Exceptional people, outstanding care
Dear Applicant,
Thank you for showing an interest in joining our growing oncology department (the Kent
Oncology Centre), providing oncology care to the population of Kent.
As newly-appointed Cancer Alliance Executive Lead for Kent and Medway and Chair of the
Elective Recovery Programme, my biggest priority is ensuring that our cancer patients have
access to a quality and equitable service across the region. As your prospective Chief
Executive, you can be assured that I, along with my colleagues on the Board, will be supporting
both you individually and the wider Kent Oncology Centre team to deliver exceptional care to
our patients and drive forward our oncology strategy.
I am truly passionate about improving our cancer outcomes, and we have made an incredible
start. Since 2019, we’ve become one of the top performing Trusts in the country, giving our
patients some of the fastest access to treatment in the entire country and going on to hit our
national cancer standards month by month throughout the pandemic.
We have come so far, but we need your help to take our oncology services to the next level.
You would be joining us at a key time when the opportunities to make a real difference for the
future have never been greater or so important. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a
challenging time for the whole NHS. Yet our people have taken the opportunity to think
differently and adapt to continue providing compassionate, inclusive high-quality care to
patients.
If you are compassionate, inclusive and innovative and are looking for a position that will
provide an opportunity to play an important and influential leadership role, not only within MTW
but across the wider health economy, to improve patient outcomes and experience in Kent, why
not get in touch? It would be great to hear from you.
Best wishes,
Miles Scott, Chief Executive Officer
Introduction from Chief
Executive Officer,
Miles Scott
Exceptional people, outstanding care
Introduction from Dr Henry Taylor (Chief of
Service), Katherine Goodwin (DDO),
and Charlotte Wadey (DDNQ)
Dear Applicant,
Thank you for your interest in working with us at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust in
the Kent Oncology Centre. Charlotte, Katie and I, along with Amanda (Williams), our Head of
Radiotherapy and Stephen (Duck), our Director of Medical Physics, are absolutely committed to
and passionate about multi-disciplinary working. We operate a clinically-led department that
puts frontline staff at the heart of decision making about our services. Should you be
successful, following our recruitment process, we look forward to welcoming you as a clinical
leader in our department. We hope to support your growth both individually and to the
betterment of our patients and services.
In recent years, we have become one of the leading cancer centres in the country, consistently
reaching our cancer performance targets month after month. To achieve this, our cancer
services team has overhauled our approach, with a huge focus on putting patients and staff
first. They’ve implemented a range of patient-centred, effective improvements, and new
pathways that have enabled us to make high quality and sustainable changes to the way we
deliver care and treatment. We have maintained chemotherapy and radiotherapy provisions
throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst consistently maintaining our ‘super green’ status as
a centre.
But we want to go even further; by dedicating time and resources to developing our trainees,
doubling the number of registrars in the division, bringing in many new CNSs and growing our
own nursing and radiography consultants, our consultants are more supported than ever. We
will strive to support you in every way we can. There is always more to do, both in-house and
regionally, to improve the care we provide to our patients. However, we can’t do this without an
effective team, and we very much hope to have you as a part of this.
As part of our team, we will work closely with you
to provide mentorship, support and progression in
your role, from allowing you the time and resources
to undertake your own research and alongside our
developing research department, to supporting you
to pursue teaching and charitable interests, to
building a flexible job plan to suit your personal
circumstances - we sincerely look forward to
welcoming you on board.
Our Warmest Wishes,
Dr Henry Taylor (CoS and Clinical Lead for
Kent and Medway Cancer Alliance), Katherine
Goodwin (DDO), and Charlotte Wadey (DDNQ)
Exceptional people, outstanding care
Job Description
Introduction
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust was formed
in April 2000. It consists of two District General
Hospitals based at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells
providing services to approximately 450,000 people
living in Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, East Sussex and
the surrounding areas.
Its major hospitals are The Tunbridge Wells Hospital at
Pembury near Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone Hospital
in Barming. The Kent Oncology Centre in West Kent is
based at Maidstone Hospital and in East Kent is based
at Kent and Canterbury Hospital. These services form
an integral part of Kent’s Cancer Services.
