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Ashford & St. Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Palliative & End of Life Care Lead Nurse

The closing date is 15 May 2026

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Job summary

We are seeking an experienced specialist palliative care team (SPCT) nurse lead at Ashford and St Peters NHS Trust to help lead our palliative and end of life services across our organisation and beyond.

We are fortunate to have a responsive and dedicated SPCT team of nurse specialists and we are looking for an individual who will bring leadership, support and a strategic approach to SPCT and EOL pathways for the organisation.

The post will require you to work closely with our system partners also to look at the future of palliative care services across Surrey to allow a systems approach to the provision of care for patients and families.

We can offer you a supportive division which will also allow the successful candidate to strongly further develop their strategic, clinical , leadership, educational and managerial arms of their role.

Main duties of the job

Be required to maintain their clinical expert practice, whilst promoting and creating a wider vision for palliative and EOLC.

Ensure specialist palliative care and generalist services across the trust are responsive to the needs of patients with palliative and end of life care needs, in line with national Ambitions for Palliative and EOLC, and NICE guidance. This will involve working with key providers, local commissioners and regional strategy groups.

Develop specialist palliative care workforce to be responsive to need and to support quality improvement across the Trust

Support staff learning and development across the trust in palliative and EOLC to provide patient and family centred care.

Work strategically with other partners to identify opportunities for service redesign and lead on this for the division

Completion and leading on any national Audits and accreditation such as NACEL and Gold standard framework.

Leading on SPCT MDT across the organisation

About us

Ashford and St. Peters Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is the largest provider of acute hospital services to Surrey residents, serving a population of 410,00 people and employing approximately 4,800 staff.

Our vision is to provide an outstanding experience and best outcomes for patients and the team. We are committed to providing continuous professional development and flexibility to deliver our workforce plan.

We are part of a collaborative Group with the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust. As part of this partnership, colleagues may occasionally work across both organisations to support shared services, development opportunities and patient care.

St Peter's Hospital delivers complex medical and surgical care, maternity and emergency services. Day and orthopaedic surgery, ophthalmology and outpatient services are delivered at Ashford Hospital. Additional services are delivered at Woking Community Hospital.

Our Values provide us with the behaviours we respect and can commit to. By living our values through our everyday interactions, we can build a stronger, more resilient, and forward- thinking organisation, guiding us to achieve success and make a positive impact on how we deliver our services.

We can offer you the full range of NHS benefits and discounts.

Please note that adverts may close early, so early application is encouraged.

For more information about careers at ASPH please visit:www.asph-careers.org

Details

Date posted

17 April 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8b

Salary

£68,852 to £79,638 a year inc. HCAS per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

323-NM3555-JN

Job locations

Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - St Peter's Hospital

Guildford Road

CHERTSEY

KT160PZ


Job description

Job responsibilities

Leadership / Managerial

The Palliative and EOLC Lead Nurse plays a strategic leadership role in ensuring and consistently developing a high quality, specialist palliative and EOLC service and workforce across the Trust. Relationships with the Divisional Nurses and the Trust Heads of Nursing and divisional Directors, colleagues in the EOLC oversight group and local commissioners are particularly important in delivering this role

The post holder will be an integral part of the Trusts senior nursing structure providing strategic leadership for specialist palliative and EOLC. Leading a Trust wide specialist palliative and EOLC strategy and liaising and building strong working relationships with key members of the team both within the Trust and externally including hospices/charitable organisations

Lead on the delivery of national Ambitions for Palliative and EOLC, NICE guidance and CQC requirements for EOLC

Provide clinical leadership for collaborative projects in palliative and EOLC with local hospice organisations and community services providers.

Act as a role model demonstrating high standards of holistic care and provide clinical leadership in relevant clinical areas to medical and nursing staff

Reflect on own practice through clinical supervision / mentorship and to develop skills as a clinical supervisor / mentor to others

Reporting of all data relevant to their specialist area to Divisional Board and highlighting and recording any concerns on the risk register and through governance structures.

Clinical

Act as a specialist practitioner and expert resource for patients with palliative and EOLC needs, their families and other healthcare professionals, across all health care boundaries

Provide strong clinical leadership skills, motivating, inspiring and empowering others in pursuit of a shared vision to ensure the effective provision of patient care and management of palliative and EOLC services

Ensure care delivery is in line with the regulatory body code of practice (Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)) and ensure a quality-orientated approach to care which recognises the needs and views of patients and carers and places the patient at the centre of all activities.

