Locum Consultant Palliative Medicine

Job summary

Locum Consultant

This is a fixed term post until 31st May 2026 for 8PA consultant appointment in Palliative Medicine.

This post creates an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic doctor to join the dynamic palliative care team at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (NNUHFT). The post would suit a new consultant looking to gain additional tertiary hospital experience or a more established consultant exploring relocation to the East of England.

The successful applicant would join a team of five consultants based at NNUH (3.4 WTE) and three consultants (2.7 WTE) based at Priscilla Bacon Lodge, a £12.5m Specialist Palliative Care Unit on the NNUHFT campus that opened in 2023.

The culture of the team is to provide effective, evidence-based and timely specialist palliative input for patients with complex needs. Unusually for a large Foundation Trust, palliative medicine consultants at NNUH prescribe for the patients they review, providing a wide scope for clinical autonomy whilst remaining an otherwise advisory service.

Main duties of the job

The post will contribute to running a seven day/week 9am 5pm face to face service for hospital inpatients. The successful candidate will join a Pan-Norfolk 24/7 non-resident second-on-call telephone advice service (1:9, 3% supplement) in addition to 1:7 resident weekend cover within the hospital (accounting for 1PA of job plan). The final job plan will be negotiated on appointment with flexibility depending on applicant's interests.

There will be excellent peer support from the existing eight palliative medicine consultants and the opportunity for pursuing professional development (such as research or teaching). The team is typified by a friendly and supportive working culture

A candidate who is unable for personal reasons to undertake the duties of the 8PA post will receive equal consideration. If such a candidate is appointed the job content will be modified as appropriate in consultation with consultant colleagues and local management.

About us

The NNUH Specialist Palliative Care Team is one of the busiest in the country and we have grown to be among the largest hospital palliative care teams in the country to reflect this demand. We are an advisory service within the hospital, so no patients are directly admitted under our care. We provide specialist palliative care input to patients in all parts of the hospital except paediatrics, from A+E to ITU, and work with our colleagues across all medical and surgical directorates. We receive up to 300 referrals per month, and 98% of these have an initial review within 48 hours. Between 40% and 60% of our referrals come from oncology

Our consultants hold several outpatient clinics including a multi-disciplinary MND clinic based at Priscilla Bacon Lodge and an outreach clinic at Cromer hospital for patients living in the north of the county. We have a well-established breathlessness clinic run by our Band 8a Clinical Nurse Specialist, and a newly developed Advance Care Planning clinic run at Cromer hospital by one of our Band 7 nurses. In January 2025 we will be joined by a senior Clinical Psychologist, who will provide both inpatient and outpatient support to the team and our patients. We are aiming to develop a renal supportive care service, liver supportive care service and a Vulnerable Adult service when resources allow.

Employer details

Employer name

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital

Address

Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital Trust

Colney Lane

Norwich

NR4 7UY

Employer's website

https://teamnnuh.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

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Employer details

Employer name

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital

Address

Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital Trust

Colney Lane

Norwich

NR4 7UY

Employer's website

https://teamnnuh.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

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