Senior Radiotherapy Radiographer

The post holder will be required to participate in the induction, supervision and teaching of junior staff and students within the treatment environment enabling them to achieve the required level of clinical competence.

The post holder will deputise for other Radiographers as required including at internal and external meetings.

A flexible approach to work is essential to meet the service needs of the department and hours of work may vary with occasional weekend and public holiday working on a planned and on-call basis. Post holders may be rotated to work at either the Royal Surrey County Hospital or East Surrey Hospital sites and may be asked to travel between the sites at short notice to cover sickness.

Main Duties And Responsibilities:

• To verbally give an explanation of the treatment procedure to the patient and carer answering any questions they may have. Furthermore, you will provide reassurance during the procedure and advise them as to their care and management during a course of radiotherapy.
• To make a professional assessment during the initial patient interview as to their requirements for further support in relation to their physical, emotional and spiritual needs and refer to other professionals as appropriate. This will be an ongoing assessment during their course of treatment.
• To communicate efficiently and effectively with both internal and external professionals in the provision of information related to patient care.
• To negotiate, liaise with and advise with other sections of the department in respect of the patient pathway to ensure that the department is offering a coherent seamless service.
• To attend multi-disciplinary and operational radiotherapy treatment meetings to receive and impart both clinical and operational knowledge and report back to the treatment unit team when relevant.
• To communicate any operational issues, i.e. machine breakdown to Operational Manager for appropriate managerial decisions.
• To clearly communicate with the technical services department and medical physics staff relevant technical data relating to the treatment units and the operation of them that may affect the safety of their operation, i.e. Radiation safety.
• As senior in charge of a given treatment unit you are responsible for reporting actual or suspected treatment errors to the Operational Manager, Radiation Protection Supervisor, Medical Physics Expert and Clinical Oncologist for further investigation in respect of the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposures) Regulations 2000.
• To achieve personal competence in simple and complex treatment techniques associated with the treatment unit to which you are rotated.
• To assist the Radiographer in Charge in the technical training of students and trainee assistant practitioners in the safe and accurate manipulation of the treatment unit equipment and accessories.
• To assist the Radiographer in Charge in the clinical and theoretical training of students and trainee assistant practitioners in simple treatment techniques within the scope of your competence.
• To participate in the student assessment, discussion and meetings relevant to the ongoing training of students within the department.
• To undertake obligatory training associated with new equipment that may be away from your normal place of work.
• To be technically competent to safely and accurately manipulate the treatment unit and accessories to which you are rotated.
• To be responsible for, or to be responsible in conjunction with the Team Leader Radiotherapy Radiographer in charge for the routine quality assurance checks on the treatment unit every morning, reporting any faults or unsafe equipment.
• To accurately input and check clinical data into the department network database and hospital patient administration system.
• To report any unsafe equipment / conditions to the Team Leader Radiotherapy Radiographer in charge of the treatment unit to prevent hazards to patients, staff and visitors. As the senior in charge, reporting to the appropriate relevant body and Operational Manager.
• To ensure that the treatment room is tidy, clean and fully stocked with all necessary equipment and consumables and stationery.
• To be responsible for, in conjunction with the Team Leader Radiotherapy Radiographer, the daily efficient time management of the treatment unit and patient workload. A treatment unit may have an average of 40-50 patients per day scheduled for treatment within the nominal opening hours of the department.
• To be responsible for the coordination of the scheduling and organisation of an individual patient treatment appointment, or schedule of a course of appointments in conjunction with the Team Leader Radiotherapy Radiographer.
• To organise and delegate tasks and duties required to be performed by the treatment team (4-5 staff) on a daily basis to maintain an effective patient-focused service in association with the Team Leader Radiotherapy Radiographer, or to deputise for the Team Leader Radiotherapy Radiographer in their absence.
• Maintain and monitor the professional standards of practice to ensure that the staff are performing their duties in a safe and competent manner. To appropriately report any staff management issues to your line manager.
• To directly supervise the clinical activities of junior radiographers, assistant practitioners, trainee assistant practitioners and student staff within the treatment unit environment.
• To adopt flexible work practices in the event of emergencies or machine failures, to assist in allocating and rescheduling of patient appointments according to department and professional guidelines.
• To take responsibility for the accurate delivery of simple and complex treatment by interpretation of treatment data.
• To take responsibility for the accuracy of given information to enable precise treatment delivery from the first day of a patient's treatment and annotate as appropriate on the treatment card that the senior set up check has been performed.
• To make a professional judgement by applying a critical and analytical approach to a treatment situation if deviations from treatment protocol occur. To evaluate the options for correction and take the appropriate actions in conjunction with the Radiographer in Charge.
• To make an autonomous professional clinical assessment as to the fitness of the patient to proceed with the proposed treatment on a daily basis. Proceeding to treatment if considered fit to do so.
• To communicate any concerns or findings with regards to the patient's fitness for treatment to the Team Leader Radiotherapy Radiographer in charge or Clinical Oncologists for further management.
• To understand and therefore manage the side effects of radiotherapy treatment to assist and support the patient during their course of treatment.
• To assist the patient to achieve the required treatment position and make reasonable assessment of their physical and mental ability to co-operate with the intended procedure.
• To assess the patient with respect to the Trust's manual handling protocols. To complete the manual handling risk assessment as appropriate.
• To record and report