The post holder will join our team of medical and clinical
oncologists to take major interests across preferred
tumour sites, and providing Oncology services across
the whole of Kent. We also have a well-established
oncology research department, providing the opportunity
for the post holder to run and develop clinical trials.
As a member of the Kent Oncology Centre there will be
a commitment to participate fully in a Kent wide
approach to the delivery of cancer care. This includes
attendance at governance meetings, multi-disciplinary
team meetings and the practice of cross-referral with
other site specialists.
POST
Full Time (10 sessions) Consultant in
Clinical/Medical Oncology
Cancer Division
Consultant
Maidstone Hospital (Hermitage Lane, Barming)
and/or Kent and Canterbury Hospital (Ethlbert
Road, Canterbury)
DIVISION
Exceptional people, outstanding care
Job Plan (Pending College Approval)
A clinical oncologist job plan will include these core elements (10 PAs):
- Three standard clinics
- At least one PA of radiotherapy planning time
- Two SPAs
- MDT attendance for the relevant tumour sites and correlating administrative time
We aim to offer a supportive and flexible working pattern, which fits around your lifestyle and commitments:
- Working from home and utilising digital platforms to accommodate virtual working for admin time
and/or virtual clinics (Telephone Clinics / Attend Anywhere Platform)
- Undertaking evening or weekend clinics and admin time to offer flexibility in working days
- Peer mentoring through the wider trust programme and internally through our current consultant
workforce. All new members of the team will be supported by a substantive consultant during the
first year in the role
- Weekly tumour site specific peer review meetings with Oncology consultants
- Opportunity to develop joint specialist clinics and peer-working with other Oncology consultants
- Supporting and developing individual specialist interests including research, leadership and
educational responsibilities
Below include examples of flexible clinical oncologist job plans (10PAs):
Monday – Friday (illustrative)
Day Mon (Virtual)
Tues (Virtual/On-
site)
Wed (On-site / Virtual)
Thurs (Virtual)
Fri (Virtual)
am 09:00 – 13:00 SPA
09:00-13:00 SPA
09:00 – 13:00 Clinic
09:00 – 13:00
(Virtual)
Clinic
09:00 – 13:00
RT Planning
pm 13:00 -17:00 Admin
13:00 – 17:00 Flexible Clinic
13:00 – 17:00 Admin
13:00 – 17:00
MDT /
Admin
13:00 – 17:00 Admin
Exceptional people, outstanding care
Evening and Weekend working (illustrative and days can be discussed on an individual basis)
Day Mon (Virtual /
On-site)
Tues (Virtual /
On-site)
Weds (Virtual /
On-site)
Thurs
Fri
Sat (Virtual
/On-site)
Sun
Am
09:00 – 13:00
RT Planning
09:00 – 13:00
SPA
09:00 – 12:00
Admin
09:00 – 13:00
(Virtual) Clinic
Pm 13:00 -17:00
MDT / Admin
13:00 – 17:00
Clinic
12:00 – 16:00
SPA
13:00 – 17:00
Admin
Evening 17:00 –
20:00 Admin
17:00 –
19:00 Admin
16:00 –
20:00 Evening
Clinic
On-call duties covering Oncology at Maidstone Hospital (with telephone support to other hospitals in East and West Kent) 1:26 attracting on call supplement 0.5% by local agreement. Time off in lieu will be granted in the event of
needing to attend the hospital during the weekend on call period.
The job plan is subject to annual review, which is the responsibility of the Directorate Clinical Director. This may be changed according to the needs of the service and subject to consultation with colleagues.
Exceptional people, outstanding care
The Kent Oncology Centre, receives approximately
8,000 new patients every year and increasing, and is
within the top 25% of Trusts in the UK for cancer waiting
times, meeting the 85% 62-day national standard
consistently since August 2019, and our 2-week-wait
target since September 2019. The Centre has an
income of circa £50m and is home to a custom designed
department at Maidstone which opened in April 1993
and dedicated radiotherapy and outpatient facilities at
Canterbury as part of the main District General Hospital,
which was upgraded in 2012.
Our chemotherapy units, based at Maidstone and
Tunbridge Wells Hospitals, work alongside a dedicated
cancer pharmacy and aseptics unit and are run by our
experienced chemotherapy nursing team.
