Job overview
This is an exciting role for any experienced sonographer who wishes to contribute to improving the quality of the ultrasound service we provide. Alongside your clinical work you will be responsible for:
coordinating the auditing of those sonographers scanning within your specialty, ensuring protocols in your area follow current guidance and are up to date, feeding back any quality improvements to the sonographers, investigating any incidents directly related to your specialty, supporting preceptorship and training within your specialty.
Main duties of the job
The Clinical Quality Lead sonographer is responsible for managing the clinical and quality aspects of a specific assigned service within Imaging including the supporting team of staff.
They will work closely with the Operational Lead of the area to support service delivery and provide effective leadership, support and direction to the team, acting as Lead Clinical Practitioner, a role model and patient advocate.
The Postholder will be expected to undertake 80% clinical duties with 20% supporting other pillars of advanced practice.
The post holder will be responsible for the supervision and development of the team of staff.
The post holder will independently and autonomously undertake a wide range of ultrasound procedures and produce a medical report on at least 95% of those procedures. This must include the generic investigations of obstetrics, gynaecology and abdominal ultrasound and advanced practices, e.g. Transvaginal scanning, and inpatient scanning.
To act at all times in a manner that upholds the Trust values working as part of the team to ensure that patients and relatives receive excellent care with compassion.
Working for our organisation
We have 10,000 fantastic people working hard to deliver quality services to our patients. Whatever your role, you help look after 370,000 people in our local area & give specialist care to 1.5 million people across Lancashire & Cumbria.
Working with us gives you the knowledge and sense of pride that every activity you do genuinely does make a difference to support our patients & staff, ensuring we keep thriving & delivering outstanding healthcare right across our local towns.
You’ll have access to varied development opportunities, learn new skills, meet fab people & do things you’d never have done. You’ll learn about working in a hospital, interacting with people from all different roles to build skills & enhance your career path.
You’ll make an impact, be challenged to think differently, be bold & help innovate to keep improving things. Everything we do centres around patient care which means your role is pivotal and something really to be proud of.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Communicate with patients, relatives and other healthcare workers to ensure appropriate dissemination of complex information, in a form and manner consistent with their level of understanding, culture, background and preferred ways of communicating.
1. Communicate information for specialist area to multi-disciplinary teams, patients and relatives.
2. Develop close working relationships with staff in the Directorate to enable review of work practices, which impact on the service.
3. Involvement at multidisciplinary clinical pathway meetings as appropriate to improve services.
4. Liaise closely with the Radiologists regarding the service provision.
5. Effective liaison with multidisciplinary teams.
6. Communicate with patients, relatives and other healthcare workers to ensure appropriate dissemination of information.
7. Meet with multidisciplinary teams to plan new developments and their feasibility.
To participate in development, education and training of staff and students.
8. Promote interpersonal, academic and clinical skills development.
9. To train and supervise sonographers and students in specialised area.
10. To set up staff training and development programmes for the specific area.
11. Provide opportunities for CPD within imaging eg. Organise lectures with companies and physicists, training in advanced imaging techniques.
12. To maintain a training programme for staff within the work area.
13. To participate in the in-service training of all relevant departmental staff.
14. To identify training and development needs of staff.
15. To participate in the appraisal system by undertaking staff appraisals in line with Trust policy and procedures.
16. To supervise in the in-service training of post graduate and undergraduate staff to present lectures as required.
17. Recognise the strengths of staff members, listen to staff suggestions and provide opportunities for development when possible.
18. Be responsible for writing and maintaining equipment competencies within the specified area. Assess others competencies and complete relevant documentation.
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Proactively manage risk and maintain patient safety, conforming to health, safety and security legislation, policies, procedures and guidelines.
19. Deal effectively with departmental incidents and complaints and provide input into risk management by identification and reporting potential risks.
20. Action any relevant medical device alerts circulated from MHRA. Disseminate this information to relevant people.
Manage the service in a safe, effective manner including management of personnel, facilities and the associated systems and processes.
21. Manage a highly skilled group of staff ensuring delivery of a high quality service.
22. Regularly review the departmental work schedules to ensure that compliance is achieved with Trust waiting times
23. Monitor activity levels and waiting lists.
24. Manage change throughout the development of the service to include changes to working patterns and practices.
25. To be involved with recruitment and selection and performance management.
26. Lead staff meetings, encourage debate and ensure that the opinions of all staff are heard fairly.
27. Ensure the department is represented at meetings/ training etc by attendance or delegation as appropriate.
28. To participate in investigations, handle grievances and disciplinary activities following Trust policy.
29. Undertake evaluation of new equipment prior to purchase to ensure stability, effective use of resources, and safety to staff and patients.
30. Ensure applications training is received from equipment companies on specialised equipment, at install and at upgrade, to allow expert use and to provide cascade training to all staff.
Ensure a high Ultrasound standard is delivered by self and others within the team based on assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of standards to meet patients’ needs in accordance with agreed local and national standards and evidence based guidelines.
31. Deliver in service training to departmental staff in the discrete area of specialism through teaching sessions, tutorials and the development of training manuals.
32. Plan training sessions for staff within the specialist area in conjunction with the Operational Lead.
33. Supervise the work of other qualified staff, students and assistants and take responsibility for clinical practice within the discrete area of specialism.
34. Ensure staff retain competency in extended roles, ensuring records are maintained.
35. Undertake performance reviews and manage staff who may not be providing a competent performance.
36. Justification of referrals for Imaging including appointments, in accordance with protocols. Offers advice to more junior colleagues when required.
37. Identifies methods, techniques and equipment for different examinations offering advice to more junior colleagues.
38. Develop clinical practice within the speciality using evidence base where available.
39. Challenge currently accepted practice and offer alternative patient focused solutions, which may be multi-professional in nature.
40. Be involved in local or national specialist interest groups to share best practice.
Set, monitor and maintain standards of care to improve the patient experience and outcome of care and equipment.
41. Be responsible for quality care standards within the work area.
42. Ensures environment of care is safe, well equipped and compliant with standards for hygiene and cleanliness.
Ensure information Technology systems are used as required by self and at every level of the work area.
43. To use computerisation and manual methods regarding patient documentation and imaging records.
44. Document accurate examination information including incident records as appropriate with Department and Trust procedures.
45. Provide department statistics for activity and demand as required.
Provide support for research undertaken in department.
46. Participate in clinical audit and research.
47. Supervise and provide support for research undertaken in department.
Person specification
Qualifications and Education
Essential criteria
48. Professional qualification DCR/B.Sc. Radiography
49. Case accredited Post graduate Diploma/MSc in Medical Ultrasound
50. Mandatory professional registration eg HCPC/NMC
Desirable criteria
51. Post grad qual in area of specialism
Knowledge and Experience
Essential criteria
52. Experience working with patients and / or people in an acute healthcare setting
53. Experience of recent & relevant Professional CPD. Supported by professional CPD portfolio
54. Wide range of recent & relevant Ultrasound experience.
55. 3 years post qual experience in specialism
Desirable criteria
56. Experience in audit
57. Experience in protocol implementation