Genetic Counsellor

Job description

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain's leading healthcare providers.

The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation.

Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.

Barts Health supports the Pregnancy Loss Pledge and commits to supporting their staff through the distress of miscarriage.

We are dedicated to being an outstanding place to work and will work with you to get the best experience. We know flexible working is not a one size fits all and will mean something different to everyone. We are inclusive, so if you are interested in flexible working, please speak to the recruiting manager.

Job overview

The Barts Inherited Cardiac Conditions (ICC) team is looking to recruit a motivated Genetic Counsellor to join our dynamic team. The post-holder will work closely and collaboratively with all members of the multidisciplinary team to provide exemplary care to patients with cardiomyopathies and complex medical needs. Prior experience in cardiac genetics is desirable but not essential.
The post-holder will work autonomously to manage their own caseload to deliver gold-standard, person-centred genetic counselling to a diverse cohort patients and their families. Applicants must have excellent communication, organisational and time management skills.
As one of the country's leading specialist cardiac centres, aiming to be at the forefront of care provision and service design, it is expected that the post-holder will work closely with both regional and national specialist genetic counsellors from other Trusts, as well as participate in local multidisciplinary team meetings and third-sector organisations.
The successful candidate will embody the Trust's WeCare values and these will shape their everyday working.

For further information please contact:
Rebecca Mercaldi - [email protected]

Main duties of the job

The aim of this service is to provide genetic counselling for patients with cardiovascular conditions, primarily focusing on inherited cardiomyopathies. The post holder will provide appropriate testing for patients and their relatives, adhering to national testing criteria. Applicants must be able to deliver patient and family centered care, whilst ensuring adequate follow-up, documentation and risk management.

In addition to direct patient care, applicants are expected to contribute to the development of the field of cardiac genetics. The post-holder will participate in research and it's dissemination, by contributing to both publication and education. Thereby, furthering MDT knowledge and understanding of this fascinating group of conditions and, therefore, improving patient care.

Working for our organisation

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain's leading healthcare providers.

Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• MSc or STP in Genetic Counselling
• Evidence of continuing professional development

Desirable criteria

• Certified/registered Genetic Counsellor

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of genetic counselling clinics
• Experience of maintaining accurate and contemporaneous documentation

Desirable criteria

• Cardiology experiencec
• Teaching and mentoring experience
• Experience of taking part in research and audit
• Experience in caring for young adults and patients transitioning from paediatric services

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Comprehensive understanding of provision of genetric counselling in the outpatient setting
• Understanding of current professional issues related to NHS genetics services.
• Willingness to develop knowledge of cardiac genetics

Desirable criteria

• Understanding of the role of genetic counselling for inpatients
• Understanding of the commonly seen cardiac genetic mutations

Skills

Essential criteria

• Perform the core duties of a genetic counsellor and demonstrate therapeutic counselling
• Ability to assess, evaluate and implement current evidence from a variety of high quality sources
• Exemplary organisational skills
• Ability to work autonomously and manage competing priorities to deliver care in a timely manner
• Excellent communication skills with patients, families and staff; both verbal and written.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills, working with the MDT to ensure gold-standard care delivery
• Independent problem solving skills
• Competent IT skills, to include MS office, Trust systems and pedigree software

Desirable criteria

• Experience of participation in service and quality
• Improvement projects
• Experience of contribution to maintaining clinical governance procedures

Visa Sponsorship Information

This role is subject to UK immigration requirements. Where sponsorship is required, applicants must meet the eligibility criteria for a Skilled Worker visa in accordance with current UK Visas and Immigration rules, including any salary, qualification, and role-specific requirements applicable at the time of appointment. Candidates who require sponsorship will only be considered where the post is eligible and where all sponsorship criteria can be met. Evidence of the right to work in the UK will be required before appointment. Please note that for roles employed under Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions, the High-Cost Area Supplement (HCAS) is not included when calculating the basic salary for the purposes of sponsorship.

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment where staff treat one another with dignity and respect. We aim to create an equitable working environment where every individual can fulfil their potential.

As an Equal Opportunities Employer we actively support applications from individuals' who apply under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme and will process your application as appropriate.

We reserve the right to expire vacancies prior to the advertised closing date once a sufficient number of applications has been received and we regret that we are unable to provide notification if your application is unsuccessful.

After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs.

By applying for this post you are agreeing to Barts Health NHS Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Barts Health is committed to safeguarding the welfare of children and to child protection. The Trust aims to ensure as far as is possible that anyone, paid or unpaid, who seeks to work in our organisation and who gains access to children, is safe to do so. As such, you may be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Check as part of the recruitment process if appointed to a post with direct access to children or vulnerable adults.

Barts Health promotes active travel as part of its goal to reach Net Zero. Each site is accessible by public transport and the Trust has a cycle to work scheme and some sites have Brompton Hire Pods.

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