Due to recent Health Education England (HEE) Funding
we have been able to purchase five new state of the art
Varian Trubeam Linear Accelerators across the Kent
Oncology Centre. Over the 2 sites we have 9 Linear
Accelerator Treatment Machines and 3 CT Planning
Simulators. Many of our services are Radiographer led
and we also benefit from having a Consultant
Radiographer on the Canterbury site and the Maidstone
site.
The Treatment Radiographers have all been adopted by
Macmillan and we have a Macmillan Information Centre
on the Maidstone site and are supported on both sites
by Macmillan Specialist Radiographers and Macmillan
Support Workers. The Treatment Radiographers have
all been adopted by Macmillan and we have a
Macmillan Information Centre on the Maidstone site and
are supported on both sites by Macmillan Specialist
Radiographers and Macmillan Support Workers
Kent Oncology Centre
The Kent Oncology Centre is located at Maidstone
Hospital and at the Kent & Canterbury Hospital in
Canterbury. The Kent Cancer Network is a
network of Cancer Units across Kent and parts of
East Sussex, which provide District General
Hospital based cancer care. These are as follows
(please see map):-
1) Medway Hospital (Medway Maritime NHS Trust)
2) Darent Valley Hospital (Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust)
3) Kent and Canterbury Hospital (East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust)
4) Maidstone Hospital (Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust)
5) Tunbridge Wells Hospital at Pembury (Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust)
6) Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital (East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust)
7) William Harvey Hospital (East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust)
Exceptional people, outstanding care
What can we offer you?
At MTW, we recognise that our staff are our most valuable
asset and we provide a range of benefits to support them
and throughout their career and time with us.
As well as this, we offer a ‘Relocation Package’, whereby up
to £8000 of financial support is available to enable successful
candidates to accept an offer of substantive employment with
the Trust which requires them to relocate their home address
to the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells area. Relocation
expenses may be payable to the successful candidate
providing eligibility criteria is met. This will be discussed with
short-listed candidates during their interview.
Pay related
Up to a 12 months
sickness benefit
and adoption pay
NHS Pension Scheme
Ill health retirement benefit
Total Reward Statement (TRS)
(via salary sacrifice)
Health related
service
Flu and COVID vaccination
scheme
Fast track physio referrals
clinical services
Health and wellbeing checks
including counselling for staff and
families
support in-house
Physical
Free refreshments
On-site canteens
Night café coming soon
Breakout areas
Staff picnic areas
Free car parking
Tonbridge station and
Tunbridge Wells Hospital
On-site Library
Film club
Cycle to work scheme
Long Service Awards
Employee and Team of the
Month Awards
Staff Star Awards
Development
focussed
Programme
of
Staff
Leadership Development
management
Opportunities
Wide range of Apprenticeships
Annual Staff Appraisal
Personal Development Plans
Equity and inclusive
Staff Network for B.A.M.E
staff, staff who identify as LGBT+,
health
conditions and carers and senior
women leaders network
Freedom to speak up guardians
Safe space champions
Early conflict resolution offerings
NHS Staff Discounts
discounts
Discounted Gym
Memberships
Exceptional people, outstanding care
Why Kent?
It’s no secret that many jobs require you to be in the hustle and bustle of London but there comes a time
when this is less attractive. We hope by taking the space to reflect on a slower paced life during the
pandemic, it has encouraged you to trade in the concrete jungle for rolling farmland, engulfing
woodlands, charming coastal towns and delightful hidden pubs.
However, if you’re not quite ready to cut ties yet, Kent has excellent transport links to London, the rest of
the UK and beyond; even if you’re 100km away, the abundance of train lines will have you to the capital
in 40 minutes, and even to France in under 2 hours. The M20, running parallel with Maidstone Hospital,
connects Kent to the rest of the UK with ease.
Maidstone is one of the many towns in Kent, with the River Medway running through the heart and
home to some of the best shopping, food and drink establishments.
Of course, Canterbury hosts the beautiful Canterbury Cathedral and many of the countries’ best sporting
grounds.