Ensure clinical skills are maintained and updated to provide consistent and quality care, and maintain own professional development

Lead in the development of guidelines and protocols, recognising the need for any further role extension to provide vision and innovation regarding new developments and guidelines to practice

Be aware of and utilise research, to provide effective care and acknowledge its implications on practice

Where required, will consider making safeguarding and deprivation of liberty referrals following discussion with medical and nursing staff

Provide professional support and support in the provision of supervision to the Clinical Nurse specialists in palliative care

Continually evaluate and feedback to the Trust the added value of the role in relation to the patients journey and experiences

Act as a role model, promoting the standards of care and behaviour expected and as a resource/adviser to all staff in order to maximise opportunities to improve cancer nursing care and the environment to which care is delivered, by maintaining a highly visible profile and through regular contact with Senior Nurses, Nursing & Clinical and Therapeutic Leads, patients and their families through patient and user forums

Governance (Information and reporting)

Lead on Clinical Governance and its requirements as well as Trust guidelines and policies and reporting to Divisional Board.

Ensure that the national measures of care are met.

Lead on clinical audit in specialist palliative care and EOLC in line with NICE guidance and the National Audit for Care at the End of Life (NACEL), and lead on improving and developing EOLC considering audit findings

Be pro-active when dealing with potential complainants, resolving issues where possible before they become formal complaints. However, where necessary refer on to appropriate persons in line with Trust guidelines

Lead and support in incident investigation and root cause analysis

Work in collaboration with the quality and patient safety teams working towards improving patient safety focussing on continuous learning and improvement in its efforts to reduce the risk of harm to people while they use healthcare

Service Development and Improvement

Lead on the delivery of quality improvement initiatives for palliative and EOLC including advance care planning, Priorities for Care in the last days of life, Compassionate Companion volunteer service, ward accreditation for the EOLC quality standards GSF.

Participate actively in the development and configuration of services within the Trust through the Palliative and EOLC steering group

Work with the General & Specialist Medicine management team and directorate Clinical Leads, Specialty Managers and Senior Nurses to further develop palliative and EOLC services

Proactively contribute to the long-term strategies of Palliative and EOLC across the Trust, including promoting new initiatives and plans

Be responsible for the effective development of palliative and EOLC services ensuring they are responsive to patient/carer needs across the Trust

Generate solutions within own and others practice to enhance care and treatment

Use effective change management skills to initiate and implement service and practice developments.

Take a lead in clinical education and development of appropriate staff involved in the care and support of patients with palliative and EOLC needs. Lead on the essential training for EOLC (review and evaluation) and lead on the provision of palliative and EOLC training

To review the existing staffing provision for specialist palliative care, creating a vision for the appropriate staffing structure and working with divisions to implement this

Contribute proactively to directorate cost improvement plans, making best use of resources available

Communications and Engagement

Demonstrate an ability to use advanced communication skills

Maintain appropriate channels and styles of communication to meet the needs of patients, relatives and carers, managers, peers and other professions/agencies

Lead the patient and family feedback initiatives for palliative and EOLC. Ensure patients/users views are included in the decision-making process for service developments.

Work closely with the Patient Experience Team to develop strategies that establish an integrated approach to user involvement in the planning and implementation of all aspects of palliative and EOLC service development

Disseminate and share best practice at local, regional and national level by conference presentation and through publication

Professional Responsibilities

Develop and maintain high standards of care, always ensuring safe practice and to work within the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council) Code of Professional Conduct and NMC: Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics for Nurses

Act in a supportive, informative and sensitive manner towards patients, relatives, visitors and colleagues at all times

Ensure confidentiality relating to patient, staff and all information is maintained

Maintain professional and personal growth by acknowledging learning needs through IPR, Personal Development Plan (PDP) and Clinical Supervision

Job description

Job responsibilities

Leadership / Managerial

The Palliative and EOLC Lead Nurse plays a strategic leadership role in ensuring and consistently developing a high quality, specialist palliative and EOLC service and workforce across the Trust. Relationships with the Divisional Nurses and the Trust Heads of Nursing and divisional Directors, colleagues in the EOLC oversight group and local commissioners are particularly important in delivering this role

The post holder will be an integral part of the Trusts senior nursing structure providing strategic leadership for specialist palliative and EOLC. Leading a Trust wide specialist palliative and EOLC strategy and liaising and building strong working relationships with key members of the team both within the Trust and externally including hospices/charitable organisations

Lead on the delivery of national Ambitions for Palliative and EOLC, NICE guidance and CQC requirements for EOLC

Provide clinical leadership for collaborative projects in palliative and EOLC with local hospice organisations and community services providers.

