Lead Sonographer

1. The Lead Sonographer will undertake both clinical and managerial duties and when appropriate deputise for the General Manager for Imaging Services; will assist in the co-ordination, management and allocation of staff and resources within the Ultrasound department and report back to the General Manager, senior leadership team for Imaging and the Divisional leadership team and Trust.

2. The post holder will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in Imaging, liaising with those involved to ensure the appropriate imaging, reporting and management of the patient is provided when and where necessary. They will maintain a high professional and technical standard ensuring that all staff working in their area maintains similar standards.

3. The post-holder will undertake clinical work within the established quality standards of practice, adhering to ultrasound guidelines such as published as those published by BMUS, RCOG, RCR, FASP and NICE.

4. The post-holder will work as a practitioner in the delivery of all ultrasound imaging, reporting and management of the patient within departmental protocols.

5. To develop systems of work within the ultrasound team to ensure appropriate techniques are used to minimise the risk of Musculo-skeletal injury and that all ergonomic feature of the ultrasound equipment are utilizes to support the wellbeing of the scanning staff.

1. To develop and encourage multidisciplinary working and partnerships with other practitioners, including medical consultants, divisional clinical directors and clinical leads.

2. To ensure effective communication of all Ultrasound issues. This will include regular documented communication with the Ultrasound team in addition to communication with the senior management team within Imaging including risks around delivery of required standards.

3. To make sure where relevant a process is in place to validate requests against agreed protocols and referral guidelines and also to actively participate in the process.

4. To arrange, plan and participate in the Ultrasound Quality Assurance programme to include national screening programmes.

5. To plan maintenance schedules, initiate and monitor external engineers to breakdowns, to support prompt service resumption.

6. To be accountable for the data collection of the service activity. To assess and analyse complex data in order to identify patterns and trends to enable effective and informed decision making and long-term planning of services.

7. To undertake and be responsible long-term workforce planning through analysis of data to assist in the planning of caseloads and inform decisions around changing skill mix. Identifying the future needs of the service in line with modernisation and changing healthcare needs.

8. To be responsible for recruitment, retention and regular review of staffing levels and skill mix within the service to ensure these meet the needs of the services, national targets and Trust objectives.

9. Manage staff rosters, annual leave, and training to maintain a core staffing resource working towards the delivery of a 7-day service in the future.

10. To manage day to day activities of any locum or third-party provider staff as required, supporting the ultrasound service.

Please see attached JD for full responsibilities

We are proud to be part of BSW Hospitals Group - a formal partnership between Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust and Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust. With a combined workforce of over 17, 600 colleagues, and budget of 1.6 billion the Group is united by a common purpose to deliver the best possible care to over 1 million people.

We are creating a health and care system that works with the people we care for, reducing the differences people currently face in access, experience and outcomes, improving the experience of our colleagues and tackling shared challenges like sustainability and finances. Every improvement we make across our Group will be guided by what creates the greatest benefit for our colleagues, our patients, our communities and our partners.

Qualifications

Essential: - HCPC Registered (or equivalent professional body); - Masters level qualification in Ultrasound

Desirable: - Management Qualification; - Quality improvement training

Experience

Knowledge