Main area Children's palliative care Grade NHS AfC: Band 7 Contract 3 years (Fixed Term) Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Weekend working and able to participate in the on call rota covering overnight and weekends) Job ref 411-MED-25-7537032
Employer Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust Town Liverpool Salary £46,148 - £52,809 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 10/12/2025 23:59
Specialist Palliative Care Nurse
NHS AfC: Band 7
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust is a provider of specialist health care and has a presence in community outreach sites and, in collaboration with other providers, our clinicians help deliver care closer to patients’ homes by holding local clinics at locations from Cumbria to Shropshire, in Wales and the Isle of Man. The Trust also provides inpatient care for children with complex mental health needs at our Sunflower House building newly relocated, and opened on the hospital site.
We currently have more than 4,000 staff working across our community and hospital sites. We’re also a teaching and training hospital providing education and training to around 540 medical and over 500 nursing and allied health professional students each year.
As black and minority ethnic (BME) employees are currently under‑represented in this area, we particularly welcome applications from members of our BME communities. All appointments will be made on merit.
You can expect a warm welcome at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, our staff are friendly and welcoming. We listen to each other and work together to embed our Trusts values and behaviours. At Alder Hey we appreciate our staff and reward them with an outstanding benefits package including:
* Great flexible working opportunities
* Lease car scheme and Home Electronics Scheme
* Generous annual leave and pension scheme
* Extensive staff health and well‑being programmes
Job overview
The Specialist Palliative Care Team (SPCT) at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital is entering an exciting, transformative time and is expanding its nursing team to meet this demand.
The SPCT is a team of specialist nurses and palliative care doctors who work together collaboratively to support babies, children and young people with palliative care needs from referral through to end of life, discharge or transition.
We are looking for a compassionate individual to fill this exciting position and work as a specialist nurse to lead, co‑ordinate and deliver palliative and end of life care to children and young people aged 0‑19 years, bereavement care to their families and specialist advice to colleagues across the North West region.
Care is provided in a variety of settings including the home, hospices or in a hospital. The specialist nurse will need to work closely and foster good relationships with all members of the child’s multi‑disciplinary team and with colleagues from health, social care and education.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will support the delivery of specialist palliative care by working as part of the Specialist Palliative Care Team (SPCT), based at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
Provide continuity of care to a caseload of children with palliative care needs across the commissioned footprint, acting as a keyworker where appropriate and developing advance care plans.
Be integral in the ongoing development of the nursing service to meet the assessed needs of children with a palliative diagnosis to optimise quality of life and provide support to the family, either directly or by referral to appropriate services.
Take a lead role in supporting children and families to receive end of life care in their preferred place of care. The post holder will assist in supporting and educating others and facilitating excellence in the delivery of end of life care such as developing symptom management plans and co‑ordinating all services involved.
Be part of the Cheshire and Merseyside end of life care on call service providing 24/7 on call support to families.
Be a part of a specialist nursing on call advice service to colleagues across the North West.
Maintain knowledge, skills and competence in providing excellent palliative care through education, supervision and reflective practice.
Working for our organisation
As one of Europe’s biggest and busiest children’s hospitals, at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, we treat everything from common illnesses to highly complex and specialist conditions. In addition to our main hospital site, we offer paediatric services at a number of community sites and hold local clinics across Merseyside, Cumbria, Shropshire, Wales and the Isle of Man. We also provide specialist inpatient care for children with complex mental health needs in our recently relocated and newly opened state‑of‑the‑art facility.
Alder Hey has a thriving research portfolio and leads research into children’s medicines, infection, inflammation and oncology. We are becoming recognised as one of the world’s leaders in children’s healthcare and research. We contribute to public health, lead cutting‑edge research and teach the next generation of children’s specialists. Alongside this is our Innovation Hub, a dedicated space where clinicians and industries can come together to create new products and technologies.
We know that a children’s hospital is different and that our job is more than just treating an illness. To us, every child is an individual. As well as giving them the very best care, we set out to make them feel happy, safe and confident as they play, learn and grow. At Alder Hey we are here to look after a child and their family and that includes mums, dads, brothers and sisters.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
See full job description and person specification for details of the role.
Contact the Lead Nurse with any questions about the role
Person specification
* Current NMC registration
* Non medical prescriber
* At least 12 months palliative care experience
* End of life care experience
* Palliative care symptom management experience
* Knowledge and experience of the most frequently used drugs in children’s palliative care
* Advance Care Planning
* Car owner and driver
* Initiating and managing syringe drivers at end of life
* Able to participate in the on call rota
* Leadership training
* Community experience
* Clinical skills training
* Coaching skills
We reserve the right to close vacancies without notice when we have received a sufficient number of applications from which to make a shortlist. Please ensure you apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role.
Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply regularly as we will contact you using this regarding your application. All candidates will be notified via email whether or not they have been shortlisted.
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We are committed to creating a well‑managed, flexible working environment that supports staff and promotes their welfare and development. We actively promote equality and diversity and operate a Zero Tolerance policy to aggression, violence, bullying and harassment.
Should you require any assistance during the application stages please contact recruiting manager of vacancy or the recruitment team at recruitment@alderhey.nhs.uk or call 0151 282 4599
Please declare within the supporting information if artificial intelligence (AI) has been used in your application.
Please note, the selection processes at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are in place to ensure we recruit candidates with the right skills and values, please be advised that the use of AI in applications are monitored. We remain vigilant against candidates who misuse these tools to generate an application that doesn’t accurately reflect their skills.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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.
Name Adrienne Rushton Job title Lead Nurse, Palliative and Bereavement Care Email address adrienne.rushton@alderhey.nhs.uk Telephone number 07790 976827
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