Act as a role model demonstrating high standards of holistic care and provide clinical leadership in relevant clinical areas to medical and nursing staff

Reflect on own practice through clinical supervision / mentorship and to develop skills as a clinical supervisor / mentor to others

Reporting of all data relevant to their specialist area to Divisional Board and highlighting and recording any concerns on the risk register and through governance structures.

Clinical

Act as a specialist practitioner and expert resource for patients with palliative and EOLC needs, their families and other healthcare professionals, across all health care boundaries

Provide strong clinical leadership skills, motivating, inspiring and empowering others in pursuit of a shared vision to ensure the effective provision of patient care and management of palliative and EOLC services

Ensure care delivery is in line with the regulatory body code of practice (Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)) and ensure a quality-orientated approach to care which recognises the needs and views of patients and carers and places the patient at the centre of all activities.

Ensure clinical skills are maintained and updated to provide consistent and quality care, and maintain own professional development

Lead in the development of guidelines and protocols, recognising the need for any further role extension to provide vision and innovation regarding new developments and guidelines to practice

Be aware of and utilise research, to provide effective care and acknowledge its implications on practice

Where required, will consider making safeguarding and deprivation of liberty referrals following discussion with medical and nursing staff

Provide professional support and support in the provision of supervision to the Clinical Nurse specialists in palliative care

Continually evaluate and feedback to the Trust the added value of the role in relation to the patients journey and experiences

Act as a role model, promoting the standards of care and behaviour expected and as a resource/adviser to all staff in order to maximise opportunities to improve cancer nursing care and the environment to which care is delivered, by maintaining a highly visible profile and through regular contact with Senior Nurses, Nursing & Clinical and Therapeutic Leads, patients and their families through patient and user forums

Governance (Information and reporting)

Lead on Clinical Governance and its requirements as well as Trust guidelines and policies and reporting to Divisional Board.

Ensure that the national measures of care are met.

Lead on clinical audit in specialist palliative care and EOLC in line with NICE guidance and the National Audit for Care at the End of Life (NACEL), and lead on improving and developing EOLC considering audit findings

Be pro-active when dealing with potential complainants, resolving issues where possible before they become formal complaints. However, where necessary refer on to appropriate persons in line with Trust guidelines

Lead and support in incident investigation and root cause analysis

Work in collaboration with the quality and patient safety teams working towards improving patient safety focussing on continuous learning and improvement in its efforts to reduce the risk of harm to people while they use healthcare

Service Development and Improvement

Lead on the delivery of quality improvement initiatives for palliative and EOLC including advance care planning, Priorities for Care in the last days of life, Compassionate Companion volunteer service, ward accreditation for the EOLC quality standards GSF.

Participate actively in the development and configuration of services within the Trust through the Palliative and EOLC steering group

Work with the General & Specialist Medicine management team and directorate Clinical Leads, Specialty Managers and Senior Nurses to further develop palliative and EOLC services

Proactively contribute to the long-term strategies of Palliative and EOLC across the Trust, including promoting new initiatives and plans

Be responsible for the effective development of palliative and EOLC services ensuring they are responsive to patient/carer needs across the Trust

Generate solutions within own and others practice to enhance care and treatment

Use effective change management skills to initiate and implement service and practice developments.

Take a lead in clinical education and development of appropriate staff involved in the care and support of patients with palliative and EOLC needs. Lead on the essential training for EOLC (review and evaluation) and lead on the provision of palliative and EOLC training

To review the existing staffing provision for specialist palliative care, creating a vision for the appropriate staffing structure and working with divisions to implement this

Contribute proactively to directorate cost improvement plans, making best use of resources available

Communications and Engagement

Demonstrate an ability to use advanced communication skills

Maintain appropriate channels and styles of communication to meet the needs of patients, relatives and carers, managers, peers and other professions/agencies

Lead the patient and family feedback initiatives for palliative and EOLC. Ensure patients/users views are included in the decision-making process for service developments.

