We now have an exciting opportunity to join the Trust and lead the Clinical Engineering service.We are seeking an experienced and.....
We now have an exciting opportunity to join the Trust and lead the Clinical Engineering service.
We are seeking an experienced and enthusiastic Consultant Healthcare Scientist to join the Science and Technology Directorate as Head of Clinical Engineering at Nottingham University Hospitals. The Science and Technology Directorate sits within the Clinical Support Division and provides a wide range of expert clinical and scientific services within the Trust and to a range of external customers.
The Head of Clinical Engineering leads the service of high calibre scientists, engineers, technologists, nurses, managers and administrative staff. They provide expert advice on regulatory and legal compliance, healthcare technology management and all aspects of medical device governance and management. This includes both operational medical equipment services (approval and commissioning of new equipment, maintenance and support of in-service equipment and medical equipment library services) and specialist medical devices services (medical devices training and competency, medical devices safety, medical engineering and instrumentation and health technology assessment).
The post holder’s mission will be to maximise the potential of healthcare technology for the benefit of patients while minimising the risks. Liaising closely with the Chief Scientist, they will develop and deliver the vision and strategy for the service.
They will lead research and innovation in Clinical Engineering, setting the vision for medical devices technology and influencing the Trust’s strategy as well as a range of research and innovation programmes and projects in collaboration with a variety of stakeholder groups (in health and social care, industry and academia). The Centre for Healthcare Equipment and Technology Adoption (CHEATA), is based at QMC and the post holder will provide leadership and direction; acting as an expert supporting commercial and academic programmes.
Acting as Secretary to the Trust’s Medical Devices Management Committee, they will provide trust-wide leadership of medical devices safety and governance, helping to set Trust policy and manage risks on behalf of the corporate governance teams.
Engaging in regional, national and international groups to develop best practice, standards and guidelines, including discussions with regulatory and professional bodies in the UK and beyond.
Registration with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC), hold a PhD (or demonstrate equivalent experience) and membership of an appropriate professional body is essential.
The post holder will be based at QMC but expected to work across other Trust sites.
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust is the 4th largest acute hospital trusts in the UK. The Trust has an annual income of £1.2 billion, 87 wards and circa 1,700 beds across 3 main sites. We are now one of the leading and busiest acute Trusts in England, employing almost 18,000 staff. We provide services to over 4.5 million residents of Nottinghamshire and also provide specialist services to a further 3-4 million people from neighbouring counties each year.
We have achieved a national and international reputation for many of our specialist services, including stroke, renal, neurosciences, cancer services and trauma. We are at the forefront of many research programmes and new surgical procedures. Nottingham is the only NHS Trust and University partnership in the country to have three successful bids for Biomedical Research Units in hearing, digestive diseases and respiratory medicine.
As a teaching trust we have a strong relationship with our colleagues at the University of Nottingham and other universities across the East Midlands, including Loughborough University. As such we play a vital role in the education and training of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals.
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.
1. Main Duties
• Be accountable for the delivery of the Clinical Engineering service, providing leadership and strategic direction to the service in response to changing demand and developments in technology.
• Act as the expert advisor to the Trust in relation to medical device technology.
• Develop and maintain effective working partnerships with clinical staff and managers in other divisions, corporate services and external services.
• Identify resource needs for clinical and service developments, leading on bids for funding for staffing, equipment and projects.
• Review service provision and produce a service strategy along with annual plans and objectives.
• Prioritise service work in accordance with departmental and Trust requirements. Formulate and adjust plans and strategies for delivering and developing services in response to emerging clinical, political, scientific, technical and business requirements
• Produce reports, business cases and policy documents in relation to incidents, service development, legislation, procedures, performance review and audit.
• Attend management meetings as required, including regular meetings with senior managers in the Science and Technology Directorate.
1. Clinical Scientific
• The post holder will work with the Executive Director responsible for Medical Devices (or their delegated deputy) to establish and develop a Trust-wide strategy for healthcare technology and an associated suite of policies and procedures to ensure governance and management of medical devices across the Trust.
• Be professionally accountable for ensuring the safe use of medical devices in the Trust. Act as Trust expert for all medical device issues including those related to regulation and risk.
• Provide expert scientific advice and managerial/administrative support to departmental and Trust committees related to medical device management.
• Develop policies and procedures relating to medical devices and their regulation. Use the highest level of judgement to analyse, interpret and compare conflicting information where expert opinion differs and present highly-complex information to trust committees enabling their understanding of the key issues.
• Ensure that suitably qualified staff within the service undertake the actions required of the MHRA MDSO for medical devices, to ensure Trust compliance through a robust system. Ensuring Device Alerts and information from other relevant sources, including manufacturers and safety organisations, are efficiently disseminated, and progress on actions is monitored to ensure implementation can be reported by the required deadline.
