Overview
The successful candidate will support the implementation and delivery trials involving radiotherapy in both the photon radiotherapy service and the proton beam therapy (PBT) service. The successful candidate will have excellent communication skills, strong organisational skills, and a passion for learning new areas of therapeutic radiography. The right person will embrace teaching and training opportunities, as both the teacher and the learner. We are looking for a radiographer who is passionate about delivering quality care to patients and is ready to expand their skills in radiotherapy clinical trials. We are able to offer a supportive environment in the workplace with opportunities for career growth and continued professional development.
The Christie is one of Europe’s leading cancer centres, based in Manchester and serving a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, with international referral for about 15% of patients. We provide radiotherapy through one of the largest radiotherapy departments in the world; chemotherapy on site and through 14 other hospitals; highly specialist surgery for complex and rare cancer; and a wide range of support and diagnostic services. We are an international leader in research with world-first breakthroughs for over 100 years. We run one of the largest early clinical trial units in Europe with over 300 trials every year. Cancer research in Manchester, most of which is undertaken on the Christie site, has been officially ranked the best in the UK.
Duties and responsibilities
Clinical:
* Facilitate accurate and safe delivery of highly complex treatment plans according to clinical trials guidelines.
* Give information at an appropriate level of understanding to ensure a patient is fully informed along all stages of the patient pathway.
* Communicate effectively and sensitively with patients and their families/carers by offering support, treatment information, and advice on side effects.
* Be responsible for the provision of trial related information for the purpose of patient recruitment and consent and ascertain and record sensitive information as required for case report form (CRF) completion.
* Use clinical reasoning in the assessment of patients for trial related activities.
* Provide information and serve as an important point of contact for the patient and carers regarding their participation in a clinical trial.
* Assess and troubleshoot patient care issues and provide support, advice and referrals where appropriate, particularly regarding the clinical trials and/or the clinical trials patient pathway.
* Plan and prioritise workloads, organise daily schedules, and manage acceptance of trial patients.
* Ensure that treatment deviations from trial protocols are appropriately reported.
Supervisory and managerial:
* Provide professional, technical, operational and clinical leadership regarding trial procedures.
* Promote opportunities for team development and individual role enhancement.
* Support and deputise for the Principal Radiotherapy Clinical Trials Radiographer by contributing to business case development and attending Trust committee, local Trust partnership, managerial, radiotherapy-related research, and research and innovation meetings when required.
* Ensure that Trust standards are maintained and all staff are empowered to keep up-to-date on clinical trials developments across the photon radiotherapy and PBT services.
* Establish and maintain good communication links with the multi-disciplinary teams and other appropriate Trust teams.
* Act as an advocate for The Christie, and the radiotherapy profession, at national and international forums, conferences, and vendor meetings.
* Develop and review work instructions and operating procedures.
* Act as lead radiographer on projects, demonstrating an ability to work autonomously and as a team member.
* Continually assess and monitor risk in own practice and that of others, challenging procedures or others as appropriate.
* Maintain knowledge of UK radiation legislation IR(ME)R 2017 and IRR 2017 and other relevant legislation, including the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, and MHRA Safety Guidelines for Magnetic Resonance Imaging Equipment in Clinical Use.
* Participate in the recruitment and selection of staff through supporting appointment panels, completion of paperwork and liaison with Human Resources and Occupational Health departments to ensure successful employment of candidates.
Teaching and training:
* Induct, train and supervise clinical trials staff, ensuring competencies are attained in a timely manner.
* Participate in organising and facilitating visitors to the photon radiotherapy and PBT departments, in both operational and clinical trials/research aspects.
* Supervise and manage pre-registration student training in accordance with Trust/university policy.
* Ensure that opportunities for clinical audit, research and technical developments are identified and that staff are encouraged to participate in relevant projects.
* Support the learning needs of the wider multi-disciplinary team, including clinicians, physicists, nurses, and clinical trials coordinators.
Clinical trials/research:
* Lead, supervise and/or undertake an active role in audit, research, development, improvement/implementation of new techniques and practices, assessing results and impacts.
* Disseminate specialist findings to colleagues and members of the health care professions through presentation and publication at national and international level.
* Have a sound knowledge of research governance, clinical governance, research ethics, and trial regulations and comply with the principles of ICH GCP, ensuring certification remains current.
* Attend National Institute of Health Research and The Christie’s research and innovation department training courses, lectures, presentations and conferences to maintain current knowledge and skills in clinical trials and research.
* Ensure that all documentation and QA is completed prior to any trial or study opening.
* Ensure correct carepaths/QCLs are input for trial patients, with established links to relevant stakeholders, so patient pathway tasks are completed in a timely and efficient manner.
* Be responsible for the collection of key performance indicator data to support business cases for team expansion or funding applications or other relevant purposes.
* Be responsible for the accurate reporting and transcription of trial-related data, ensuring such data is stored securely, and where appropriate, anonymised, according to trial stipulations and exported to the trials platform.
* Liaise with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance, the NIHR North West Regional Research Delivery Network, The Christie’s research and innovation department, local and national research organisations, and trials registration offices to facilitate the implementation of clinical trials within the photon radiotherapy and PBT services.
* Assess, analyse and interpret research data and use this to make evidence-based clinical judgements.
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