Specialist Cardiac Physiologist; Echocardiographer

A Vacancy at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ Echocardiography Department

Highly Specialist Cardiac Physiologist (Echocardiographer) Band 7

This role is in receipt of short‑term Recruitment & Retention Premia (RRP). This supplementary payment will be reviewed annually.

We are seeking to recruit a qualified echocardiographer to join our renowned and expanding department. We have a strong record in research and developing new clinical services and patterns of working, and have been instrumental in developing national standards for echocardiography and for developing the new clinical scientist discipline. At an individual level we focus on role development with scientist‑led valve, ACHD, cardio‑oncology and ICC screening clinics and our own TOE and bubble lists.

Opportunities for continuing professional development are excellent and studying for postgraduate qualifications is encouraged. Health Education England has commissioned five HSST (Higher Specialist Scientific Training) posts in Cardiac Science here at GSTT in recent years. We are actively encouraging our echocardiographers to seek equivalence via the Academy for Healthcare Science and become registered with the Health and Care Professions Council as Clinical Scientists.

Our five echo‑specialist cardiologists have wide ranging interests including stress echo, 3D, valve disease, heart failure, CRT and adult congenital heart disease.

Our working days run from 8 am until 6 pm and weekend work is routine. Flexible working (including annualised hours) is available for our staff.

Currently work is carried out across three sites (St Thomas’, Guys and Tessa Jowell Health Centre in East Dulwich). Successful candidates will be part of a rotation to give you widespread exposure across all three sites.

This position would suit an echocardiographer with a good grounding in transthoracic echocardiography and an interest in developing their skills within a specialist area. We have some flexibility in the direction of role development so the field of expertise will depend on the individual’s aptitude and interest in conjunction with service requirements. The successful candidate will be expected to motivate, develop and lead a small team within their area, be responsible for specialist training and service development and to work closely with the Head of Echocardiography to achieve this.

BSE accreditation or an equivalent qualification is essential. Part‑time positions will be considered.

St Thomas’ is situated in the heart of London immediately opposite the Houses of Parliament and Guy’s is at London Bridge, opposite The Shard. Both hospitals have excellent transport links and an on‑site nursery, along with a wide range of further innovative programmes and resources to help you enjoy a healthy lifestyle and maintain a great work/life balance.

This position is for a BSE accredited (or equivalent), independently reporting echocardiographer. The post holder will perform their own transthoracic echo lists and provide reports and expert opinions to other health professionals. The post holder will perform studies within a specialist area of echocardiography (e.g. stress echo, bubbles, or TOE) and will be expected to contribute to non‑clinical projects as required (e.g. QA and audit, infection control, machine and IT maintenance or stock control).

The post holder will work as part of a multidisciplinary team consisting of physiologists, echocardiographers, consultant cardiologists, junior doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants, clerical and administrative staff and our porter. The post will involve training physiologists and doctors and the post holder will be expected to act as a role model and mentor to the trainees.

• Professional / Clinical responsibilities
  • Perform transthoracic echocardiograms to a high standard in accordance with BSE guidelines and department minimum standards.
  • Identify and advise when transthoracic echocardiography is insufficient to answer the clinical question and proactively…