Employer Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Employer type NHS Site Nottingham City Hospital Town Nottingham Salary £55,690 - £62,682 Per Annum Salary period Yearly Closing 01/10/2025 23:59
Principal Clinical Scientist (Nuclear Medicine)
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Job overview
The Principal Clinical Scientist will support the Nuclear Medicine Service by applying scientific knowledge at an expert level in the Nuclear Medicine Clinics, including diagnostic Nuclear Medicine, Molecular Radionuclide Therapy (MRT) and PET/CT.
The post-holder will act as a Medical Physics Expert (MPE) in Nuclear Medicine as required by the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2017 and will work across the Nuclear Medicine departments at both Nottingham City Hospital (including the Nottingham PET/CT Centre) and Queen’s Medical Centre, and external customer King’s Mill Hospital.
Main duties of the job
Key job responsibilities will include equipment management and QA, optimisation and service development, direct delivery of the MRT service, ensuring legislative compliance, maintenance of the Quality Management System (QMS), line management, and teaching, training, and research.
Working for our organisation
With over 19,000 staff, we are one of the biggest employers in the city with a central role in supporting the health and wellbeing of our local population. We play a leading role in research, education and innovation.
Come and join our wonderful team at NUH. We are big believers in diversity and welcome new ideas to help develop our team in order to deliver world class healthcare to the vast patient populations we serve. With endless personal development opportunities available, at NUH we will endeavour to turn your job into a career!
We particularly welcome applications from people who identify as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, or Disabled, as we are striving to be better represented at NUH.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
1. Patient care
1.1. Act as Medical Physics Expert in Nuclear Medicine (as required by the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2017), providing expert scientific and technical advice to other healthcare professionals on equipment management, quality assurance, analysis and interpretation of clinical investigations, optimisation, dosimetry, compliance with IRMER legislation (including clinical and IRMER audits), service development, and staff training. Also to communicate information to patients and carers regarding the risks arising from ionising radiation and put these into a context that can be understood, and to perform risk assessments to ensure that radiation doses received by staff, patients, and members of the public are “as low as reasonably practicable” and within statutory limits as defined in the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017.
1.2. Be responsible for providing scientific support to the Nuclear Medicine Clinics according to the duty physicist rota as required, including:
a. Interpret data to write clinical reports on patient investigations for referring consultant medical doctors.
b. Provide scientific support to technical and radiographic staff, for example in determining whether sufficient data has been obtained during a patient investigation for an accurate diagnosis to be made or whether further images are required.
c. Support quality assurance programmes for equipment and specialist software in Nuclear Medicine/PET associated with the acquisition and analysis of patient investigations and therapies.
d. Support delivery of the MRT service, including administering therapies and communicating with patients regarding radiation protection
e. Support the Radiopharmacy Unit at QMC including batch release and QA of radiopharmaceuticals.
f. Support the Nuclear Medicine Department at external customer King's Mill Hospital
2. Policy & Service Development
2.1. Be responsible for the development, implementation and review of individual procedures within the Quality Management System for the section.
2.2. As a Medical Physics Expert determine the most appropriate methods for patient treatments or for acquiring, analysing and presenting the results from patient imaging and non-imaging investigations, taking account of published best practice, national guidance and statutory regulations.
2.3. Contribute to the maintenance of statistical information as required for audit, clinical governance and management purposes.
2.4. Identify possible service developments and new areas of work so as to maximise the benefit of the Service to patients and other customers.
3. Resource Management
3.1. Act as line manager for junior staff within the Nuclear Medicine section.
3.2. Advise on the suitability of equipment for specific tasks within the Nuclear Medicine Clinic and the need for loan or replacement equipment.
3.3. In collaboration with scientific, clinical and technical colleagues specify and select major equipment (e.g. gamma cameras, dose calibrators, sample counters, gamma probes, etc) for use in the clinic. Assist with the development and performance of acceptance tests on this equipment to ensure that it meets its specification and is safe to use with patients.
3.4. Assist with the financial management of the Nuclear Medicine service such that it stays within agreed budgets.
4. Teaching, Training and Research
4.1. Supervise trainee clinical scientists on placements in the section.
4.2. Train Medical Physics staff in Nuclear Medicine
4.3. Provide training to other groups of healthcare professionals within the Trust and other organisations (including FRCR and IRMER lectures).
4.4. Initiate and participate in research and innovation in Nuclear Medicine and in other Trust and academic departments as agreed with the Head of the Section.
4.5. Analyse and interpret the results from research and development studies for presentation at scientific meetings and publication in peer-reviewed journals.
5. Professional
5.1. Maintain continuing professional development to standards defined by the relevant professional and regulatory bodies and maintain registration as a Clinical Scientist and MPE.
