Job Description
This post is based in the Infection Sciences Department at the Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle (CIC). The Department of Infection Sciences consists of Microbiology, Virology and Immunology, all centralised at CIC. A successful applicant will be required to work across site on a rotational basis at the West Cumberland Hospital (WCH) in Whitehaven.
The local Microbiology and Virology clinical services are completely integrated. The Virology laboratory service offers a large repertoire of viral serology and molecular tests, and provides a limited number of reference tests for other trusts within the UK and Ireland. The Virology and Immunology laboratories are integrated with shared staff and platforms but separate clinical leadership arrangements. The Immunology laboratory is a national reference centre for bird breeder’s lung and farmer’s lung. The Infection Sciences Department has close links with the North East as part of the North East and North Cumbria Pathology Network (North 1).
The Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) team includes eight IPC nurses and an IPC matron. They work as a team across all trust sites in conjunction with the Director of Infection Prevention and Control (DIPC) and Consultant Microbiologists.
North Cumbria Integrated Care (NCIC) NHS Foundation Trust is looking to appoint a specialty doctor with experience in Medical Microbiology to deliver services as part of the existing team of two Consultant Microbiologists and a further Specialty Doctor. Previous experience of working in the NHS is preferred. This will initially be fixed term for a period of one year with the option to extend this based on the demands of the service. This is a newly created role from reconfiguration of a vacant post.
The appointee to this post will take part in the on-call rota for Medical Microbiology on a 1 in 4 basis. The on-call microbiologist is on-site on Saturday and time off in lieu is given for this commitment. Other on-call, including Sunday, is usually provided remotely. It is expected that, if eligible, the appointee will contribute equally to the out-of-hours work and on-call rota.
At NCIC we employ more than 70 SAS Doctors and have an active SAS Development programme organised through our local SAS Tutors. These sessions enable valuable CPD on important and useful generic topics as well as the chance to network with SAS Colleagues across the Trust. Through our Local SAS Tutors we also engage with the regional SAS Tutor network at Health Education England North East (HEENE).
NCIC SAS doctors also have two representatives on our local JLNC and another on our local Medical Staff Committee.
NCIC values its SAS Doctors. Full-time NCIC SAS doctors benefit from a 1.5 SPA allocation in their job plans and all NCIC SAS doctors have an additional 2 days annual leave after 7 years’ Trust service.
Suitably experienced and interested SAS doctors are also able to take up roles as clinical and educational supervisors, appraisers, research investigators and to apply for leadership positions within the Trust. Further information on SAS Doctors at NCIC, and our local SAS Doctor Charter, can be found at:
https://staff.cumbria.nhs.uk/staff/staff-networks/sas-doctors
As well as SAS Tutors, NCIC also has a unique Medical Directorate Development Faculty (MDDF), with a SAS Lead, a CESR lead, an LED (Locally employed doctor) lead and an overseas doctor champion, who report to Sam Dearman, the Trust’s Director of Medical Education.
Our aim is to make NCIC a centre of Excellence for SAS Doctors and we look forward to welcoming successful applicants to our supportive local team.
Introduction
This is an exciting new post created by reconfiguration of a vacant Consultant Medical Microbiologist position due to relocation of the previous post holder. This post is full-time (10 PAs) for a fixed term of one year.
As with all new appointments in the Trust the post holder will be required to work trust-wide.
The Laboratory
A comprehensive laboratory service, centralised at CIC, is offered to the acute hospitals, community services, and primary care across North and West Cumbria. There is no Infection Sciences laboratory at WCH.
The Department of Infection Sciences is accredited to ISO 15189 standards. The laboratory consists of Microbiology, Virology and Immunology, all of which participate in appropriate external quality assessment schemes. The laboratory are currently registered with the Institute of Biomedical Science as a training site for biomedical scientists.
The Microbiology laboratory has a Containment Level 3 laboratory plus a dedicated enteric room. Equipment includes: BD Bactec FX blood culture system, Bruker MALDI Biotyper sirius system, Iris iQ200 automated urine analyser, Mast Uri System, Whitley A35 anaerobic workstation, Dynex DS2 ELISA systems, and Cepheid GeneXpert system.
The Virology laboratory performs a large repertoire of serological tests on the Roche cobas e601 and Dynex DS2 instruments, and has installed a DiaSorin Liaison XL system to complement the existing platforms. Molecular tests are carried out on Roche cobas 6800 system, supplemented by a number of open systems. The laboratory has introduced a Seegene STARlet instrument and an altona Diagnostics AltoStar AM16 instrument to support COVID-19 testing and replace the open PCR systems currently in use.
Immunology is also based in the Virology laboratory and provides a wide range of tests. This service has strong relationships with other Immunology laboratories across the region.
The diagnostic workload for 2021 was approximately 144,000 requests for tests handled in Microbiology, 192,000 Virology requests, and approximately 36,000 requests for Immunology. For Microbiology about 60% of the specimen load comes from the Trust, and 40% from Primary Care. For Virology and Immunology about 30% of the specimens are from the acute trust, 40% from primary care, and the remainder is from other trusts or referred from other laboratories.
The laboratory refers samples for mycobacteria to the regional centre.
The laboratory information management system (LIMS) relies on Telepath for request entry, work scheduling, result entry and report printing – a regional procurement programme for a replacement system is currently underway. Telepath is integrated with the Sunquest ICE order comms system for ward ordering of tests and electronic reporting.
Point-of-care testing systems for influenza, RSV and SARS-CoV-2 are available in the Emergency Departments at both CIC and WCH sites (Roche cobas Liat).
The Department of Infection Sciences has an annual budget of £3,961,794. The budget is administered by the Operational Manager and is held by the Head of Department.
The department is part of the Pathology Directorate. The Clinical Director is Dr Clive Graham, Consultant Microbiologist. The Clinical Director post is appointed by the CEO and is a permanent appointment.
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