Bank Hospice Doctor

Job responsibilities

Participation in weekend rota (non-resident), and opportunities for ad hoc weekday sessional work and cover on bank holidays.

Weekend working comprises 2 days and 3 nights working from 5pm on Friday evening to 9am on Monday morning. Some weekend doctors work split weekends and this is arranged subject to discussion with individual doctors.

Weekend days and bank holidays require up to 8 hours on-site during the day time each day and then off-site first on-call, ending at 9am the following morning. A first on-call doctor may need to return to the hospice during the evening or overnight when a patient needs face to face review. The post-holder will review hospice inpatients and will be available to give palliative care phone advice to other professionals in Barnsley community and hospital, as well as palliative care patients and families via the Pallcall advice line. A consultant will be available for phone advice and support at all times.

The post reports to the Hospice Consultants.

A full weekend is paid 7 sessions. 1 weekend day and night, or 1 bank holiday day and night are paid 3 sessions.

The sessional rates are set with reference to the NHS Specialty doctor pay scale and for bank hospice doctors varies between £101.02 - £129.74 per session. The starting rate will be set dependent on previous experience.

The Hospice has ten in-patient beds and a Therapy and Support Unit (out patients and day hospice). In 2023/24 there were around 170 admissions to the IPU. Other services provided are Counselling and Bereavement Support, Complementary Therapy and Carer Support.

South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SWYFT)

SWYFT provides a community specialist palliative care team consisting of Clinical Nurse Specialists, Specialist Dietician, Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist and Social Worker. The service is delivered to patients in their own homes, including care home and nursing homes. This is a seven-day service 9.00 am to 5.00 pm.

Barnsley's End of Life Care Team is employed by SWYFT and work across the district to develop the workforce and systems to improve the quality of generalist palliative care.

Barnsley Hospital NHS Trust

Barnsley Hospital is a 500-bed district general hospital built in the 1970s and provides a full range of services. The team comprises five Clinical Nurse Specialists, who are non-medical prescribers. The team receives four programmed activities of medical input per week. There are between six and seven hundred referrals to the team each year. The nurses provide a seven-day face to face service (9.00 am 5.00 pm).

There is also an End-of-Life Care Team within the hospital who support patients approaching the end of life and facilitate Fast Track discharges to care homes and patients own homes. The hospital also has two CNSs for Acute Oncology who work closely with the Specialist Palliative Care Team.

Out of hours medical provision

First on call for the Hospice and advice is provided by specialty doctors, bank hospice doctors, and the GP specialty trainee doctor. A second on call rota is provided by the consultants in collaboration with those in Rotherham and Doncaster. The post holder will participate in the first on call rota.

Duties and Responsibilities

Direct Clinical Care of Patients

To provide clinical care and medical input to the multidisciplinary team for patients under the care of the Barnsley Hospice, under the supervision of the named consultant

To see such patients in any Hospice setting ie in-patient, day centre or out-patient (need to review outpatients or day centre patients would be unusual and would only occur on cover for weekday work, not at weekends or bank holidays)

To keep accurate records of such interactions using the electronic patient record.

Liaison between Teams

To facilitate information transfer between specialist palliative care teams on transfer of patient care

To liaise with other practitioners in the hospital and community to ensure the best outcomes for palliative care patients

Supporting professional activities

To keep up to date and undergo regular appraisal

To complete mandatory training requirements for hospice doctors

To participate in systems to support patient safety in the hospice

To take advantage of CPD opportunities to maintain and develop learning in specialist palliative care

This list is not exhaustive, and the responsibilities may be reviewed and adapted in discussion with the post holder. It is expected that the post holder will work flexibly alongside colleagues to ensure the highest quality of service to patients and those close to them.

Qualifications

Essential

• Full GMC registration with a licence to practice. MRCP, MRCGP or equivalent

Desirable

• Postgraduate qualification in Palliative medicine / specialist palliative care

Experience

Essential

• Clinical Experience
• Experience of independent work on a specialist palliative care team or hospice / specialist palliative care inpatient unit caring for patients with advanced, progressive disease and those in the last days of life.Experience of pain management, Oncology, Psychiatry

Desirable

• Experience of pain management, Oncology, Psychiatry

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Demonstrates breadth of experience and knowledge in clinical practice
• Understands the importance of audit and research to the continuing development of clinical practice
• Familiar with the principles underpinning clinical governance
• Evidence of excellence in verbal and written communication skills
• Computer literate

Desirable

• Personal involvement in audit/research
• Involvement in Clinical Governance activities

Teaching Skills

Essential

• Experience and interest in undergraduate and post-graduate teaching

Desirable

• Evidence of teaching skills training eg Training the Trainers

Personal attributes

Essential

• Works well as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Professional manner
• Able to organise time effectively and prioritise effectively
• Able to display empathy and sensitivity
• Able to recognise own limitations and seek help when needed
• Resilience and ability to operate under pressure

Skills

Essential

• Evidence of excellence in verbal and written communication skills
• Computer literate

Desirable

• Attendance on Advanced Communication Skills course

Health and Probity

Essential

• Health and Probity
• Applicants must meet professional health requirements in line with GMC/Good Medical Practice
• Demonstrate probity (displays honesty, integrity, aware ethical dilemmas, respects confidentiality).

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).