5.2. Ensure all activities are carried out within the ISO quality framework and conform to Statutory Regulations, Approved Codes of Practice and Local Rules.
5.3. Keep abreast of the latest technical and scientific developments and their applications in medical and associated fields as part of training and personal development and to further the work of the section.
5.4. Prioritise and manage own workload and meet agreed objectives
Person specification
Training and Qualifications
* Completion of NHS Scientist Training Program (STP) or equivalent training
* HCPC registered Clinical Scientist
* Certificate of Competence to act as a Medical Physics Expert (MPE) (or able to obtain within 1 year)
Experience
* Appropriate knowledge and experience to act as a Medical Physics Expert in Nuclear Medicine
* Experience providing scientific support to diagnostic nuclear medicine services including performing quality assurance and analysis of a wide range of clinical investigations
* In-depth understanding of relevant legislation, national standards, and other guidelines.
* Experience supporting PET/CT services
* Experience supporting Molecular Radiotherapy (MRT) services
* Experience of line management
* Experience supporting STP trainees
Communication and Relationship Skills
* Able to communicate effectively with patients, their carers, clinical colleagues, and other professionals (e.g. service engineers) and work as part of a multi-disciplinary team
* Able to present scientific papers at conferences/meetings
Analytical and Judgement Skills
* Able to deal with complex and unpredictable situations, including equipment faults and patient issues.
* Able to review and critically appraise emerging scientific literature.
Planning and Organisation Skills
* Able to prioritise and manage own work and meet deadlines where they arise, including designing and managing research and service development projects.
Physical Skills
* Able to make accurate and precise equipment performance measurements and safely handle and manipulate radioactivity.
Other
* Holds UK Driving License.
Come and join our wonderful team at NUH. We are big believers in diversity and welcome new ideas to help develop our team in order to deliver world class healthcare to the vast patient populations we serve. With endless personal development opportunities available, at the NUH we will endeavour to turn your job into a career!
We particularly welcome applications from people who identify as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, or Disabled, as we are striving to be better represented at NUH.
Applicants are kindly requested to refrain from using AI at any stage during the recruitment process.
Closing Dates: Please submit your application form as soon as possible to avoid disappointment; we reserve the right to close vacancies prior to the published closing date if we receive a sufficient number of completed application forms.
Communication: All communication related to your application will be via the email address you have provided. Please ensure you check your email account including your junk email regularly.
NUH are now able to offer application completion support and interview preparation support. Please follow the link to book onto our sessions: Support for NUH Job Applications
If you are aged 16 or 17 and applying for a role that is more than 20 hours a week, please be aware that you will be asked to commence an Apprenticeship within the Trust alongside your role, as long as there is a suitable apprenticeship standard available. This is in line with the current guidance in England that whilst young people under the age of 18 can leave school (on the last Friday in June) they must then do one of the following:
* Stay in full-time education, for example at a college
* Start an Apprenticeship
* Spend 20 hours of more a week working or volunteering, while in part-time education or training
Salary: The quoted salary will be on a pro rata basis for part time workers.
Disability Confidence: All applicants who have declared a disability and who meet the essential criteria for the post will be shortlisted.
At Risk of redundancy: NHS employees within the East Midlands who are ‘at risk’ of redundancy will be given a preferential interview where they meet the essential criteria of the person specification.
ID and Right to work checks : NUH authenticate ID and right to work documentation including passports and driving licenses through a system called Trust ID. NUH will scan your ID and right to work documentation in to the Trust ID system at your face to face ID appointment. The system will run a check against the key security features within your documentation. The system will provide us with an outcome of your check which will be stored securely on your personal file along with all other pre-employment check documentation.
Consent:
Transfer of information: If I have previous NHS service - I consent to the transfer of my Electronic Staff Record (ESR) data between this and other NHS Trusts. I also consent to the Occupational Health Department confidentially accessing my occupational health records from my current or previous employer in order to check the status of my vaccinations, immunisations s and screening tests as relevant to the post. I understand this is an automated process and the information will only be used for these purposes prior to me taking up the position at NUH.
Disclosure and Barring Service: Your post may be subject to a DBS check which incurs a cost dependent on the level of check required (£49.50 for enhanced and £21.50 for standard). I agree to reimburse Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust the cost of a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check if it is required (by deduction from first month’s pay). Should I decide to withdraw from my job offer, I agree to reimburse Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust the cost of the DBS check undertaken by cheque or other agreed method.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Name Tom Sanderson Job title Specialist Clinical Scientist in Nuclear Medicine Email address tom.sanderson@nhs.net Additional information
0115 9249924 extension 74130 or 81192
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