Senior Clinical Fellow in Robotic Oesophagogastric Surgery

Applications are invited for a Post-CCT Senior Clinical Fellow post in Robotic Oesophago-gastric Surgery based in Queen Alexandra Hospital part of Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust. This is a 12 month post available from October 1st 2025.

The post holder will primarily be responsible for the day-to-day care of the patients on the Upper Gastrointestinal and General Surgery Unit which has 6 full-time Consultants 3 Senior Specialist Registrars 3 Core Trainees 4 Foundation Year Trainees 5 clinical Nurse Specialists 2 surgical care practitioners 2 research fellows and a specialist Dietician. The successful candidate will be involved with all aspects of the elective and emergency work of this team and will share responsibilities with the registrars. The successful candidate will also take part in the general surgical on-call consultant rota with 2-3 nights per month (non-resident) on call. Apart from extensive robotic exposure the successful candidate will deliver a fortnightly day-case list perform a fortnightly benign upper GI clinic prepare and attend the weekly cancer MDT attend the weekly cancer clinic and partake and lead on ward rounds.

This post offers opportunities for significant operative experience of resectional oesophagogastric benign upper gastrointestinal and abdominal wall surgery with a particular focus on robotic surgery. The post is supported by the Royal College of Surgeons of England in the context of a senior clinical fellowship. The successful candidate is expected to become independent in benign robotic upper GI surgery at the end of the Fellowship but will also be involved in oncological resections. The Unit performs around 60 resections in excess of 100 fundoplications 200 bariatric procedures 200 ventral/incisional hernia repairs (including abdominal wall reconstruction) and up to 1000 cholecystectomies per annum with one of the largest acute services in the country.

Qualifications :

Applicants should be post-CCT or equivalent and planning a career in Oesophagogastric Surgery.

Please note that this post does not carry Postgraduate Deans approval or training recognition.

The applicant must have demonstrable skills in listening reading writing and speaking in English that enable effective communication about medical topics with patients and colleagues as set out in the GMCs Good Medical Practice (2013). Non-UK applicants must possess the IELTS/OET exam before obtaining a GMC licence to practice.

Applications from job seekers who require Tier 2 sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information please visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

From 6 April 2017 Tier 2 skilled worker applicants applying for entry clearance into the UK must present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) will also be subject to this requirement.

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

For further details / informal visits contact:

Informal enquiries Mr Michael Glaysher / Miss Jennifer Straatman Consultant Upper GI Surgeons (Secretaryemail: )

Additional Information :

The Department

There are 120 general surgical beds at Queen Alexandra a 24 bed Intensive Care Unit and a 10 bed Surgical High Care Unit (run by Surgery). The Day Surgical Unit has 65 beds. 

CT scanning PET EUS and MRI are on site with specialist gastrointestinal radiologists and up to date facilities for diagnostic and interventional radiology.  In particular we have been collaborating closely with Professor Bhandari to develop a state-of-the-art endoscopic resection service of international repute at Portsmouth. We also have a comprehensive clinical and medical oncology service on site with ready access to radiotherapy.

Most consultants also see outpatients at one or more peripheral clinics which include Petersfield and Fareham.

A Surgical Assessment Unit was opened in 2004 to provide a modern facility for emergency surgical admissions. A DOSA Unit (Day of Surgery Admission Unit) opened in 2010 and the majority of elective cases go through it.

The UGI Surgical Unit at Portsmouth is a recognised Cancer Centre for Oesophagogastric Cancer with a busy MDT drawing patients from the Central South Coast Cancer Network (includes Portsmouth Basingstoke Chichester and Winchester).  We routinely practice dual consultant operating with Minimal Access/robotic surgery being our standard approach. Over the last 6 years we have implemented a Robotic Surgery program using the Da Vinci X and Xi surgical robots to assist with oesophagogastric cancer benign and emergency surgery. Queen Alexandra Hospital now has five da Vinci systems all with dual consoles including our day case robot and an Xi system dedicated purely to emergency surgery. We currently have one of the largest robotic programmes within the UK.  

We have a high volume benign UGI practice with over 1000 laparoscopic cholecystectomies per year (70% of them daycase and 40% acute) and a busy tertiary referral practice for anti-reflux surgery with over 200 fundoplications per year. Hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancer surgical patients are discussed at the HPB MDT on Fridays with resectable patients going to Southampton for surgery and palliative patients managed on site. We are a recognised Bariatric Surgical Centre with 200 cases per year and have a high volume specialist hernia service including major abdominal wall reconstructions that are performed under the umbrella of a complex abdominal wall MDT.  The UGI surgeons also deliver the minimally-invasive adrenalectomy service.

We run a busy dual-specialty on call service with our colorectal colleagues which utilises two dedicated emergency operating lists and our dedicated da Vinci Xi system.

The UGI Unit is based at Queen Alexandra Hospital. The UGI Unit works as a team with close collaboration among the consultants to provide a unified approach to patient management.  We share responsibility for decision-making and risk management regularly operate together and cover each others patients and lists when one is away.

Inpatient treatment is based on ward E2.  The Unit manages about 50-60 patients undergoing oesophagogastric cancer resections plus a large number of patients with benign disease per year.  Arrangements are in place for anaesthetic assessment and we have excellent relationships with the ITU team and Critical Care Unit.   

There are ongoing audits of benign and bariatric work and data on the cancer patients are entered onto a local database and the NOGCA database. All laparotomies are entered into the NELA database.  A weekly Surgical Quality Assurance Meeting takes place where outcomes & results are discussed frankly.

Major surgery is undertaken at Queen Alexandra Hospital in a twenty eight theatre suite close to the UGI inpatient ward offices SAU SHCU and ITU (all on one floor E level). There is also a dedicated Day Surgical Unit based on D level where most of our day surgical hernia and cholecystectomy surgery takes place with the majority of cases now being performed robotically.

Our non-robotic main theatres are E1 and E2 both of which are Storz OR1 endotheatres opened in February 2010 paid for through charitable funds. These are state-of-the-art theatres with multiple monitors and capacity for recording and broadcasting live endosurgery.

The Post

The post has been an RCS recognised senior clinical fellowship in robotic oesophagogastric surgery for the past 6 years. We aim to appoint a well-trained post-CCT Fellow with a proven interest in robotic surgery. Training and experience in a tertiary referral centre for UGI disease is essential and a higher degree UGI publications and ongoing UGI research interests will be looked upon favourably. Robotic UGI surgery experience is desirable but not essential.  Ability to work very flexibly as a team member with existing colleagues is essential.

Minimal access surgical training in benign UGI surgery (including cholecystectomy hernias & hiatal surgery) is an essential part of this post as most patients are operated on laparoscopically or robotically in this unit including the emergency patients. Being a competent surgeon entails more than just operative skills and evidence will be sought as to the appointees ability & judgement to manage post-operative complications and/or critically ill patients.

The successful candidate will provide 2-3 nights of consultant cover for emergency general surgical patients.

Full details of the post can be found on the Royal College of Surgeons website: work: 

The appointee will work directly with a team of 10 consultant surgeons 7 of whom have a major interest in robotic oesophagogastric abdominal wall & bariatric surgery.  The appointee will be expected to be familiar with and to have had training in all aspects of UGI surgery including oesophagogastric cancer laparoscopic cholecystectomy (emergency and daycase) fundoplication laparoscopic hernia repairs (groin and incisional). Robotic experience is looked upon favourably but the purpose of this post is to train the successful candidate in robotic surgery.

Emergency work:

The successful candidate will do 2-3 nights per month (non-resident) consultant general on-call.

Medical Staffing - Consultants

Marisia Walters

Shaw Somers

Simon Toh

Stuart Mercer

Nicholas Carter

Benjamin Knight

Gijs van Boxel

Phil Pucher

Michael Glaysher

Jennifer Straatman

Trainees

Upper GI Senior Clinical Fellow

3 STs

3 CTs

4 FY1

4 Specialist Nurse practitioners (2 ward based 2 theatre based)

2 Clinical Nurse Specialists for cancer

2 Clinical Nurse Specialists for Bariatric Surgery

Visiting Arrangements

Intending applicants may obtain further information and/or arrange a visit by contacting Jemma Kitchen Secretary to Mr Michael Glaysher and Miss Jennifer Straatman onx 4058 or email:

Please note that Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust will reimburse expenses for one pre interview visit in respect of short listed candidates.

Interviews will likely be held the week commencing the 14th July at Queen Alexandra Hospital. Arrangements can be made for interviews to be held particularly for overseas applicants.

We welcome the unique contributions that you can bring in terms of your education opinions culture ethnicity race sex gender identity and expression nation of origin age languages spoken veterans status colour religion disability sexual orientation and beliefs.

Remote Work :

No

Employment Type :

Full-time