Paediatric Anaesthetist – Emergency

Anaesthetist

COUNTRY
Uganda

REQUIRED LANGUAGES
English

TYPE OF CONTRACT
Paid – 6 months

NECESSARY REQUIREMENTS
Specialisation in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care; at least 5 years’ relevant professional experience; experience in general, orthopaedic trauma and paediatric surgical centres.

This role requires complete and autonomous management of critical patients in emergency situations and the provision of anaesthetic care perioperatively and in Intensive Care.

BACKGROUND AND ORGANISATION OF WORK

The international Anaesthetist is responsible for the clinical management of the Intensive Care Unit.

He/She will work as part of a team of international specialists – experts or in training – organising and carrying out the training of the local medical and health care staff in his/her area of responsibility, in collaboration with the international surgeons and the Medical Coordinator of the project. On occasion, a resident physician will be present to support clinical activity or research. The international Anaesthetist is responsible to the Medical Coordinator, who is in charge of the management and organisation of the project.

The main areas of work are:

• OPERATING THEATRES: 2-3 operating theatres for General Surgery (emergency and elective) and Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery based on the admissions criteria of the Centre;
• INTENSIVE CARE AND HIGH DEPENDENCY UNIT: 6-8 beds equipped according to the protocols in use and the resources available.

The international Anaesthetist is on-call 24/7, with days off decided according to clinical requirements. He/she will be involved in the care of all critical patients in the Emergency Department, hospital emergencies, and any patients requiring anaesthetic assistance during diagnostic or therapeutic clinical procedures (e.g. CT scan, E-FAST…). In carrying out these activities, the specialist works alongside and supervises the national anaesthetic technicians and personally manages the most complex cases.

DUTIES AND REPONSIBILITIES

All EMERGENCY international personnel is expected to know and follow the hospital admissions criteria, guidelines, protocols, and the diagnosis and treatment standards in use in the Centre, and to ensure the correct compilation of clinical records and statistics in both computer and paper formats.

The main duties and responsibilities of the international Anaesthetist are:

• management of anaesthetic procedures in the pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative phases, and in cases where anaesthetic assistance is required for diagnostic procedures;
• management of surgical and medical patients in Intensive Care;
• management of hospital emergencies (Emergency Department, Intensive Care, ward);
• safety checks and supervision of the maintenance of the ventilators (where present), monitors, infusion pumps and any other technological equipment used in anaesthesia;
• assistance in clinical research and record keeping as required by the scientific programmes of the specialist sector of the Medical Division of EMERGENCY.

Clinical activity and decisions regarding patient treatment must always be discussed and shared with the Medical Coordinator, national and international medical and surgical colleagues, and the national and international nursing personnel.

MANAGEMENT AND TRAINING OF LOCAL PERSONNEL

Clinical activities and patient care are always carried out alongside and in collaboration with local personnel, who thus benefit from training in the field. There is also provision for more specific teaching activities, managed by the international specialists, in accordance with the clinical protocols in use and as agreed with the Medical Coordinator.

CASELOAD AND EQUIPMENT

The technological level of the equipment present in the Centres is suited to the clinical and managerial protocols in use, and the level of professional autonomy of the national staff, with the aim of achieving – and sustaining – high standards of care. Diagnostic equipment, basic laboratory tests, technical and auxiliary services are always available.

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE IN PEDIATRIC SURGERY – UGANDA

In February 2017, the construction of the Centre of Excellence in Paediatric Surgery in Entebbe, Uganda begun and it will finish in 2020.

The Centre will offer free treatment of excellence in Paediatric Surgery; it will be a reference point for Ugandan patients and children with surgical needs (up to 15 years of age) from all over Africa. Entebbe Hospital will be the second structure of ANME (African Network of Medical Excellence), the “Health Network of Excellence in Africa” created in 2009 to develop free healthcare systems of excellence in the continent.

The Centre of Excellence in Paediatric Surgery will put into practice our healthcare model based on the principles of Equality, Quality and Social Responsibility (EQS). As confirmed by World Health Organization data, Uganda is still a long way from achieving the Millennium Goals on reducing child mortality.

40% of Uganda’s population is under 15 years old, but there are only 3 Paediatric Surgeons in the country for a population of 45 million. Infant mortality under 5 years of age is 55 children per 1,000 living at birth and 30% of deaths of patients over 5 years of age are due to lack of surgical treatment.

The hospital will have 72 beds, 3 operating theatres, a 6-bed paediatric intensive care unit and all the diagnostic and auxiliary services necessary for its operation, such as laboratory, blood bank, pharmacy, canteen, laundry.

Initially, the admission criteria will be as follows:

• General Paediatric Surgery;
• Paediatric Urology;
• The following are excluded in this first phase: Neonatal Surgery, Emergency and Trauma Surgery, Oncological Surgery and Specialist Paediatric Surgery.

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

• Medical degree, and current professional registration on the medical register of your Country of residence;
• specialisation and experience in Paediatric Anaesthesia and Intensive Care;