Clinical Fellow in Quality Improvement for the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre.

Salary - Pay scales for junior doctors in England up to ST5 (£40,257 to £51,017, plus London weighting) in a full-time position or from ST6 to ST8 (£58,298 pro rata plus London weighting) in a part-time position, depending on qualifications and experience.

Contract Type – Full/part- time, fixed term initially until 30 September 2025 with expectation that it will be extended.

Location – Clinical Effectiveness Unit – National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre (NATCAN), based at the Royal College of Surgeons of England and supported by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). The post is available for remote working at any UK location, to be discussed upon appointment. However, there is any expectation that post holders attend RCS Eng regularly for in person meetings.

About the role
This post offers a unique role to work within the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre (NATCAN). NATCAN is a new national centre of excellence overseeing the 10 National Cancer Audits in England and Wales aiming to strengthen NHS cancer services by looking at treatments and patient outcomes across the NHS. NATCAN is the largest centre evaluating cancer services in the UK, with 30 staff members, employed at the RCS or the LSTHM, from a wide range of backgrounds (medicine, statistics, epidemiology, data science, quality improvement, project management).

The successful candidate will work in partnership with the Clinical Director of NATCAN, the Director of Operations and the NATCAN Executive team. The main roles will include the strategic mapping of current quality improvement initiatives in the UK across the nine cancers and all three main treatment modalities (surgery, radiotherapy and systemic therapy) which NATCAN evaluates, the evaluation and potential development of quality improvement methodologies that can be translated across the cancer audits as well as supporting the individual cancer audit teams with supporting the development and implementation of their individual quality improvement plans.

A particular focus will be on the four new cancers which have recently started (Kidney, Pancreatic, Ovarian and Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma) with close working with the existing breast, bowel, prostate, oesophago-gastric and lung cancer teams. The Audit uses very rich linked national datasets which include all newly diagnosed patients in the NHS in England and Wales and uses performance indicators to identify variation in the quality of care which forms the basis for quality improvement. An exciting innovation is that NATCAN will receive quarterly cancer data updates. This will reduce the time lag between patients receiving care and audit feedback to six months, which will inform quality improvement initiatives that aim “to close the audit cycle”.

You will work in a vibrant audit and research environment, putting you at the heart of a national team that plays a key role in improving the care that patients with cancer receive in England and Wales. It will provide you with the opportunity to contribute to high-profile peer-reviewed papers, which could lead to obtaining a PhD. The PhD research will aim to strengthen the relevance and robustness of the Audit’s outputs. It will study determinants of variation in practice and outcomes, develop methods for quality assessment, and evaluate the impact of quality improvement initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Analysing rich national linked cancer databases.
• Working with professional bodies, royal colleges and senior national clinical leads to develop quality improvement initiatives.
• Engaging with cancer alliances, integrated care boards and local Trusts to support implementation.
• Reporting results of the NATCAN quality improvement initiatives in reports and papers for peer-reviewed publications.
• Presenting findings at conferences.
• Liaising with professional bodies, charities and other stakeholders in order to publicise and support the work of NATCAN.

About you

We are looking for applicants with:

• Clinical experience in in a relevant discipline - Surgical/ Medical / Clinical Oncology.
• Passed a Membership/ Fellowship exam of a relevant Royal College.
• Experience in delivering quality improvement initiatives, locally, regionally or nationally.
• Good numeracy.
• Excellent verbal and written communication.
• Good organisational abilities.
• Research experience is an advantage but further training in research methods and statistical analysis will be provided.

About us
The Royal College of Surgeons of England is one of the best-known professional membership organisations in the world, with a name and reputation that speak for excellence in the UK and across the globe. We provide education, assessment and development to nearly 30,000 surgeons, dental surgeons and members of the wider surgical and dental teams at all stages of their career; we set professional standards, facilitate research and champion world-class surgical outcomes for patients.

The National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre (NATCAN) sits within the Clinical Effectiveness Unit (CEU), based at the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

What we can offer you

• 27 days paid holiday + bank holidays and up to 4 college closure days.
• Flexible working.
• Enhanced contributory pension scheme & other leave entitlements.
• Variety of learning and development opportunities.
• Wellbeing programme & Employee Assistance Scheme.

Interested Candidates:

Download the job description (available on the college's website, accessed by the 'Apply' button).

Watch this video  to find out more about the role of Clinical Fellow. Kate Walker, Professor & Audit Lead Methodologist, talks about the role and the opportunities it brings to the successful candidate on the basis of experience in National Bowel Cancer Audit.

If you have any questions about this position please contact [email protected] .

If you wish to apply please email your CV together with a cover letter addressing how you meet each of the criteria in the Personal Specification to [email protected] .

Any personal data collected from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us in accordance with our recruitment processes. If unsuccessful in your application, your information will be held by us on our database for a period of 6 months before deletion. If you would like your information removed sooner, please contact [email protected] .

Closing date: 20.03.24

The Royal College of Surgeons of England is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We are open to all talent, and we actively ensure that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regards to race/ethnicity, nationality, religion, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age and disability.

The Royal College of Surgeons of England is committed to protecting your privacy. We are registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). All College employees are responsible for records held, created and used as part of their work for the College including patient/client, corporate and administrative records. Records are managed according to the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 and ensure confidentiality. The College ensures that staff are trained to handle the information you submit to us with care and discretion, seeking advice where necessary.