Recruitment Information 2008/2009 1
Recruitment Information Contents Message from the Chairman Page 3 Working and living in Wirral Page 4 About Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology Page 5 Our vision for the future Page 8 Staff facilities and benefits Page 11 Our vision To provide world class cancer care Our values Putting people first Achieving excellence Passionate about what we do Always improving our care Committed to our future 2
Message from the Chairman of Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology Everyone working at Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology is extremely passionate about the services that it delivers for patients. Quite simply, we want to be a world class provider of cancer services and the first choice for patients in need of treatment. The healthcare professionals at our centre are innovative in their approach to work and well respected for their commitment to research. We are one of the most active hospitals in clinical trails for cancer patients anywhere in the country. Our radiotherapy equipment includes some of the most modern machinery in Europe and our waiting times for this treatment are nationally recognised as low. From the moment a patient or visitor walks through the front doors to the centre, our staff and a network of dedicated volunteers will do everything within their power to help, reassure and make the hospital experience as comfortable and efficient as possible. As a Foundation Trust hospital we have a clear vision, set out in our Service Development Strategy, about where we want to be five years from now. Financially we are stable and with the support of our recently established Council of Governors we have high hopes and expectations about what the future holds. With the fast pace of NHS reform and the new era of patient choice, we cannot afford to rest on our laurels. We encourage an ethos of service improvement at all levels within the organisation and expect our staff to take an active role in bringing about changes for the benefit of our patients. If you like a challenge and want to work for a hospital that is going places then we want to hear from you. Alan White Chairman, Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology NHS Foundation Trust 3
Working and living in Wirral The Wirral peninsula is a unique place packed full of spectacular scenery with a rich mixture of culture and heritage. Wirral sits between two of Britain s great rivers, the Mersey and the Dee, with the Irish Sea to the North. It is an area of outstanding natural beauty, and you are never very far from breathtaking views, spectacular sunsets and coastal walks. It is situated within easy reach of the Welsh mountains, has some fantastic country parks for walking, cycling and exceptional sporting facilities including windsurfing, sailing and golf, plus an international tennis centre. In addition the vibrant cities of Liverpool and Manchester, with their abundance of cultural, sporting and entertainment attractions, are a stone s throw away and the historic city of Chester is just a short drive. Within the 60km of Wirral lies a wealth of beauty and interest. Picturesque little villages, bustling seaside resorts, new urban developments and trendy towns packed with nightlife. In Wirral you will find an unrivalled choice of homes at affordable prices, from executive properties to attractive low cost homes to suit all budgets. Schools have an excellent reputation and childcare is well catered for with a wide variety of good quality, registered facilities including one on site here at the hospital. A network of roads, rail, air and sea services connect the peninsula with regional, national and world destinations. Two road tunnels link Wirral to Liverpool and the M53 motorway runs the length of Wirral. An extensive rail network serves Wirral, providing a direct link with Liverpool Lime Street for intercity destinations throughout Britain. Liverpool and Manchester airports are also within easy reach for national and international flights. 4
About Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology Trust profile Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology became a Foundation Trust on August 1, 2006. It is one of the largest cancer centres in the UK registering nearly 7,000 new patients each year and dealing with more than 100,000 follow up appointments. Many of these clinics are run in the surrounding general hospitals of Merseyside, Cheshire and the Isle of Man as we serve a population of 2.3 million. We employ over 650 staff and volunteers and spend approximately 50m per year on all aspects of cancer treatment, diagnosis and care. The cancer centre is located on the Clatterbridge Hospital site in Bebington, Wirral. Within the centre we provide a range of radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments in day case and inpatient settings. We also provide out patient services and a range of support services. The treatment centre has undergone significant financial investment over the past five years and now hosts one of the best equipped radiotherapy centres in the UK. Research and development, including participation in national and international clinical trails, is an important feature of the cancer centre. The services we provide Radiotherapy Services Radiotherapy treatment is delivered by therapy radiographers. These staff oversee the clinical care of patients during treatment and are assisted by radiotherapy assistants. Commissioning of the equipment, maintenance and quality assurance are carried out by the Physics Department, which is staffed by clinical scientists, medical technologists and dosimetrists. Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology has a full range of modern radiotherapy facilities. This includes nine linear accelerators, a cobalt unit, superficial and orthovoltage X-ray machines, two simulators, two scanners - a wide bore single slice Computer Tomography (CT) simulator and a multi-slice helical Computer Tomography (CT) simulator in addition there are three planning computers, including 3D planning facilities. 5
The centre has facilities for both low dose rate and high dose rate remote after-loading brachytherapy, in addition to facilities for stereotactic radiotherapy. There is a purpose built mould room and a dedicated operating theatre. The centre has an integrated brachytherapy unit in the operating theatre suite. The centre has the only patient treatment cyclotron in the UK, providing a service with proton therapy for eye tumours. There are two radiotherapy wards, Conway and Mersey. These are open seven days a week providing 60 beds for patients. Chemotherapy Services Chemotherapy is delivered by specially trained chemotherapy nurses, under the overall supervision of an oncologist. The chemotherapy drugs are provided by the Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology pharmacy. These are for use within the Trust and also at chemotherapy outpatient clinics in district general hospitals across the region. The Trust has a dedicated day-case unit for the delivery of chemotherapy Delamere Day Case Unit. This facility is operated between 9am to 5pm Monday to Fridays, with specific times and days being allocated for different medical consultants. The Trust also has a ward of approximately 30 beds to provide in patient care seven days a week to patients undergoing chemotherapy. This ward, Sulby Ward, also provides the out-of-hours emergency contact point for day case patients from across the region if they are suffering acute ill effects from their chemotherapy. Diagnostic Imaging Services Many cancers are not visible on standard X-ray images, and it is often difficult to determine if other areas within the patient are involved a process known as staging. The Trust has modern facilities to image patients and provide information about their cancer. These include X-ray radiography and fluoroscopy, Computer Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Nuclear Medicine Imaging and Ultrasound. 6
