Visa sponsorship evidence
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications.
From the employer's advert, checked 26 October 2026.
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust is on the Home Office register of licensed sponsors as “University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust” (Skilled Worker). Register checked 23 October 2026.
About the job
Job summary
The South West Neonatal Advice & Retrieval (SONAR) team is the neonatal transport service covering the South West Neonatal Operational Delivery Network (ODN) area, from Gloucester to Truro. This region has a birth rate of over 45,000 deliveries per year. The SoNAR South team runs 12 hours a day Monday to Friday. and undertakes approximately 220 journeys per year. The service covers both acute transfers and repatriations between the 12 neonatal units in the region (St Michael's &Southmead in Bristol, Plymouth, Bath, Taunton, Swindon, Gloucester, Exeter, Truro, Torbay, Barnstaple and Yeovil) as well as acute transfers into Bristol Children's Hospital for subspecialty opinions. We are part of the SoNAR transport service, and work closely with SoNAR North, which is based in Bristol.
The SONAR South team is based within Derriford Hospital, Plymouth. The NICU at Derriford is within the same building and is a tertiary level neonatal intensive care unit. The transport team is able to deliver cooling, nitric oxide and HFOV during transfer.
Main duties of the job
Clinical:
Management and delivery of care to critically ill infants on the neonatal unit in a tier 2 capacity on a rotational basis
Involvement in the transport of term and preterm newborn infants, including those who are critically ill, as part of the SoNAR
Partaking in the daily ring around and liaison with colleagues in surrounding neonatal units, taking and recording referrals into SoNAR
Governance
Participating in clinical audit of service provision in keeping with key performances indices for neonatal services
Reviewing of clinical incidents and completing exception reporting
Development and implementation of clinical guidelines and protocols.
Involvement in relevant quality improvement programmes
Close working with clinical governance leads in the conducting of mortality reviews
Research, Teaching and Training:
Collaboration with the clinical education and simulation teams in the conducting of multidisciplinary educational sessions
Coordination of neonatal road shows in neighbouring units with the support of SoNAR leads
Where possible to collaborate with academic and clinical colleagues to enhance UHP's research portfolio
Other areas of relevant special interest will be supported eg Cardiology, NLS/ARNI instruction, simulation etc
About us
We are a people business - where every member of staff matters and can make a difference. Patients are at the heart of everything we do. Joining University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust means becoming part of a team of dedicated staff, who are committed to leading the way through innovation, clinical excellence and great customer care. The Trust has great opportunities for career development in a highly progressive working environment. We offer all of this in a vibrant, modern city with a historic reputation for adventure. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL COMMUNICATION WILL BE ELECTRONIC, PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT REGULARLY. If you have any issues with applying online and need additional support including reasonable adjustments with the application process please contact the recruitment team on 01752 432100. We recognise that work life balance is important for our colleagues and so we invite requests from applicants around less than full time/flexible working for our advertised roles. Please contact the recruiting manager to discuss this prior to your application submission. We commit to giving this full consideration in each case. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds to apply for our roles, as diversity strengthens our teams. It is sometimes necessary to close vacancies before the closing date. If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume that you have not been shortlisted.
Job responsibilities
The successful candidate will be trained in order to become proficient and competent at delivering the majority of transfers on their own (with consultant support) and where necessary a consultant may accompany the fellow / registrar on the transfer.
Knowledge and skills gained during this placement would include effective transport triage, call conferencing, prioritisation of journeys, appropriate team composition, enhanced patient assessment, management of the critically ill neonates during transfer and other transport related clinical skills. They would be expected to have good communication and leadership skills in order to facilitate good handover of information between units.
The successful candidate would also be expected to undertake audit and service evaluations to improve the service.
The successful applicant will also have some duties on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Derriford Hospital. The service undertakes approximately 3500 Intensive Care and High Dependency Care days and in around 4500 Special / Transitional Care days per year. The service benefits from a team of 8 Consultant Neonatologists, 1 Nurse Consultant, 9 ANNPs, 6 ENNPs as well as a two tier team of junior medical staff whose cover duties are exclusively to the neonatal service. The unit supports the nursing team to train as Qualified in Speciality (QIS) adhering to BAPM staffing guidance.
All successful candidates must exhibit personal characteristics of the highest standard. These include honesty, reliability, enthusiasm, initiative, resilience, conscientiousness, and an insight into their own abilities.
Job description
Advert text from University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, published on NHS Jobs. Read the original advert.
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