Consultant in Palliative Medicine

Job overview

This post provides an exciting opportunity to continue, and to build upon, the work of the previous postholder in leading and developing our well-established North West Anglia Foundation Trust (NWAFT) team in the provision of specialist palliative care across the Huntingdon and Peterborough areas, part of the Central East ICB. The postholder will be part of a team of four palliative medicine consultants, who cover the two acute hospital sites, Thorpe Hall Hospice in Peterborough, the surrounding community in patients’ homes and the community hospital in Stamford, and whom, together with the lead nurse and services manager, drive service development and enhance patient care in a supportive and forward-thinking environment.

Main duties of the job

A full description of duties and responsibilities can be found in the Job description. In brief this role is to support the deliver of high quality palliative care both within the hospital and community settings, supporting teaching and overseeing governance of the delivery of specialist Palliative care to patients in our region

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical/Managerial/Strategic

• To be an active member of the NWAFT Specialist Palliative Care Service and help deliver the departmental mission of excellence in clinical care and teaching and participate in developing and establishing models of delivering specialist palliative care advice
• To provide clinical care for patients who have been referred to the specialist palliative care service, including inpatients and outpatients, providing specialist advice and a referral service for other clinicians in the Trust
• To lead on specialist palliative care provision in the community area surrounding Hinchingbrooke Hospital alongside consultant colleagues and provide specialist palliative care advice and input to the community when appropriate
• To participate in the consultant on-call rota and provide cover for colleagues in time of absence and leave when required
• To undertake administrative duties associated with the care of patients in their charge and the running of their clinics or departments
• To provide clinical leadership in specialist palliative and end of life care within NWAFT
• To liaise effectively and on a timely basis with general practitioners, community services and all health care agencies
• To lead specialist palliative care multidisciplinary team meetings and share in attendance at other cancer and relevant non-cancer MDMs
• To contribute to locality, network and national workforce streams
• To participate in the activities of the service by attending service meetings, and other team meetings and by contributing to the development of an ethos of effective and efficient management of resources and performance
• To undertake the appropriate management responsibilities and be aware of individual responsibilities in accordance with the Trust’s Health and Safety policy and report as necessary any accident or potentially hazardous environment

Teaching

• To be involved with the education of all members of the multi professional team both formally and informally including undergraduates
• To undertake professional supervision and management of junior staff

Clinical Governance

• To have regard at all times to the clinical and quality standards set out in the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance reports
• To participate in the Trust’s clinical governance activities, and to encourage and foster improvements in the quality and standards of clinical services
• To be responsible for clinical audit activities, and participate in relevant national and local audit programmes
• To have responsibility for ensuring that serious untoward incidents, incidents and near misses are appropriately reported into the Trust’s risk management systems
• To handle patient and user complaints as requested and to work with the Trust’s complaints department in ensuring timely responses for complainants

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.