and genetic disorders. We are committed to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion, aiming to recruit a workforce that reflects the communities we serve.

Newcastle Hospitals are a leader in sustainability, with a long history of delivering sustainable healthcare and a commitment to being Net Zero by 2030 for our direct carbon footprint and by 2040 for our broader footprint.

About the role

We are offering an opportunity for a highly motivated Consultant Cardiothoracic Anaesthetist to join our well-integrated team of fifteen WTE Adult Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists and Intensivists. This role is part of a planned workforce expansion to increase cover for theatre and Cardiac Intensive Care. The appointee will provide Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia, intensive care, and some non-cardiothoracic anaesthetic services.

Responsibilities

• Support and develop the department for significant cardiac and thoracic surgical workload.
• Provide input into the rapidly increasing critical care requirements.
• Participate in the on-call consultant rota to cover emergency work in Cardiothoracic Theatres, cardiology catheter labs, and cardiac critical care areas.
• Engage in research, audit, and training commitments for Trust Grade doctors, specialist trainees, and critical care practitioners.
• Demonstrate flexibility in a changing work environment.
• Advise on the efficient and smooth running of the specialist service, including management of the cardiothoracic anaesthetic directorate and working parties.
• Contribute to clinical governance and exhibit strong organisational and leadership skills.

Requirements

Education, Qualifications, and Specialist Skills

• Essential:
  • Primary Medical Qualification and full GMC Registration.
  • FRCA or equivalent diploma.
  • Entry onto the GMC Specialist Register (within 6 months for CCT candidates).
  • Transoesophageal Echocardiography accreditation.
• Desirable:
  • Higher Degree.
  • Higher qualification in intensive care.

Clinical Experience

• Essential:
  • Minimum of 12 months advanced training in Cardiac and Thoracic Anaesthesia and Cardiac Intensive Care.
  • Experience in Cardiac and Lung transplantation, durable ventricular assist devices, and different temporary MCS devices.
  • Minimum of one year experience in the NHS.
  • Ability to take independent responsibility for clinical care in a tertiary centre.
• Desirable:
  • Experience with robotic thoracic surgery.
  • Experience in management of advanced heart failure.

Management and Administration Experience

• Essential:
  • Involvement with management and project leadership within the specialty.
  • Understanding of Clinical Governance.
• Desirable:
  • Proven management and administrative experience, including understanding of management goals.
  • Evidence of leadership/project management.
  • Experience in implementing change and developing new technologies.

Teaching

• Essential:
  • Experience supervising junior medical staff.
  • Participation in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.
  • Ability to teach clinical/technical/practical skills.
• Desirable:
  • Attendance at courses to develop teaching skills.
  • Postgraduate qualification in medical education.

Research

• Essential:
  • Evidence of involvement in and understanding of research methodology and publication of findings.
  • Research/critical review of literature.
• Desirable:
  • Higher degree.

Audit

• Essential:
  • Evidence of participation in audit.
  • Evidence of having changed practice as a result of audit.
• Desirable:
  • Evidence of having revisited the audit to assess improvement.

Working for our organisation

The Freeman Hospital, part of Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust, hosts a range of specialities including Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Services, Rheumatology, Nephrology, Respiratory and General Medicine, ENT, Orthopaedics, Hepatobiliary, Urology, and Vascular Surgery.

The Cardiothoracic Centre is self-contained within the hospital site and performs a full range of cardiothoracic surgical procedures, including:

• Revascularisation and valve surgery.
• Dysrhythmia surgery.
• Adult Congenital Heart surgery.
• Cardiopulmonary transplantation.
• Minimally invasive Thoracic Service, including robotically assisted procedures.

The Freeman is a national centre for Ventricular Assist Device implantation and performed the highest number of durable LVAD implantations in 2023/24. Approximately 800 operations involving cardiopulmonary bypass are carried out annually. The 21-bed Intensive Care Unit consistently delivers excellent outcomes based on ICNARC data. The unit provides temporary MCS like ECMO and Impella and acted as a surge ECMO centre during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For an informal discussion, contact Dr Mostafa ElAdawy at Mostafa.eladawy@nhs.net or on 0191 2139494.