Job responsibilities
JOB DESCRIPTION
Job Title:Consultant in Palliative Medicine
6-10 PAs
Salary Range:£ 105,504- 139,882 per annum
Base: The Inpatient unit, Farnham (from 2026)
Accountable to: Medical Director
Job Summary
This post is for a Consultant in Palliative Medicine to work as part of an established team of consultants in a modern technology-enabled teaching hospice. The job comprises of a minimum of 6 and a maximum 10 Programmed Activities (PAs). Direct clinical care (DCC) will be delivered predominantly on the Inpatient unit initially alongside an experienced consultant. In time there will be the opportunity to become more involved with community-based work as part of the Hospice at Home (H@H) team depending on experience and confidence. The post will also include supporting professional activities (SPA) time dedicated to service development and delivery of educational activities to the organisations multidisciplinary team and external colleagues.
The appointee will be an employee of Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care (PT).
Background
The post has become available because of career advancement of one of the consultants. Following this, the post has been reviewed and reshaped to fit the current needs of the organisation eg returning to a new 18 bedded purpose-built ward, increasing importance of the virtual and community wards, plus the increasing use of technology in healthcare. The post would especially suit a doctor in their first consultant job. Phyllis Tuckwell recognises the additional roles and responsibilities that becoming a new consultant involves and additional support has been added in to this post
Main Duties & Responsibilities
Clinical
To provide Consultant led care and medical management to inpatients in conjunction with the other inpatient unit consultant and the MDT.
To contribute to the multi-disciplinary review and decision making around referrals, treatment and discharge for patients with advanced disease, or terminal diagnoses through attendance at the weekly inpatient unit multi-disciplinary team meetings.
To work in partnership with patients and their families/carers as a member of the multi-disciplinary Specialist Palliative Care Team on the inpatient unit.
To provide high quality clinical care supported by current clinical knowledge/ evidence based practice as part of a Specialist Palliative Care Team.
To provide, as needed Consultant medical care and oversight to palliative patients in their own home and in care homes by working with Independent Nurse Prescribers, Clinical Nurse Specialists and primary care colleagues. Undertaking domiciliary visits, outpatients clinics and providing telephone support and electronic prescribing.
On occasions to deputise for the Virtual Ward consultants in leading the daily board round and oversight of the Virtual Ward patients.
To participate in on call rotas with Specialist Palliative Care Consultant colleagues to provide 7-day, 24-hour advice.
To adhere to and review clinical standards of care including NICE, ICS guidelines and inhouse guidance and further contribute to the development of clinical guidelines within the locality and regions as appropriate.
To help review, where appropriate, clinical processes, policies, protocols etc., in order to deliver the highest possible quality of care.
To support the collection of accurate clinical data using PTs databases including EMIS and sentinel.
Education and Training
To support the Learning and Development team to deliver on the education strategy of being a teaching hospice.
To have the opportunity to provide both formal and informal teaching/education in Palliative Medicine to multi-disciplinary health care professionals across care settings in collaboration with local Specialist Palliative Care colleagues including the mentoring of clinical nurse specialists as they study for extended qualifications, such as prescribing (v300).
On occasions to work with the Learning and Development and consultant team to deliver education to external colleagues including physicians associates, paramedics, General Practitioners, pharmacists and community nurses both at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Following training, to have the opportunity to act with others as clinical supervisor for resident doctors and specialty doctors working on the Inpatient Unit. This would include involvement in their induction, supervision and assessments during their rotation to us and liaising with their education supervisors as necessary.
To provide learning opportunities and experiences to visiting qualified medics and medical students on placement
Management
To undertake, with support, clinical service development/evaluation projects as required to help assess the delivery of the clinical strategy.
To maintain accurate and contemporaneous record keeping and data collection including the use of shared records with primary (EMIS) and secondary care providers (EPIC and Cerner) in accordance with guidelines.
To participate in regular appraisal, continuous professional development in accordance with PTs processes for revalidation.
When the opportunity arises assist the Medical Director by leading or supporting (based on experience) on agreed and delegated management responsibilities across PT.
To engage with activities that promote personal development in role and in growth as a clinical leader such as clinical supervision, mentoring or coaching from a suitably trained external professional and/or participation in action learning sets or new consultant groups.
To abide by PTs procedures, policies and guidance in relation to operational issues, health and safety, data protection, clinical governance and confidentiality.
Quality, Clinical Governance and Research
To be involved in Clinical Governance activities including audit, medicines management, learning from deaths, incident investigation etc. in conjunction with the Clinical Governance team.
To work with others to conduct baseline assessment against best practice guidance (DoHSC directives, and NICE technology appraisals, interventional procedures and clinical guidelines).
Research
To support the research consultant to promote a positive research and evidence base culture across all clinical areas of PT.
To maintain training on Good Clinical Practice
To be involved in PT research activities including identifying and consenting research subjects
Internal Focus
To develop relationships with key staff and in particular Medical Director, Director of Patient Services, Deputy Director of Nursing, Hospice at Home Managers and Ward Manager.
To support the Medical Director and the Director of Patient Services to advise the Board of Trustees in the formulation of policy and planning.
Support the Medical Director in advising the Senior Leadership Team, Chief Executive and Board as necessary on medical issues and broader clinical issues in conjunction with the Director of Patient Services.
Contribute to the development of PTs yearly business plan and longer term strategic plans, for own area of expertise as well as inputting as appropriate to other areas.
External Focus
To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of external factors impacting on specialist palliative care, including government policy and thinking, best practice and clinical developments and proactively contribute this knowledge to the development of PTs clinical operations and strategy.
As the opportunity arises support the Income Generating team in their work to raise funds for PT and linking with patients and their carers.
Location of work
Office facilities will be provided with access to secretarial support, a laptop, smart card internet access, e-mail, and telephone. The post holder will need to work across both our Camberley site during the last few months of the rebuild and then from the main Farnham site and occasionally from the Beacon centre in Guildford to fulfil all components of the job as well as to provide cover for consultant leave. (From circa 2026 the inpatient unit and Hospice at Home team will return to the original Waverley Lane site in Farnham to the new Hospice)
The role will involve working with local Specialist Palliative Care colleagues based at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, Frimley Park Hospital, Thames Hospice, Woking Hospice, and the Midhurst Community Team.
Please see full details of the job description attached.
