Job description

Job responsibilities

• The post holder will work closely with the Head of Audiology and Clinical Leads to ensure the delivery of high-quality patient care. This role involves mainly working within the Adult Hearing Service carrying out routine and complex audiological assessment and rehabilitation.
• The postholder will take primary responsibility for leading one or more clinical areas of practice.
• There is line managerial responsibility for more junior members of the department.
• The post holder will play a key role in maintaining governance within their area, and continual service improvement.
• The post holder will work as an independent advanced clinical audiologist routinely undertaking the following tasks in close collaboration with the senior leadership team as appropriate:o Responsible for line management of members of the Audiology team , to include appraisals, personal and career development, sickness absence, disciplinary and grievance matters, performance management and health and safety.
• Take primary responsibility for leading one or more clinical areas of practice as agreed with the Head of Service / Clinical Lead.
• Support the Senior Leadership Team to provide a seamless, unified high-quality audiology service.
• Assist in ensuring that professional and clinical standards are maintained.
• With other staff at this level, provide first-line management of the clinic on a day-today basis, ensuring staffing and patients are appropriately accounted for.
• Participate in the development of policies and procedures applicable to the service.
• Undertake full audiological assessment of patients, to include complex and nonroutine cases such as those with multiple disabilities and severe communication difficulties.
• Analyse test results and other assessment data to determine differential diagnosis, the need for medical opinion and/or to decide on treatment options.
• Develop, arrange and implement individual treatment plans for patients in both highly complex and routine cases.
• For routine and complex cases select, programme and evaluate hearing aids for patients to include the provision of specialist audiological and related services.
• Liaise with a large multidisciplinary team of professionals within the department and wider service structure to ensure that each patient receives a high quality and well-co-ordinated service which satisfies the Patient Charter Standards, national professional standards and the Childrens Act.
• Record clinical observations and test results, maintaining database entries of clinical findings.
• Prepare audiological reports containing findings on assessment and review, with recommendations and advice based on clinical observations, assessment and knowledge for other professional colleagues and patients.
• Act as a point of contact for less experienced staff, in particular for complex and non-routine cases.
• Support new staff during a preceptorship period, and ongoing support/ mentorship of staff within the service to develop their skills and experience,
• Lead, support and actively participate in service change programmes in line with local and national service development.
• Coordinate and participate actively in service monitoring, evaluation and audit.
• Support and lead in areas of research, audit and development within the department, becoming actively involved at a level considered appropriate by the Trust and within their role.
• Responsible for maintaining CPD to maintain registration.
• The post holder will undertake any other duties that may reasonably be required.

Person Specification

Qualifications & Education

Essential

• BSc in Audiology or equivalent
• Completed relevant professional training (e.g. Audiology Practitioner Training Programme, BAAT part 1 & 2, STP or CAC)
• Registered with the AHCS as a Clinical Physiologist/Audiologist, or HCPC as a Clinical Scientist

Desirable

• MSc in Audiology
• STP in audiology or HTS specialist modules
• Management qualification or experience
• Mentorship qualification
• British Sign language qualification
• Membership of BSA/BAA

Knowledge & Experience

Essential

• Advanced theoretical and practical knowledge as required for a specialist area of audiology service (through clinical experience and study of MSc-level modules or equivalent, for example)
• Comprehensive experience as a Senior Audiologist including specialist audiology assessment, and rehabilitation, working with a complex patient caseload
• Experience of training others, and supporting/mentoring staff with developing their skills and knowledge
• Experience of service development and audit projects
• Evidence of commitment to continuous professional and personal development

Desirable

• Experience of developing and implementing research proposals
• Experience of working independently in outlying clinics

Skills & Abilities

Essential

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to include ability to communicate with the hearing impaired and carers in emotional states
• Proven leadership skills with experience of service change and practice development
• Ability to work effectively in multi-disciplinary teams, collaborating effectively with colleagues across the Trust to successfully lead on and implement service improvement and pro-actively and positively contributing to a good team culture
• Excellent time management and organisational skills including keeping clinical records up to date and the ability to work under pressure, meeting deadlines and prioritising workloads
• Excellent written skill including clinical documentation
• Excellent presentation skills
• Ability to make judgements involving complex facts which require the analysis, interpretation and comparison of a range of options
• Good level of IT skills to include Microsoft Office and electronic patient records

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Freeman Hospital

317 01 Freeman Hospital

NE7 7DN

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://careers.nuth.nhs.uk/why-us (Opens in a new tab)