Senior Respiratory and Sleep Healthcare Scientist/Physiologist
The closing date is 26 February 2026
As the largest and leading specialist cardiothoracic hospital in the UK, Royal Papworth Hospital is dedicated to providing patients with the best possible care through the excellence of our caring staff. Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is based on the world class Cambridge Biomedical Campus. The Sleep Laboratory is a major centre for the provision of sleep medicine with a national referral base and is one of the largest in the UK, with a purpose built 10 bed polysomnography unit, a CPAP hub, a Respiratory Physiology and a Respiratory Support unit. It provides a comprehensive sleep service including polysomnography with over 1,000 inpatient investigations per year, outpatient actigraphy, respiratory polygraphy assessments and an active research program. You will be involved in the day‑to‑day running of sleep assessments, setting up monitoring equipment, troubleshooting problems overnight and during the daytime testing. The post holder will be responsible for the analysis, interpretation and reporting of full polysomnogram and all other sleep assessment. Where required you may be starting patients on CPAP therapy and performing some respiratory physiology testing such as spirometry within the Sleep Laboratory and the Respiratory Physiology department.
Main duties of the job
The post holder in this role will primarily work in the Sleep Laboratory, but where required, across all departments to provide high quality, patient focused and efficient Sleep Science, Respiratory Physiology, and CPAP services within Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Trust.
The key duties of the role revolve around providing and developing the services:
* Perform, lead, analyse and interpret basic and advanced sleep assessments including full polysomnography, actigraphy and pulmonary function tests.
* Initiate CPAP therapy and troubleshoot patient problems.
* Critically appraise, monitor and review current services to ensure policies and procedures are complete, up‑to‑date and evidence‑based.
* Identify areas for improvement or development and produce evidence‑based proposals.
* Promote and facilitate links between the three departments to improve patient pathway, efficiency and communication.
* Take an active role in education within the departments including healthcare scientist and/or other professional discipline training and assessment.
* Take an active role in research and audit from concept to presentation and outcome with a supporting role in other department research.
About us
Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is the UK's leading heart and lung hospital, delivering care to more than 50,000 patients a year in its new state‑of‑the‑art hospital in Cambridge. We perform the most heart and/or lung transplants in the UK and carried out the UK's first successful heart transplant in 1979. It also offers emergency heart‑attack treatment, sleep centre care and is one of just five centres nationally for those in severe respiratory failure.
Based on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, the largest centre of medical research and health science in Europe, the Trust is at the heart of treatments of the future. Royal Papworth became the first hospital trust in the country to be rated outstanding in all five areas assessed by the Care Quality Commission – a rating it still holds today. The Trust holds its values of compassion, excellence & collaboration at its core, and all colleagues joining the team are expected to uphold these in their day‑to‑day roles & interactions. Royal Papworth is proud of its diverse workforce and encourages people to embrace their individuality.
The Trust values difference and welcomes all applications irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion & belief, sex and sexual orientation. Providing they meet the minimum post criteria, applicants with disabilities will be offered an interview.
Job responsibilities
On this page you will find a Role Profile which provides information about the hospital and full details about the role. We recommend that you review this and refer to it as you complete your application. Please include how you will meet the Trust Values Compassion, Excellence and Collaboration. If you would like more information about the role or working at Royal Papworth Hospital, please get in touch with the contact for this role.
Qualifications
* BSc (Hons) in Clinical Physiology (Respiratory and Sleep) or equivalent
* Mentorship training or experience
* Appropriate professional registration
Experience
* Ability to perform a wide range of pulmonary function tests and sleep assessments
* Ability to set up, troubleshoot and critically review CPAP therapy.
* Ability to analyse information
* Proficient in MS Word, Excel
* Good verbal and written communication skills
* Experience of working within respiratory physiology, CPAP and sleep science
* Experience of delivering formal or informal teaching
* Experience of leading projects
Additional Criteria
* Please provide evidence of your commitment to uphold the Trust's values: Compassion, Excellence, Collaboration
* Possess a willingness to learn
* Looks to improve service
* Ability to be caring, patient, tolerant and use discretion at all times
* Ability to work independently or as part of a team
* Ability to maintain confidentiality at all times
* Supportive of equality and values diversity
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
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.
Employer name
Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
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