This is a Consultant Clinical Scientist post providing clinical and scientific leadership for the quantitative Faecal Immunochemical Testing (qFIT) service, one of the largest symptomatic FIT diagnostic services in the UK.
The postholder will also provide strategic and operational leadership for the Department of Clinical Biochemistry, supporting service development, clinical governance, and cross-disciplinary collaboration across North Bristol NHS Trust and the wider Bristol NHS Group.
This is a senior leadership role at the interface of diagnostics, cancer pathways, and clinical biochemistry, with significant opportunity to shape service delivery at scale across a major regional network.
Provide expert clinical and scientific leadership for the quantitative Faecal Immunochemical Testing (qFIT) service, delivered on behalf of the Somerset, Wiltshire, Avon and Gloucestershire (SWAG) Cancer Alliance.
Oversee and support the delivery of a high-volume diagnostic service processing in excess of 150,000 samples per year.
Lead on service development, quality assurance, clinical governance, and continuous improvement within the qFIT pathway.
Provide specialist advice to clinical colleagues, commissioners, and stakeholders on the interpretation and clinical application of qFIT testing in symptomatic pathways.
North Bristol NHS Trust employs over 12,000 staff providing healthcare to the residents of Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset from our award-winning hospital building at Southmead. We are the regional Major Trauma Centre, and an internationally recognised centre of excellence in a range of services and major specialities. Our vision is that by enabling our teams to be the best that they can be, we will provide exceptional healthcare, personally delivered.
North Bristol NHS Trust values all people as individuals. We aim to be an anti-discriminatory organisation and are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We welcome applicants from all underrepresented groups.
As a Consultant Clinical Scientist acting as an independent practitioner the post holder will:
- Provide clinical and scientific leadership for, the quantitative Faecal Immunochemical Testing (qFIT) service, currently delivered by the Department of Immunology and Immunogenetics at North Bristol NHS Trust on behalf of the Somerset, Wiltshire, Avon, Gloucestershire (SWAG) cancer alliance. The North Bristol NHS Trust qFIT service is now delivering analysis of over 150,000 samples per year, becoming one of the largest symptomatic FIT diagnostic services in the UK
- Deliver clinical leadership where necessary into an additional laboratory section within the Department of clinical biochemistry (for example, automated biochemistry or point of care testing), taking into account the specialism of the appointee on commencement of the post, after discussion with the Head of Department for clinical biochemistry
- With colleagues, provide an effective scientific and clinical advisory general biochemistry service for the North Bristol NHS Trust Department of Clinical Biochemistry. For the appointee, this will involve delivery of the Duty Clinical Biochemist role, and on-call biochemist rotas.
- As part of the senior management team, provide strategic direction and development of the Department of Clinical Biochemistry, in collaboration with clinicians, managers and users of the service. North Bristol NHS Trust and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust are becoming a single merged organisation- Bristol NHS Group. As such, strategic leadership and direction to deliver the Bristol NHS Group joint clinical strategy for pathology will be an important part of this role.
- Act in a consultant capacity for all aspects of the work of the Department, providing clinical liaison and a high level of scientific knowledge, skill and expertise.
The expectation for the position is that on the basis of a 1.0 WTE job plan, 0.4 of the appointee’s time will be dedicated to the qFIT service clinical leadership, with the remaining 0.6 dedicated to Department of Clinical biochemistry clinical leadership. If the appointee wishes for less than full time working to be considered, the division of time between these priorities will be discussed and agreed between departments
Please see JD for more details
