Overview
Main purpose and scope of the job: Consultants are expected to practice at an advanced level and demonstrate an expert practice function. The Consultant must deliver high quality care to patients, enable other practitioners to maintain professional expertise, and demonstrate a high degree of professional autonomy as a specialist within palliative care. The Consultant will develop or maintain an area of specialist interest and support the Medical Director and the wider executive team with the realisation of Pilgrims Hospices’ clinical strategy, including the development of clinical policies, standard operating procedures and guidelines; collaboration with external stakeholders and specialists; and the development and support of working parties and champions at the hospice. Specialist interests may include non-malignant conditions and widening access to minority groups.
Key responsibilities
* Education, training and development function: contribute to the training and education of others, establish formal links with local education providers, contribute to the development of an education plan for internal and external staff to encourage learning and support income generation.
* Professional leadership and consultancy function: demonstrate leadership to support and motivate others, continuously improve quality of care and standards of practice; act as a source of expertise and knowledge for others in their specialist fields. Nurse Consultants will align with Medical Consultants with mirrored responsibilities except where legal distinctions apply (e.g., supervision of trainees, prescribing of medication).
* Practice, service development, research and evaluation: promote evidence-based practice, conduct audits of standards of care, support research within the hospice and evaluate practice within specialist fields.
* Quality assurance: contribute to safety and quality aligned with CQC five standards (safe, effective, caring, responsive, well-led) and lead on creating an environment where standards of care provision are outstanding across clinical services in collaboration with all staff.
* Clinical practice and professional accountability: practice at an advanced level of autonomy, apply advanced clinical reasoning and diagnostic skills, prescribe, plan, and evaluate interventions for patients with complex presentations; act as an authoritative expert assessor/advisor on pain and symptom management and end-of-life decisions; develop and conduct skilled medical interventions addressing quality of life, prognosis, and ethical decision making; undertake holistic care assessments using advanced communication skills; support access to medication through independent Nurse prescribing.
* multidisciplinary collaboration: negotiate and work in partnership across the multidisciplinary team; ensure safe, effective, timely admissions and discharges; identify areas for improvement and work with clinical leads on service improvements; act as a local and national resource on palliative care issues.
* Service development and governance: embed outcome data to provide safe, responsive and effective care; spend up to 60% of time in direct patient contact (face to face, video, telephone) supporting and supervising the ACP team; dedicate 40% to developing services in line with the hospice’s clinical strategy and education; provide expert clinical leadership alongside Nurse Consultants; participate in governance processes and influence service provision and standards.
* Service improvement and stakeholder engagement: identify areas for service improvement with stakeholders, including service users, propose changes, project manage changes, and support clinical teams in development and learning; provide consultancy to stakeholders in specialist palliative care and be recognised for expertise locally.
* Feedback mechanisms and policy development: develop mechanisms for regular stakeholder feedback, respond to informal/formal feedback, collaborate to develop policy in line with local services and ensure best practice; report on prescribing activity governance to enable safe prescribing; represent the hospice in relevant groups and meetings as an expert nurse if required.
* Data, records and quality improvement: maintain patient statistics and comprehensive patient records, provide data and reports to ensure effective service delivery, use audits to drive quality improvement, manage complaints as required, support staff recruitment and development of new roles.
* Risk management and leadership: assess risk, minimize threats to personal safety, be a core member of the Local Management Team, facilitate team meetings, drive embedding of iPOS and other outcome measures, and use data to demonstrate effectiveness.
* Education and personal development: work with Clinical Leadership Team to develop and implement educational strategies; deliver education and training at all levels; use experiential learning and reflective practice; demonstrate teaching competence in lectures and discussions; mentor new staff and clinical placements; contribute to research and publish/contribute to conferences and posters as required.
* Clinical standards and induction: identify training needs with Clinical Education lead; participate in hospice training and induction; contribute to clinical standards within total quality and audit framework and participate in clinical audits.
* Personal responsibilities: recognise staff stress and facilitate support; conduct personal development reviews and regular 1:1s with direct reports; facilitate regular team meetings; value volunteer contributions and support their development; ensure valid indemnity insurance with hospice support, and participate in revalidation and appraisal processes.
* Personal development and on-call: support ongoing professional development as outlined by the Royal College of Physicians; participate in a regional on-call rota (approximately one in nine, not exceeding one in seven) with involvement from Pilgrims Hospices, EKHUFT and other Kent hospices.
Qualifications and requirements
* Evidence of advanced practice in palliative care and ability to lead, teach, and provide expert clinical care.
* Ability to work with multiple stakeholders including medical and nurse consultants, service users, and external partners.
* Experience in service development, quality improvement, governance, and research support within a hospice setting.
* Commitment to continuing professional development and revalidation requirements.
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