Nursing and Rehabilitation Support Services Our nursing services include ward based nurses and other ward staff, chemotherapy nurses and phlebotomy staff, out-patient staff and theatre staff. We have a comprehensive cancer rehabilitation support team which includes specialist nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, dietetics and dedicated social work input. There is also a consultant in palliative medicine and liaison psychiatry service. The hospital has clinical nursing specialists in oncology, palliative care, lung cancer, chemotherapy and lymphoedema. Funding and support from Macmillan Cancer Relief has meant we have been able to set up a joint information service at Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology. This aims to provide easy access to information and support services. Supporting the clinical services provided by the Trust are highly skilled and motivated administrative teams, which are organised on a cross-directorate basis and include Medical Records, Finance, Human Resources, Executive Office, Patient Services and CET. These teams provide a vital service in the effective running of the hospital and the support of clinical activity, which in turn helps in the delivery of first class care to our patients. 7
Our vision for the future Service Development Strategy The Service Development Strategy demonstrates a future for Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology that is both financially and clinically viable and one in which public interest can be clearly be demonstrated. To deliver this future however, we must change, we must take account of the changes to the environment in which we operate and we must take full advantage of the new local accountability that a Foundation Trust hospital will bring. Delivering our future Cancer care is a rapidly changing service environment. Our organisation needs to be flexible and at the same time have systems and processes in place allowing adequate assessment of the potential developments or clinical changes. Plans for radiotherapy The radiotherapy service will demonstrate significant change over the next five years and it is anticipated that treatment numbers will rise. The radiotherapy department will implement a new structure, which includes the development of advanced practitioner and consultant practitioner roles. There is an opportunity for them to take over functions currently performed by consultant oncologists, such as review clinics. This is part of a broader corporate service plan to reduce the current level of work intensity for consultant staff. An additional linear accelerator has recently come on line, providing an additional 10 hours per day of treatment time. A linear accelerator replacement programme is built into capital expenditure plans at 10 years of age. A large number of cancer patients have to travel from the north of the Mersey to Wirral for treatment. To help improve travel time and patient experience we are in discussions with other NHS organisations in Merseyside about building a new 16m facility. Plans for chemotherapy Chemotherapy services are dependent on technical expertise for safe delivery and there is a national guidance directive that this service should be delivered from either a cancer centre or cancer unit. This has led to the centralisation of chemotherapy services to a centre like our own. However, in looking to the future we must prepare for increasing pressure from patients having and demanding choice regarding their treatment and care. 8
Following a review of services there are plans to develop a team based model that will deliver the services as closely to the patients as possible. We will be facilitating the development of nurse led services. Chemotherapy activity is expected to grow considerably over the next five years and the capacity to deliver this must be addressed. A new 1.7m pharmacy has been opened at the centre with sufficient physical capacity for the forecast activity growth. Plans for diagnostic imaging The Diagnostic Imaging Service needs to be responsive to the changing demands of referrers, for example the expectation that increased chemotherapy activity will translate into additional demand for imaging, particularly in Computer Tomography (CT). A new CT scanner with a multi slice facility will offer a greater quality of image and allow us to undertake certain procedures that we have not be able to do in the past. In order to provide a world class service, we want to be able to offer a PET: CT scanning facility (Positron Emission Tomography: Computer Tomography). The Trust has been identified as a preferred site for the installation of this equipment following the second wave independent sector procurement process. Information Technology plans will also see the delivery of a Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) into Diagnostic Imaging and into Radiotherapy treatments. Plans for research and development The Trust will continue to conduct high quality research, leading to an increased number of peer reviewed publications and presentations at national and international level. This will be achieved by: Collaboration with health service organisations, academic and commercial partners on regional and national programmes of research. Undertaking a key role in the development of an Academic Unit of Oncology at the University of Liverpool, leading to an increased collaboration and attraction of external funding. Applying for funding for a programme of biological optimisation in Radiotherapy, submitted by the Physics department. This will increase our ability to attract more commercial income through collaboration with commercial partners both in the radiotherapy field and the pharmaceutical industry. 9
Financing our future Under the developing Payment by Results regime the financial security of any hospital trust will depend crucially on its ability to contain costs within the income it generates from the operation of its legally binding contracts with commissioners. NHS Foundation Trusts benefit from their independence in deciding how best to deal with these pressures. It is recognised that the achievement of Foundation Trust status and the increasing financial pressures facing the local health economy will introduce new challenges in financial management with developments required in Trust Board reporting and a greater business focus on medium term business planning. 10
Staff facilities and benefits Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology offers a wide range of benefits from flexible working, to discounted sports facilities to financial discounts. Flexible working Job share policy Special leave policy Agenda for Change or medical and dental staff maternity leave regulations Career break opportunities Health Occupational Health/Counselling services Agenda for Change or medical and dental staff sick pay scheme NHS pension scheme No smoking policy Discounts Discounted joining fees at local leisure clubs Access to NHS discounts Access to Firtrees staff restaurant Other facilities Removal expenses policy (should be discussed at interview) Minimum 4 weeks annual leave increasing with length of service On site private nursery On site café On site shop Childcare voucher scheme Access to working family advisor Free car parking facilities Foundation Trust membership (all permanent staff automatically become a member) Employee Assistance Programme 11