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Consultant Job Descriptions

NHS Consultant Interview Job DescriptionsThe consultant job description as well as the person specification are 2 vital documents that prospective candidates must read and fully understand prior to applying for an NHS Consultant position.

The job description is typically written by the clinical lead of the department whom are looking for a new consultant colleague. It has two main objectives. Firstly there is a functional component in advertising the specific details about the proposed consultant position and secondly it is there to put the department and trust in a favourable position in order to attract the best candidates.

Many departments have in house candidates and there is the believe that job descriptions are written to bias these candidates. I can assure you that this is not always the case. The department is looking for a long term colleague, one who is going to contribute the most
and add to the strengths of the department. Whilst an in house candidate is a safe bet, we as clinical directors are always excited to speak to interested candidates to see what quality is out there. I still hear colleagues of mine who are ex clinical director’s boast of appointing very successful colleagues whilst on “their watch”.

 
Oxford Medical runs weekly Oxford and London based Consultant Interview Courses. Small group sizes, individually focused to give you the best possible training.Optional video recorded performance analysis and free post course training including over 3 hours of video hot topic tutorials. This is why we are considered the best interview skills training company. Don't forget to prepare for the University Representative who may ask about teaching and medical education. Do you need to improve your medical education section of your CV? Have a look at our Teach the Teacher Courses. We can even provide management training on one of our medical management courses
 

The functional component of the job description is to convey information about the proposed position to those who may be interested in applying. You will see that the consultant job description typically covers the following categories:

 

Details about the Hospital, geographical area and population base:

  You may not have worked in the region or the hospital in question. Details in this section may include:
  1. What type of hospital it is, DGH/Teaching Hospital
  2. How many beds does the hospital has
  3. If the hospital has split sites or multiple locations for service delivery
  4. How many consultant episodes there were over the last 12 months
  5. Details on the surrounding population
  6. When the hospital was formed
  7. What the strengths or areas of expertise are
  8. If a tertiary referral centre where these patients typically come from

Details about the Department, the facilities and the type of work they perform:

In this section data may be presented outlining the infrastructure of the department, how many staff they have, what type of procedures they carry out and any recent business development that has occurred.

 

Details on clinical governance, audit, research and teaching:

Each department will have a set structure for the delivery of clinical governance, audit, research and teaching. This section will typically identify those with managerial responsibilities for each of these core components. The frequency of clinical governance and morbidity and mortality meetings will be outlined. The department will be responsible for the delivery of core competencies and assessment of its trainees and also will highlight any ongoing research activity. This is an important section for prospective applicants as they will be expected to contribute in one or all of the above areas. Details of those who are key stakeholders in these areas is presented and offers a good starting point for further discussion during your pre short listing or pre interview visits.

 

Management Hierarchy and Details of Current Consultants in the Department:

Each trust seems to have developed its own management hierarchy. For example this may be the typical service line structure or may involve the increasingly seen divisional management structure. Details of who currently works in the department is commonly published and areas of expertise are typically displayed.

 

Duties of the post holder:

The two main reasons for consultant recruitment are because of the retirement of a consultant or as a direct result of a business case and subsequent service expansion. The specific duties of the post will very much depend on the reason for the appointment. In the simple case of replacing a retired consultant the duties of the post may mirror those in the previous job plan. In the case of service expansion these duties and any areas of sub specialty expertise will depend on the specific service expansion in question.

In this section details of the post should be outlined. This should reflect the direct clinical care commitment, on call frequency and remuneration and other commitments to clinical governance, audit, teaching and research. Full details should be presented in the person specification which should also contain a job plan giving more details about the duties of the advertised position.

 

General Information:

In this section details or schooling, accommodation, relocation expenses and any additional benefit that may be available such as sporting or recreational facilities will be presented. It is typical that a name and contact number of a clinical director or lead who can be contacted
regarding further information about the position is given. This will be your next point of contact if you are interested.


 
Oxford Medical runs weekly Oxford and London based Consultant Interview Courses. Small group sizes, individually focused to give you the best possible training.Optional video recorded performance analysis and free post course training including over 3 hours of video hot topic tutorials. This is why we are considered the best interview skills training company. Don't forget to prepare for the University Representative who may ask about teaching and medical education. Do you need to improve your medical education section of your CV? Have a look at our Teach the Teacher Courses. We can even provide management training on one of our medical management courses
 


Pitfalls in Consultant Job descriptions:

  1. Clinical directors are busy people so it may be the case that they simply use the job description released for the last advertised job. If this was several years ago then the information may be out of date and not particularly relevant to the job in question. 
  2. The underlying reason for the post is not normally revealed in the job description. This will need to be explored during your pre short listing or pre interview visit.
  3. They may be misleading and not correctly advertise the job: This is a misnomer. Clinicians and the department are not out there to fool anyone into applying for a job that is advertised as a 10 PA contract only to be turned into a 12PA contract. Likewise the SPA component of it should be transparent and openly advertised. It will then be up to you to decide to apply for a post with an SPA allocation of 1.5 SPA’s instead of 2.5. If you are applying for an NHS Consultant interview and would like any of the above information explained in more detail one of our NHS consultants would be delighted to help you on any of our consultant interivew courses.

 

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