Specialty Doctor in Palliative Medicine

Job responsibilities

Job Description

1. JOB DETAILS

Job Title: Specialty Doctor in Palliative Medicine

Location: Based Searle House, Exeter EX2 5JJ

Salary: NHS 2021 Specialty Doctor Pay Scale, in accordance with previous experience

Hours: 0.2 WTE, 2 Planned Activities (PAs) per week. Additional weekend non-resident on call may be available and will be discussed with a successful candidate.

Team/Directorate: Medical

Responsible To: Medical Lead Consultant

Responsible For: N/A

Accountable to: Clinical Director

2. JOB PURPOSE

To work flexibly and collaboratively across Hospiscare inpatient and community settings. To provide specialist palliative care advice for patients in the Royal Devon University Hospital (RDUH), Exeter.

To provide medical management for patients, predominantly in Hospiscare Inpatient Unit (IPU), as part of a multi-disciplinary team delivering specialist palliative care.

To provide medical advice and support for patients and to multi-disciplinary teams across all care settings including Community and the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.

3. KEY RESULT AREAS/PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

3.1 Main Responsibilities

Responsible for the medical management of hospice inpatients, including assessment and management of pain and other symptoms, and of psychosocial effects of advanced illness, in order to establish a therapeutic, holistic relationship with patients and those close to them.

Provide specialist palliative care advice to medical colleagues, including General Practitioners throughout Exeter, Mid and East Devon and doctors at the RDUH Hospital, in order to maintain the highest clinical standards in the management of patients and support for those close to them.

Liaise with multi-disciplinary healthcare professionals and relevant agencies to ensure appropriate care and support is provided for patients and those close to them.

Contribute to educational programmes and clinical attachments, and support clinical placements and education for 4th Year University of Exeter Medical School (UEMS) students attached to Hospiscare, in order to promote the development of the highest standard of palliative skills.

Assist with quality improvement activities to ensure Hospiscare policies and procedures remain up to date with current research and good practice in palliative care, supporting compliance, patient safety, learning and continuous improvement.

Complete clinical notes in line with Hospiscare requirements to ensure compliance and that accurate and up to date information is always available for multi-disciplinary team colleagues.

Maintain continuing professional development, engaging with annual appraisal and five-yearly revalidation cycles, to ensure knowledge and practice is relevant and current.

Infection Prevention and Control

Maintaining a safe environment for patients, visitors and employees is everyones responsibility. All staff are required to adhere to Hospiscare Infection Prevention and Control Policy and make every effort to maintain high standards of infection prevention and control at all times. This includes ensuring personal and team compliance with all relevant policies and procedures, and acting upon or reporting any identified risks.

Disclosure and Barring Service

This role requires a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Enhanced level check, including Adults Barred List.

3.2 Key Contacts Internal:

Medical Lead Consultant and Medical team

Clinical Director

Head of Inpatient Services and Clinical Quality

Head of Community and Supportive Care Services

Lead Advanced Nurse Practitioner

Ward (IPU) Manager

Community Cluster Team Leaders (CCTLs)

Learning and Development team

Clinical Quality team

Clinical Co-ordination Centre and Rapid Response teams

Supportive Care team

External:

Patients and those close to them

General Practitioners and primary healthcare teams

Doctors and multi-professional colleagues at RDUH Hospital

University of Exeter Medical School

Specialist Palliative Care nursing team (SPCT) and Enhanced Supportive Care (ESC) team at RDUH Hospital

Placement students

Medical colleagues at other south west hospices

3.3 Health & Safety

Ensure that Health and Safety guidelines and fire regulations are strictly adhered to

Comply with safe working practices as defined by Hospiscare

Complete online training as and when required

Take reasonable care for your own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by acts or omissions at work

Report any accidents, incidents or near misses as soon as reasonably practicable

Manage own work life balance and general wellbeing, including any relevant pressures in respect of lone working, travel, difficult environments and challenging situations

3.4 General

Be aware of and adhere to Hospiscare policies and procedures at all times

Take part in progress/performance reviews throughout the year

Cooperate with other Hospiscare departments

Attend training courses and complete online training modules as required to meet the requirements of the post

Take responsibility for own personal development, seeking out opportunities to learn new skills

Undertake any other duties as requested by management which are reasonably deemed to be within the scope of the role

3.5 Other

Apply the Hospiscare values and behaviours to every aspect of the role at all times

Promote and maintain the brand standards of Hospiscare

Personal attributes

Essential

• Ability to work as part of a team, prioritise clinical workload and manage time effectively
• Ability to work autonomously, problem solve and take responsibility, with Consultant support when required
• Able to demonstrate empathy with patients, those close to them, and colleagues, and able to deal with contentious and challenging situations in creative and non-judgemental ways
• Flexible approach with the ability to respond positively to change
• Commitment to continuing professional development (CPD), appraisal and revalidation processes, and to the requirements of clinical governance and audit
• Enthusiastic approach to teaching
• Awareness of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in all aspects of work

Qualifications

Essential

• Primary medical qualification
• Full registration as a medical practitioner with the General Medical Council (GMC)
• Membership of a recognised medical defence organisation

Desirable

• Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians or Royal College of General Practitioners, or equivalent qualification
• Certificate/Diploma/MSc in Palliative Medicine
• Teaching and/or mentorship/supervision qualification
• Advanced communication skills

Skills

Essential

• Highly developed communication and interpersonal skills
• Developed ability to work effectively alongside other professionals, maintaining clinical credibility within a multi-disciplinary team
• Ability to synthesize complex information utilising an evidence-based approach
• Developed IT skills

Knowledge

Essential

• Understanding of the role of ongoing quality improvement as a way to ensure patient safety
• Understanding of the complexities of working with individuals at times of distress and conflict

Desirable

• Understanding of the key issues relating to End of Life Care including national strategies and policy development

Experience

Essential

• Demonstrable relevant clinical experience
• Demonstrable experience of multi-disciplinary team working

Desirable

• Experience of palliative care in a specialist setting e.g. Hospice, Community Palliative Care or Hospital Specialist Palliative Care Team
• Experience of teaching a range of students and healthcare professionals
• Experience of using Electronic Patient Record Systems e.g. SystmOne, Emis or EPIC

Additional requirements

Essential

• Able to fulfil physical and manual handling aspects of the role

Desirable

• Car owner and driver
• Able and willing to participate in the non-resident on-call rota, including weekends and Bank Holidays

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).