Work closely with the Patient Experience Team to develop strategies that establish an integrated approach to user involvement in the planning and implementation of all aspects of palliative and EOLC service development

Disseminate and share best practice at local, regional and national level by conference presentation and through publication

Professional Responsibilities

Develop and maintain high standards of care, always ensuring safe practice and to work within the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council) Code of Professional Conduct and NMC: Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics for Nurses

Act in a supportive, informative and sensitive manner towards patients, relatives, visitors and colleagues at all times

Ensure confidentiality relating to patient, staff and all information is maintained

Maintain professional and personal growth by acknowledging learning needs through IPR, Personal Development Plan (PDP) and Clinical Supervision

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Registered Nurse (RN - Level 1) educated to Degree level in relevant subject
  • Post registration qualification in palliative care
  • Working towards MSc in Nursing or equivalent higher professional qualifications in relevant specialist area
  • Evidence of extensive expert professional knowledge supplemented by post registration specialist, managerial & leadership training and continuous
  • Ability to act as effective facilitator, clinical supervisor, mentor and facilitator

Desirable

  • Recognised leadership development
  • Investigation skills to deal with complaints and issues of performance

Experience

Essential

  • Significant post registration experience.
  • Thorough and up-to-date knowledge of nursing theory and best practice, particularly within specialty area and the application of this in practice
  • Extensive knowledge of cancer and palliative care services, including a thorough understanding of the national Ambitions for Palliative and EOLC and direction of travel for palliative and EOLC services
  • Experience of working at a senior level in leading a team with experience of team building and roles within teams

Desirable

  • Evidence of involvement in service users' advocacy and complaints resolution

Skills

Essential

  • You are able to communicate effectively to ensure high standards of care, treatment, service or support as appropriate to your role
  • Ability to understand and interpret data for use within the service setting
  • Able to advise on and implement improvements to the quality and efficiency of care for patients in the service
  • Strong organisational skills - able to organise the workload of self and others so that any workload is completed in the most efficient and effective way
  • Demonstrates ability to apply research-based practice and advocate it to improve the quality and efficiency of the service

Desirable

  • Ability to make judgements on clinical and professional standards

emotional effort

Essential

  • Ability to sensitively communicate with patients/ relatives and staff on emotional and complex issues such asThe ability to challenge practice, lead others and justify changes
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Registered Nurse (RN - Level 1) educated to Degree level in relevant subject
  • Post registration qualification in palliative care
  • Working towards MSc in Nursing or equivalent higher professional qualifications in relevant specialist area
  • Evidence of extensive expert professional knowledge supplemented by post registration specialist, managerial & leadership training and continuous
  • Ability to act as effective facilitator, clinical supervisor, mentor and facilitator

Desirable

  • Recognised leadership development
  • Investigation skills to deal with complaints and issues of performance

Experience

Essential

  • Significant post registration experience.
  • Thorough and up-to-date knowledge of nursing theory and best practice, particularly within specialty area and the application of this in practice
  • Extensive knowledge of cancer and palliative care services, including a thorough understanding of the national Ambitions for Palliative and EOLC and direction of travel for palliative and EOLC services
  • Experience of working at a senior level in leading a team with experience of team building and roles within teams

Desirable

  • Evidence of involvement in service users' advocacy and complaints resolution

Skills

Essential

  • You are able to communicate effectively to ensure high standards of care, treatment, service or support as appropriate to your role
  • Ability to understand and interpret data for use within the service setting
  • Able to advise on and implement improvements to the quality and efficiency of care for patients in the service
  • Strong organisational skills - able to organise the workload of self and others so that any workload is completed in the most efficient and effective way
  • Demonstrates ability to apply research-based practice and advocate it to improve the quality and efficiency of the service

Desirable

  • Ability to make judgements on clinical and professional standards

emotional effort

Essential

  • Ability to sensitively communicate with patients/ relatives and staff on emotional and complex issues such asThe ability to challenge practice, lead others and justify changes

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

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

Additional information

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

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

Employer details

Employer name

Ashford & St. Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - St Peter's Hospital

Guildford Road

CHERTSEY

KT160PZ


Employer's website

https://www.ashfordstpeters.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Ashford & St. Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - St Peter's Hospital

Guildford Road

CHERTSEY

KT160PZ


Employer's website

https://www.ashfordstpeters.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Divisional Chief Nurse

Janet McAuley

janet.mcauley@nhs.net

07554006974

Details

Date posted

17 April 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8b

Salary

£68,852 to £79,638 a year inc. HCAS per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

323-NM3555-JN

Job locations

Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - St Peter's Hospital

Guildford Road

CHERTSEY

KT160PZ


Supporting documents

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