About this role
Job summary
The Cardiac Physiology departments at Colchester and Ipswich Hospitals are seeking an exceptional Principal Cardiac Physiologist to provide strategic, clinical and operational leadership for our Cardiac Physiology services. Managing these services across the Trust, this is a pivotal senior role responsible for leading workforce planning, service performance and clinical quality across all cardiac physiology modalities, ensuring safe, efficient and patient-centred care.You will act as the clinical expert in a specialist area while overseeing the wider teams' day-to-day service delivery, performance against national standards, and the development of innovative, future-focused models of care. You will lead and inspire a multidisciplinary team, drive service improvement programmes, and ensure compliance with accreditation, governance and quality frameworks.The successful candidate will bring extensive senior cardiac physiology experience, proven leadership capability, and specialist accreditation (BSE, BHRS/IBHRE or equiv). You will be confident managing large teams, resolving complex clinical and operational challenges, supporting workforce development, and delivering measurable performance outcomes, including diagnostic waiting time standards (DM01).This is an outstanding opportunity to shape the future of cardiac diagnostics within a progressive and ambitious organisation committed to clinical excellence, innovation and staff development.
Interviews w/c 8th June
Main duties of the job
The Principal Cardiac Physiologist is responsible for the strategic, operational and clinical leadership of the Cardiac Physiology services at the Colchester and Ipswich Hospital sites. This is a pivotal role that oversees daily Trust-wide workforce planning, ensuring suitable staffing levels to meet service demand across all cardiac physiology modalities.
The post holder will:
Be the clinical expert in at least one specialist area of cardiac physiology (echocardiography or devices). Lead the organisation, management and performance of all aspects of Cardiac Physiology services. Be accountable for the successful delivery of the DM01 standard relating to Echocardiograhpy. Drive service improvement, innovation and development, ensuring high-quality, safe, efficient and patient-centred service delivery. Provide professional leadership, workforce planning and training oversight for all cardiac physiology staff. Ensure the service operates within available resources while meeting clinical & operational delivery targets, quality standards and national guidelines.
About us
We are ESNEFT and we provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients' own homes.
We are one of the largest NHS organisations in England, employing more than 12,000 staff.
We pride ourselves on supporting our staff. We offer a wide range of training and development opportunities, as well as flexible working options.
Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.
Our philosophy is that Time Matters to everyone. Across the Trust, we concentrate on improving the things we do and removing those which cause time delays for our staff and patients.
We are investing in our commitment to Time Matters with a partnership with leading electronic patient record (EPR) supplier Epic. This digital transformation will bring what's widely regarded as the world's best EPR system to ESNEFT, transforming life in hospital for staff and patients.
If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge, then we want to hear from you.
Find out about living and working here - www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkPu7HphU8A
Job description Job responsibilities
For full details of the responsibilities and duties of this role please see the attached job description.
Person Specification
Experience Essential
Extensive experience as a senior cardiac physiologist working independently in advanced areas of cardiac physiology Demonstrable experience supervising and supporting junior physiology staff Experience leading and coordinating daily service delivery Evidence of leading or contributing to service improvement, applying evidence-based practice and implementing change Proven experience in problem-solving and managing unexpected or complex clinical or operational issues with minimal supervision
Desirable
Experience in project management, service redesign or implementation of new pathways/technology Experience managing or contributing to accreditation compliance (e.g., BSE, BHRS, UKAS frameworks) Experience contributing to research, audit or quality improvement programmes Experience participating in or supporting an on-call rota (e.g., PCI or device)
Qualifications Essential
AHCS/HCPC registration or equivalent BSc in Cardiac physiology or equivalent Specialist accreditation in echocardiography (BSE) or cardiac devices, (BHRS/IBHRE) or equivalent high-level knowledge skills and experience Evidence of ongoing CPD relevant to cardiac physiology and leadership
Desirable
Intermediate or Advanced Life Support Formal teaching or lecturing experience for senior clinical or medical staff Post graduate qualification in leadership, healthcare management or education
Knowledge Essential
Excellent organisational and time-management skills, with the ability to prioritise and meet deadlines under pressure Strong understanding of clinical governance, audit, quality assurance and data accuracy Ability to develop, implement and review clinical policies, procedures and training programmes Ability to apply a fair, consistent and objective approach to managing staff and service issues High level of technical competence in relevant specialist area (echo or devices) Ability to communicate effectively with staff at all levels and across professional groups Knowledge of budget management, procurement processes or resource planning
Desirable
Understanding of wider cardiac network pathways and external service pressures
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.
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 East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
Address Ipswich Hospital
Ipswich
IP4 5PD
Employer's website https://www.esneft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)