• Anticipate the impact of future regulation and legislation on working practices, identify resource implications and formulate long-term strategic plans for the development of policy.
• Develop scientific and risk-based approaches to improving the cost-effectiveness of healthcare technology management activities and implement these with clinical and non-clinical departments.
• Advise and support the Trust (including clinical managers, Capital, Estates and Facilities, IT, Procurement, and senior managers) and external customers on all aspects of medical devices, including risk assessment and safety issues in the areas of medical equipment selection, specification for procurement, installation arrangements, user training, appropriate maintenance arrangements and decommissioning.
• In co-operation with the Patient Safety Advisers, Health and Safety Advisers for the trust and the clinical governance and risk management committees, ensure advice and support is provided to adverse incident investigations involving medical devices. This will include the provision of expert knowledge regarding device design, manufacturing and production standards and interactions with other devices and/or the environment associated with an adverse incident.
• Ensure appropriate Quality Management System(s) are maintained within the Clinical Engineering Service to minimise clinical risk to patients and organisational risks to the Trust.
1. Financial and Resource Management
• Has responsibility, as budget holder, to ensure by forward planning, routine monitoring and appropriate action, that budgets, the income from SLAs and external contracts are balanced against expenditure.
• Ensure a robust system for recording, analysing and reporting staff activity is maintained and used to improve effectiveness and efficiency in the use of staff and other resources.
• Ensure accurate reporting of the Key Performance Indicators required by service users.
• Ensure financial recording and management of activities within the service, and relevant equipment assets, is organised to comply with Standing Financial Instructions, is auditable and enables the service to deliver the required services within agreed budget arrangements.
• Ensure development of a robust medical device management system to track medical devices through purchase, maintenance, repair, clinical incidents in use and decommissioning. This will include devices loaned to the community and owned by other organisations.
• Monitor areas in which Clinical Engineering can offer its services (including CHEATA) to external customers, enabling expertise to be maintained within the service and generating additional revenue for the Trust.
1. People Planning
• Be responsible for workforce planning, ensuring appropriate workforce through recruiting, training and developing staff to achieve an appropriate skill-mix to meet current and future service demands.
• Create an environment in which all staff in the department have opportunities to influence development and planning, by ensuring open and effective working.
• Create an environment in which all staff in the department have the opportunities to develop and grow and reach their potential.
• Ensure staff are appraised and managed effectively and that individual training and development plans are in place.
• Follow Trust procedures and policies including disciplinary and grievance procedures, complaints against staff and staff recruitment policies.
1. Research & Development
• Establish, develop and continually review a research and innovation strategy that aligns with local, regional and national priorities and maximises the opportunities of Clinical Engineering to influence future generations of healthcare technology for the benefit of patients and the health and social care system.
• Providing senior research leadership for the department and across the Trust, acting as a mentor and role model for future research leaders.
• Develop relationships with relevant partners, academic organisations and industry, leading to developing and undertaking collaborative research that furthers the Trust and department’s standing with regard to professional knowledge, workforce training, innovation and research.
• Develop relationships with a range of stakeholders in the healthcare technology innovation space, including industry, academia, health and social care organisations, charities, patients groups, UKRI and NIHR funded partners, trade and professional support organisations, ensuring that Clinical Engineering is seen as a credible partner for all such groups in the advancement of health technology research and innovation.
• Establish, develop and manage an active research portfolio, applying for grants and other funding sources and undertaking research in line with service strategies, Trust and national priorities.
• Create an environment in which all staff in the department have opportunities to engage with research and innovation, identifying and suggesting research ideas and influencing research strategies.
• Support and assist clinical departments in research and development, ensuring that novel instrumentation, equipment and technology is safe and appropriate before use (whether for device investigation or supporting clinical research).
• Be responsible for the management of projects to develop prototype or novel medical devices and ensure that development work within the Service is carried out within a structured quality system covering device design and manufacture.
• Accountable for the Centre for Healthcare Equipment And Technology Adoption (CHEATA), providing leadership and direction and acting as an expert supporting commercial and academic programmes.
• Identify and obtain development funding as required and ensure intellectual property issues are resolved.
• Oversee the design of prototype medical devices, including the modification of existing equipment. Integrate conflicting elements and work to national standards when identifying, evaluating and selecting solutions.
1. Professional
• Keep abreast of the latest developments in science, technology and equipment management methodologies and their application to medicine and healthcare.
• Attend and participate in relevant seminars and courses as part of Continuing Professional Development and personal development plans to further the work of the department.
• Engage in regional, national and international groups to develop best practice, standards and guidelines, including discussions with regulatory and professional bodies in the UK and beyond (as appropriate).
• Maintain HCPC registration.
This advert closes on Sunday 17 Dec 2023
