Consultant Obstetrician (Special Interest in Fetal Medicine)

About the role

We are looking for a highly motivated obstetrician with a special interest in fetal medicine and high-risk obstetrics. The appointee will join a team of 12 other obstetricians with special interests in all aspects of complex maternity care. This is a replacement appointment supporting a current establishment of 14 whole-time equivalent (WTE) consultants on a 1:12 on-call rota. Additional posts have been approved by the Trust Board, aiming to expand the team to 16 WTE over the next two years. This expansion will enable delivery of 52-week antenatal clinic services and support consultant roles in governance, quality improvement, and teaching.

The expansion will also allow team members to take on regional and national leadership roles, provide resilience around pre-retirement career plans, and support flexible working for colleagues.

Responsibilities

• Provide cover for the Delivery Suite, Maternity Day Assessment unit, and antenatal/postnatal inpatients.
• Conduct antenatal clinic sessions.
• Develop or further special interest skills and work in specialist clinics alongside the high-risk obstetric team.
• Offer expert clinical opinions within the specialty and take independent responsibility for the clinical care of patients referred to a tertiary centre.
• Participate in management, project leadership, and the authoring or reviewing of clinical guidelines.
• Engage in clinical governance, teaching, and research activities.
• Supervise junior medical staff and participate in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.
• Contribute to audit activities, including implementing changes based on audit findings.
• Work the on-call rota and adopt a flexible pattern of working, including evenings and weekends if required.

Requirements

Education, Qualifications, and Specialist Skills

• Essential:
  • MBBS or other recognised equivalent medical qualification.
  • Full GMC Registration.
  • Entry onto the GMC Specialist Register (within 6 months from the date of the AAC).
  • MRCOG or appropriate specialist training.
  • Prenatal Diagnosis SITM / Fetal Med ATSM – or equivalent.
• Desirable:
  • Higher degree.
  • Special skills training in the specialty.
  • Obstetric-related ATSM/SITMs.

Clinical Experience

• Essential:
  • Evidence of experience in the specialty.
  • Substantial commitment to obstetrics.
  • Significant expertise in intra-partum care.
  • Ability to offer an expert clinical opinion within the specialty.
  • Ability to take independent responsibility for the clinical care of patients referred to a tertiary centre.

Management and Administration Experience

• Essential:
  • Involvement with management and project leadership within the specialty.
  • Evidence of involvement in authoring or reviewing clinical guidelines.
  • Understanding of clinical governance.
• Desirable:
  • Proven management and administrative experience and understanding of management goals.
  • Evidence of leadership/project management.
  • Experience in implementing change.
  • Experience in developing and implementing new technologies.

Teaching

• Essential:
  • Experience of supervising junior medical staff.
  • Experience of 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.
  • Publications in the last five years.

Audit

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

Personal Attributes

• Alignment with the Trust’s values.
• Flexible approach to service delivery and committed approach to development.
• Committed to sharing in professional, managerial, and teaching responsibilities necessary to fulfil the obligations of the Directorate.
• Commitment to personal/unit CPD.
• Ability and willingness to work the on-call rota.
• Ability and willingness to work a flexible pattern of working, including evenings and weekends if required.

About the organisation

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest, largest, and most successful teaching NHS foundation trusts in the country, with around 16,000 staff and an annual income of £1 billion. We have a long history of providing high-quality care, clinical excellence, and innovation in medical research regionally, nationally, and internationally. We are the second-largest provider of specialised services in the country, supporting people with rare and complex medical, surgical, neurological conditions, cancers, and genetic disorders. Our staff oversee around 1.84 million patient contacts each year, delivering high standards of healthcare.

The Trust is committed to promoting equality and diversity, providing an inclusive environment that values and respects the diversity of its employees. We aim to recruit a workforce reflecting the communities we serve and equip them to deliver the best service to our patients.

Benefits

For detailed information on staff benefits, please refer to the Newcastle Staff Benefits (PDF) document.

Contact for informal discussion

For further information regarding the opportunity and Directorate, please contact:

• Dr Paul Moran (Head of Fetal Medicine) – paul.moran4@nhs.net
• Dr Marie Smith (Head of Obstetrics) – marie.smith46@nhs.net
• Dr Michelle Russell (Clinical Director) – michelle.russell4@nhs.net