A Vacancy at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced MRI radiographer to join our busy MRI team as the Lead Radiographer for Quality and Education.
We are looking for a highly motivated, enthusiastic, and dedicated individual to be responsible for advancing the quality of our excellent MRI service and continuing the training and education of our staff. With significant experience as a senior MR radiographer, you will need to be able to provide advice and guidance to junior staff about protocols and imaging techniques.
Part of the role involves the training of radiographers new to MRI and the mentoring of radiographers new to our team. You must have a flexible approach to working and be able to demonstrate good organisational and communication skills along with a commitment to service improvement. This role is primarily based at Whiston & St Helens Hospitals.
Applicants must hold the BSc in Radiography or the DCR(R), a Post Graduate Certificate in MRI and be HCPC Registered.
Please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated, should a sufficient number of applications be received, you are therefore advised to apply at your earliest convenience.
Interview date: 5th December 2024
The successful applicant will be responsible for the continual improvement of image quality, helping to maintain the high-quality service that we provide and will work alongside the MRI Lead Operational Radiographer and Lead Radiographer for MRI Safety to develop and educate our workforce.
There will be an expectation to attend a course for a practice educator. The successful candidate will be expected to work clinically across both sites.
There is scope within this role for MRI image reporting. It is not essential that the successful candidate can perform this but the opportunity for training can be provided if desired.
Our department at Whiston hospital contains a GE 1.5T Signa Voyager whilst our CDC at St Helens Hospital houses a GE 1.5T Signa Explorer Lift and a GE 3T Signa Pioneer. The department offers a full range of MRI examinations, including specialist services such as arthrography, breast and enterography. Our radiographers are involved in continuous professional development, and we are keen for them to attain post graduate education in MRI.
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.
Our Services:
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements:
• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme
KEY DUTIES
• Responsible for administration, performance monitoring and data quality of the PACS/RIS and other integrated systems.
• Responsible for training of staff in PACS/RIS and associated systems.
• Perform diagnostic imaging examinations in accordance with departmental protocols.
• Be competent in the use of all appropriate imaging equipment.
• Participate in the on-call, flexible working and out of hours service as required.
• Responsible for QA program in designated area
• Abide by radiographic protocols.
• Abide by all Radiation Protection regulations.
• Report all equipment malfunctions to appropriate personnel.
• Responsible for sending accurate image data to the Picture Archiving Communication System for storage, transmission, and archive.
• Justify radiographic examinations for Junior Radiographers, Radiographic Assistant Practitioners and Student Radiographers. Authorise radionuclide imaging examinations on behalf of the ARSAC holder as appropriate.
• Promote quality initiatives, ensuring the quality of patient care and compliance of quality standards.
• Undertake staff appraisals.
• Establish and maintain effective communication with patients on complex, contentious and sensitive issues, using persuasion and negotiation where required.
• Maintain a patient, courteous manner in all aspects of communication with patients and staff especially in distressing situations.
• Liaise with lead clinicians to ensure effective running of the service.
• Maintain a good working relationship with other departments and staff to ensure the provision of and efficient and effective service to all users and patients.
• Communicate with service users and external agencies.
CLINICAL & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
• Autonomously undertake Advanced Practice in a specialised area of radiography by displaying expert clinical practice, this could be either clinical interpretation of images, performing radiological or interventional procedures
• To provide clinical leadership to all staff in the department
• To act as a radiographic clinical expert in the relevant field
• Provide clinical support and advice to staff.
• Responsible for setting and maintaining a high quality of clinical and professional standards within the department.
• Promote and ensure compliance with radiographic protocols.
• Ensure clinical and professional standards are met at all times.
• Exercise clinical judgement in the utilisation of resources and initiate liaison with relevant clinical teams if clinical findings necessitate.
• Perform all aspects of clinical and technical procedures as per departmental policy.
• Ensure compliance with COR code of conduct and HCPC regulations to ensure registration is maintained.
ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES
• Responsible for accurate data entry on the Radiology Information System
• Ensure all documentation associated with regulations are kept and stored appropriately.
TEACHING & TRAINING RESPONSBILITIES
• Responsible for the training and development of staff both radiographic staff and external staff.
• Contribute to continuing education programme by attending courses and keeping abreast of current professional developments.
• Participate in department CPD programme.
• Ensure professional standards are maintained by contributing to the clinical training and development of radiographers, radiographic assistant practitioners, and students.
LINE MANAGEMENT/SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES
• Responsible for the day-to-day management of the designated department, planning and prioritising workload.
• Ensure the effective and efficient running of the service with due regard to available resources.
• Allocating activity to ensure maximised use of capacity. Using data to inform decisions.
• Monitor and evaluate all aspects of service delivery with regard to waiting times ensuring that waiting times are kept to a minimum.
• Demonstrate effective leadership qualities and promote teamwork.
• Undertake initial investigation of patient and user complaints and exercising judgement and initiative take appropriate actions to resolve the problem/complaint.
• Promote a working culture that improves quality.
• Responsible for clinical and professional standards within the designated department
• Identify and contribute to service development within the department.
• Responsible for implementing policies within the designated department and contribute to Radiology Trust policies.
• Responsible for risk assessments within the designated area
• Responsible for the maintenance and servicing of all equipment in the designated work area, liaise and communicate with manufacturers.
• Responsible for optimum use of resources within the department and maintain adequate stock levels.
• Participate in the procurement (specification, evaluation and selection) of radiographic equipment.
• Promote quality initiatives, ensuring the quality of patient care and compliance of quality standards.
• Promote compliance with all Trust risk management procedures and ensure risk management strategies are implemented including Health & Safety legislation for Control of Radiation, COSHH, VDU use, handling of patients, fire regulations and security etc.
• Ensure compliance with all statutory, professional, and organisational requirements. Liaising with outside agencies to ensure compliance with statutory regulations when required. Ensure all documentation associated with regulations are kept and stored appropriately.
• Ensure all staff are compliant with the relevant registration eg HCPC, RSAC Act as radiation protection supervisor for a designated department/Modality
• Refer patients for on-going imaging examinations within departmental protocols.
• Responsible for the day-to-day management of the designated department
• Contribute to the recruitment, selection and appointment of professional, technical and support staff in accordance with policy and procedures.
• Monitor staff performance and formulate personal development plans in accordance with Trust development review process (IPR).
• Monitor and action dose discrepancies via Dose Monitor alerts. Produce Dose audits and DRLs. Monitor and action incidents within own work area that are reported via Datix.
RESEARCH & AUDIT
• Participate in the audit of current techniques and keep up to date with the research and development of new techniques.
• Participate in departmental audit and research programmes Undertake audit with other radiographers and radiologists.
This advert closes on Friday 22 Nov 2024
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to
Disability Confident.
