Senior Clinical Fellow in Viral Hepatitis

Senior Clinical Fellow in Viral Hepatitis

The availability of curative, well-tolerated treatments for chronic hepatitis C (HCV) comprising directly-acting antivirals (DAAs)has presented a historically unprecedented opportunity to eliminate this major public health threat. Subsequent roll-out of emergency department opt-out testing is identifying unprecedented numbers of patients with chronic hepatitis B and C infection at all three ED sites within the trust (Barnet Hospital, North Middlesex Hospital, Royal Free Hospital). In addition novel treatments for hepatitis D (Hepcludex) are starting to address this unmet need. The landscape of viral hepatitis management is therefore an exciting and evolving area for both those involved in delivering care and for patients.

The North Central London Hepatitis C Operational Delivery Network (ODN), part of the national HCV elimination programme, covers one of the highest HCV prevalence areas in the country. This includes populations of patients at high risk of infection or onward transmission. We have treated >5000 patients to date with DAAs and now run a predominantly community-based case-finding and treatment service. The Royal Free Hospital is the hub of this ODN and is increasingly taking on coordination of hepatitis B and D services across the region.

Main duties of the job

The Royal Free viral hepatitis service treats patients will all forms of viral hepatitis, runs a regional multidisciplinary meeting (MDM) and has close links with other hepatology services including liver transplantation and alcohol services. The viral hepatitis service and the ODN work together closely, with the shared aims of improving and widening care of patients with viral hepatitis.

It is emerging that the key barrier to elimination of viral hepatitis is patient engagement. Patients with hepatitis B and C experience multiple barriers to engagement which prevent accessing diagnosis and treatment through standard pathways.

The Viral Hepatitis Senior Clinical Fellow (SCF) will be responsible for developing new strategies to meet this challenge. The SCF will lead structured, multi-branched re-engagement and elimination initiatives .These will identify key bottlenecks in the assessment and treatment pathways, the key factors impeding progress and determine the best interventions to resolve these.

About us

The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK's biggest and most innovative trusts. Across three main hospitals, our dedicated army of staff care for over 1.6 million patients, treat more than 200,000 in A&E, deliver over 8,000 babies and carry out more than 17 million tests.

Our size, scale and influence offer you unrivalled career opportunities and a forward-thinking approach to working that works around your lifestyle. From flexible hours and generous benefits, to next level training, we make it easier to take your career to the top

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Job responsibilities

Reporting to the ODN and viral hepatitis service clinical leads for both educational and clinical supervision, they will be expected to work predominantly at the Royal Free Hospital but make occasional trips to other partner ODN Trusts and community treatment sites. The post holder will share managerial responsibility over a data-collection and coordinator team with the ODN manager and also clinical supervision of our clinician assistant outreach team.

A thorough understanding of viral hepatitis is required; thus, the successful applicant would contribute to outpatient clinical management of patients with viral hepatitis at the Royal Free liver unit and will attend the weekly viral hepatitis MDM.

The ODN and viral hepatitis service, in conjunction with the UCL Division of Medicine, has an active research interest with a good track record of presentations at national meetings. The post holder would be expected to contribute to this work.

The post begins in March 2026 for a two-year fixed-term contract. It would thus provide an ideal opportunity for a specialist trainee, post-MRCP core medical trainee or post-CCT fellow to establish the basis for a PhD or MD in the field of public health, infectious diseases, virology, hepatology and/or health service delivery.

An individualised programme of outpatient clinical sessions, research and audit will be agreed with the successful candidates to meet sub-specialist interests and training needs in a tertiary hepatology and liver transplant setting. Suitably experienced candidates will be able to participate in the hepatology on-call registrar rota.

Person Specification Qualifications

• Eligible for full registration with the GMC at time of appointment and hold a current license to practice
• MBBS (or equivalent)
• Membership of relevant Royal College or equivalent

Knowledge

• Appropriate level of clinical knowledge
• Shows knowledge of evidence-informed practice
• Shows awareness of own limitations
• Understanding of NHS, clinical governance & resource constraints

Organisation & Planning

• Ability to prioritize clinical need
• Ability to organise oneself & own work
• Experience and ability to work in multi professional teams
• Demonstrates understanding of the principles and importance of audit and research
• Research experience, presentations, publications, prizes and honors

Personal Skills

• COMMUNICATION & LANGUAGE SKILLS - The ability to communicate with clarity and intelligibility in written and spoken English; ability to build rapport, listen, negotiate
• DECISIVENESS/ ACCOUNTABILITY - Ability to take responsibility, show leadership, make decisions, exert appropriate authority
• INTERPERSONAL SKILLS - See patients as people, empathize, work co-operatively with others, open and non-defensive
• USES A NON-JUDGMENTAL APPROACH TO PATIENTS AND COLLEAGUES - regardless of their sexuality, ethnicity, disability, religious beliefs or financial status
• FLEXIBILITY - Able to change and adapt, respond to rapidly changing circumstances
• RESILIENCE - Able to operate under pressure, cope with setbacks, self aware
• THOROUGH - Well prepared, shows self discipline/commitment, is punctual and meets deadlines
• SHOWS INITIATIVE, DRIVE and ENTHUSIASM - Self-starter, motivated, shows curiosity, initiative
• PROBITY - Displays honesty, integrity, aware of ethical dilemmas, respects confidentiality

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.

£65,048 a yearper annum plus £2,162 London Weighting