And Tunbridge Wells is one of the oldest and most sophisticated boroughs within the county, home to
excellent theatres, eateries and its famous spa discovered in 1604.
We recognise relocating impacts the whole family, so it’s important to note that Kent is home to some of
the top schools in the country, boasting top tier private, state and grammar schools. If you’re looking to
give your children the best start in life and have a wide range of options, you’ll struggle to do better than
Kent. Notwithstanding higher education, the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University
continue to place highly in the national rankings.
The combination of the connectivity, beautiful surroundings and outstanding schools makes Kent the
perfect place for a family home and to embark on a new challenge in your career.
Exceptional people, outstanding care
Research
MTW NHS Trust have an exciting research programme with plans to grow and expand to capitalise on new and existing opportunities in
the Kent and Medway region. The research department is made up of more than 60 dedicated staff and recruits around 3000
patients a year to clinical studies across 24 different specialities. The trust benefits from being in close proximity to academic partners such as The University of Kent and the new Kent
and Medway Medical School (KMMS).
A joint research collaborative is in the early
phases of development and MTW are playing a prominent role in this endeavour. The aim is to link acute hospital trusts with academic partners,
community health trusts, mental health trusts and public health providers. Kent as a region also benefits from integrated datasets for health and social research covering the healthcare
records of more than 2 million people. In addition, as part of the local research network, MTW collaborate with Surrey, Sussex and Kent,
as well as working with a number of London Trusts, including Guys and St Thomas’s NHS
Foundation
Our research department have recently revised their research strategy for the next five years with
particular focus on:
• supporting our clinicians in developing
investigator led clinical research; • cancer clinical trials (as one of the leading
and top performing cancer providers in the
south-east); • working with the medical school to provide
research opportunities for students; and
• developing a tissue bank for the region.
We have a large, diverse portfolio of studies and currently have research teams in Breast, Lung,
Upper GI and Colorectal, Urology, Gynaecology, Haematology/Lymphoma, Melanoma and Radiotherapy. Our Radiotherapy research team is
the biggest dedicated team in Kent, Surrey and Sussex and are still actively recruiting, with support from our in-house expert medical physics
team.
We have studies open that are interventional and observational, as well as studies that look into genetic profiling. Within
radiotherapy, we are also undertaking SABAR trials. We have a large number of clinicians that support oncology research trials within various
specialities. We are also very excited that some of our clinicians have been supported by the Research and Development team to obtain
substantial grants to undertake their own research projects. These grants, most recently from Breast Cancer Now and the NIHR i4i programme for the SENTINUS and LiSENUS studies respectively
have brought in more than £300,000 of own
account funding.
We know that our ability to provide outstanding
care to our patients hinges on our being at the forefront of cutting-edge treatments. Our ambition is for research to be a routine component of the
care we provide to our patients. We look forward to you joining us at MTW, wholeheartedly supporting you in your research journey and welcoming you to our ever-growing research
community – exceptional people providing
outstanding care.
Exceptional people, outstanding care
PERSONAL SPECIFICATION –
CONSULTANT CLINICAL ONCOLOGIST
Requirements Essential Desirable
EDUCATION
• Full GMC registration
• FRCR Entry on the Specialist Register as a clinical oncologist or eligibility for
entry within 6 months of the date of the advisory appointments committee
• Higher qualification in Medicine
• Research degree (MD/PhD)
• Clinical Experience in relevant tumour sites
• Clinical experience in Gynae brachytherapy
• Clinical experience in SABR
EXPERIENCE • Clinical Training and
experience equivalent to that
required for gaining UK CCT in specialty.
• Ability to take full and independent responsibility for clinical care of patients
• Experience in Clinical Audit and Research
• Experience in medical education
SKILLS
• Enthusiasm for developing tumour site specialisation and Cancer Services in Kent.
• Ability to organise and manage
• An interest and a capacity to teach and learn from members of the multidisciplinary team
• Dedication to maintaining and developing the cancer care group in co-operation with other hospital
departments.
• Staff management: delegating, appraisal of performance, dealing with poor performance, coaching and motivating.
PERSONAL • Ability to work in a team
• Good interpersonal skills
• Caring attitude to patients
• Commitment to continuing medical education
• An awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses