Senior Clinical Fellow in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery

Here at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, we are proud to provide expert, compassionate care for our local population. We are ranked as the third in the country for research, embedding education and training across the organisation. Our main hub is the Queen Alexandra Hospital, which is one of the largest hospitals on the south coast employing over 8,700 staff.

Our patients come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds because it makes our hospital stronger. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for getting it right for patients, colleagues, and our community, you will find a home at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust.

This is a full-time permanent position within the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department at Queen Alexandra Hospital. The unit provides a comprehensive range of Oral and Maxillofacial services, including:

• Head and Neck Oncology
• Trauma and Facial Deformity Surgery
• Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Surgery
• Facial Reanimation Surgery

The department has strong academic links with the University of Portsmouth Medical and Dental School and works collaboratively with on-site specialties including:

• Oral Surgery
• Orthodontics
• Restorative Dentistry

It also maintains close multidisciplinary relationships with:

• Ophthalmology
• Oncology
• ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat)

Key features of the service include:

• Dedicated inpatient operating theatres
• Access to day-case theatre facilities
• Development of a new sedation service
• Ward-based inpatient care with access to ITU and HDU support
• Paediatric service support
• Dedicated maxillofacial laboratory
• In-house CBCT scanning facilities
• Excellent access to comprehensive radiology imaging services

Overall, the post offers broad exposure to complex Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery within a well-equipped, multidisciplinary, and academically engaged department.

The Oral and Maxillofacial Department is based at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth. The unit is well-staffed with 8 Consultant Maxillofacial Surgeons,  2 Speciality Trainees, 1 Speciality Doctor, 8 Dental Core Trainees and 2 Foundation Year 2 Doctors who will all work closely alongside the Clinical Fellow.

The Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery department here in Portsmouth has an international reputation for research opportunities.  This even more evident in it’s close ties with both the medical and dental schools.

Upon meeting the fellow’s academic educational supervisor, such opportunities will be discussed. Within the year, it is expected that the fellow will produce two publications; one centred around outcomes from the department/region, the other can be based on the fellow or indeed their supervisor’s particular research interest. The department has a growing literature based grounding in human factors, head and neck oncology, reconstruction and reanimation.

Please see attached Job Description.

Key Clinical Responsibilities:

Essential

• Ability to apply sound clinical knowledge and judgement to problems.
• Ability to prioritise clinical need.
• Ability to maximise safety and minimise risk.
• Recognition of, and ability to undertake the initial management of, an acutely ill patient.

Desirable

• Documented evidence of clinical experience working full-time or part-time in OMFS.

Key Academic Responsibilities - Research, audit and quality improvement skills:

Essential

• Demonstrates understanding of research, including awareness of ethical issues.
• Demonstrates understanding of the basic principles of audit, clinical risk management, evidence-based practice, patient safety, and clinical quality improvement initiatives.
• Demonstrates knowledge of evidence-informed practice

• Evidence of contributing to teaching and learning of others.
• Evidence of research practice to date.

Desirable

• Evidence of relevant academic and research achievements such as degrees, prizes, awards, distinctions, publications, presentations, other achievements.
• Evidence of involvement in an audit project, a quality improvement project, formal research project or other activity which:
  • focuses on patient safety and clinical improvement
  • demonstrates an interest in and commitment to the specialty beyond the mandatory curriculum

• Evidence of interest in, and experience of, teaching.
• Evidence of feedback for teaching.

Other

This job description does not purport to cover all aspects of the job holder’s duties but is intended to be indicative of the main areas of responsibility

Person Specification

Communication skills

• Demonstrates clarity in written and spoken communication, and capacity to adapt language to the situation, as appropriate.
• Able to build rapport, listen, persuade and negotiate

Problem solving and decision making

Capacity to use logical and lateral thinking to solve problems and make decisions, indicating an analytical and scientific approach

Empathy and sensitivity

• Demonstrates respect for all

Managing others and team involvement

• Able to work in multi-professional teams and supervise junior medical and dental staff.
• Ability to show leadership, make decisions, organise and motivate other team members for the benefit of patients through, for example, audit and quality improvement projects.
• Capacity to work effectively with others

Organisation and planning:

• Capacity to manage and prioritise time and information effectively.
• Capacity to prioritise own workload and organise ward rounds.
• Evidence of thoroughness (is well prepared, shows self-discipline and commitment, is punctual and meets deadlines)

Vigilance and situation awareness

• Capacity to monitor developing situations and anticipate issues

Coping with pressure and managing uncertainty

• Capacity to operate under pressure.
• Demonstrate initiative and resilience to cope with changing circumstances.
• Ability to deliver good clinical care in the face of uncertainty

Values

• Understands, respects and demonstrates the values of the NHS: Working Together For Patients with Compassion as One Team Always Improving

The health and wellbeing of our staff is at the forefront of everything we do. We are proud to be able to offer our staff some fantastic benefits including our on-site Nursery, access to our free Beach Hut for those long summer days, our on-site Wellness Centre including a gym and a swimming pool, access to our fantastic staff networks including LGBTQ, Race Equality and DisAbility, and awards ceremonies to recognise your achievements. We believe we can offer support to all of our staff when they need it the most. 

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, veteran’s status, colour, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and beliefs. 

For more information, please see our People and OD Strategy 2026