Job responsibilities
Doctor
(residing in Elland area)
Fixed Term Contract 6 - 12 months
(in some circumstances the Hospice
may extend this to 18 months)
Job Description
Salary £95.48 per 4-hour daytime session
£95.48 per on-call session (48 hours at the weekend = 6 sessions)
Hours 24 hours (daytime work) per week = 6 sessions (i.e. 3 days/week)
(Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, 8.30am-5pm)
AND 1 in 5 weeknights and weekends on-call
Weeknights: 5.00pm - 8.30am
Weekends: Sat 8.30am Mon 8.30am
Fixed term contract 6-12 months . In some circumstances, the Hospice may offer to extend this to 18 months total
Salary details Half a weekday (4 hours) = 1 daytime session
Weeknight non-resident on call = 1 on-call session
24 hours non-resident on call at a weekend = 3 on-call
sessions
A contribution towards medical indemnity fees will be made
by the Hospice
NHS pensions can be continued but not started in this role
Annual Leave Entitlement is six weeks (pro-rata).
In addition, there is an entitlement to 10 public and bank holidays (pro-rata.)
All employees benefit from an additional 1 day Birthday Leave taken on or close to their birthday.
Employer Overgate Hospice (not an NHS employer )
Responsible to Dr Rachel Sheils, Medical Director (Consultant in Palliative Medicine)
Accountable to Tracey Wilcocks, Chief Executive
Supervised by Dr Rhona Parrish (Associate Specialist)
Closing date Sunday 01/02/2026
Applications utilising AI are strongly discouraged
Job Summary
The Hospice doctors work closely with the existing enthusiastic, experienced, multi-professional team to help ensure continuity of high-level medical care for Hospice patients. This will include inpatients, patients attending the Day Hospice and patients being supported by specialist nurses in the community.
Minimum Qualifications / Experience Required
Full registration with the GMC and a licence to practice are essential prior to applying.
As a charity, the Hospice, does not provide sponsorship.
As a minimum, completion of Foundation Year 1 & 2 training is essential.
Previous employment as a doctor in the NHS is essential .
Hospice medicine requires excellence in both written and spoken English language.
Key Working Relationships
Medical Director
Associate Specialist (line manager)
Director of Clinical Services, and Deputy Director of Clinical Services
Medical Team
Nursing Teams in Day Hospice and Inpatient Unit
Patient and Family Support Team
Community and Hospital Specialist Palliative Care Teams
Duties and Responsibilities
Clinical
To provide medical care to inpatients at Overgate Hospice, alongside the multi-professional team.
To provide medical input to Day Hospice patients at Overgate Hospice, with good independent decision-making skills.
To provide support to primary care teams and other professionals.
To support and advise any medical colleagues & students who are more junior/less experienced in palliative medicine.
To participate in the non-resident on-call rota.
To maintain and administer medical records as per Hospice policy.
To ensure confidentiality of information is always preserved, whether at, or away from work.
To be involved in audit, research, and service development programmes as appropriate.
To participate actively in multi-professional discussions and meetings.
To help ensure that the high standard of medical care and support for carers and families at the Hospice is maintained.
Professional Management
To work closely with the Medical Director and Associate Specialist, to ensure provision of medical input throughout the Hospice.
To maintain standards and quality of care throughout the services delivered by the Hospice, by participating in standard setting and audit, attending relevant meetings, and contributing to Hospice policies, procedures and guidelines.
To support the development of clinical governance, including a commitment to clinical audit, risk management, staff development, peer review and appraisal within the Hospice governance framework.
Education
To engage with the appraisal and revalidation system for medical staff at the Hospice.
To participate in in-house education sessions (attending and delivering) and attend external study days as appropriate.
Additional Information
The post-holder must participate in the on-call rota. The on-call commitment is to Overgate Hospice Inpatient Unit. When on-call, the post-holder will have consultant support by telephone. On call is currently 1 in 5 and is non-resident. At the weekend, the on call doctor is expected to complete a ward round and assess any admissions, then continue to be available but non-resident.
Please see page 1 for details of on-call hours.
Prospective Cover Doctors provide prospective cover for each others leave. Additional weekday and on-call sessions worked to back-fill someone elses leave attracts sessional payment at the usual rate.
This post will provide adequate medical staffing levels such that Hospice Doctors will have allocated non-clinical time to contribute to indirect care (for example, via audit, policies, procedures, guidelines, teaching, governance).
Study & Training
The Hospice is committed to continuous professional development and will grant appropriate study leave with funding for this purpose whenever possible.
There is a post-graduate medical education centre with excellent facilities at Calderdale Royal Hospital. Multi-disciplinary education is also available at the Hospice.
Articles from the main palliative medicine journals are available via Calderdale Royal Hospital Library.
A laptop will be available for use during non-resident on-call sessions and non-resident, non-clinical time.
Hospice Medical Staffing
There are 5 part time medical posts totalling 2.6 Whole Time Equivalents, as well as GP trainee (up to 0.4 WTE ).
In addition, there are 2 consultants, who have joint appointment with Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust and Overgate, providing 0.9 WTE Hospice, and 0.7 WTE Calderdale Royal Hospital/Calderdale Community Specialist Palliative Care Team .
Dr Rachel Sheils is the Hospice Medical Director.
Administrative support is available, and the doctors share an office.
Appointment Procedure
The appointment will be by application and interview.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools (e.g. ChatGPT) for applications is strongly discouraged .
Interviews will require candidates to demonstrate excellent verbal communication skills without the use of AI. Therefore, interviews are likely to be terminated before completion if the spoken communication skills are at an obviously lower standard than those in the written application.
The appointment is subject to satisfactory pre-employment health screening, references and checks as prescribed by the GMC.
The successful applicant will be required to produce evidence of hepatitis B immunity status.
Applicants must be fully registered with the GMC at the time of applying, have a GMC Licence to Practice, and be a member of a recognised medical defence organisation, with up-to-date medical indemnity for the post being in place before their start date. Certificates must be produced at interview and will be checked directly with the GMC.
General Duties & Responsibilities
Overgate Hospice is a no smoking organisation.
The employee must maintain a safe working environment in accordance with Overgate Hospices Health and Safety policies & abide by the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974).
The employee must complete mandatory training as determined by the Hospice.
The employee must ensure that they comply with all Hospice policies and procedures at all times & participate in the development and implementation of Hospice policies.
The employee must be actively involved in Hospice Governance and support the audit cycle.
The employee must always maintain strict confidentiality, applying to all aspects of Hospice business and work within the guidelines of the Data Protection Act and GDPR.
Employees must demonstrate commitment to their own personal development and are required to make a positive contribution to fundraising and raising the profile of the Hospice locally and nationally.
Employees must adhere to the Hospices Standards of Behaviour Framework in all aspects of their work.
Work closely with the Volunteer Services Coordinator as appropriate to ensure that any volunteers are supported in their roles, addressing any issues as they arise.
Use all Hospice resources economically and cost effectively.
This job description is not exhaustive and will be subject to periodic review. The employer and the employee share responsibility to review and amend it as appropriate.
Safeguarding Children and Adults at Risk
All Hospice staff are required to act in such a way that always safeguards the health and well-being of children and adults at risk. Familiarisation with and adherence to the Hospice safeguarding policies is an essential requirement of all employees as is participation in related mandatory/statutory training.
Valuing Diversity and Equality
All employees should carry out their duties in accordance with the values and principles of valuing diversity and equity of provision. It is the responsibility of all employees to support the Hospice vision of promoting a positive attitude to diversity and equality of opportunity, to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage in service delivery and employment, and to manage, support or comply through the implementation of the Hospices Equal Opportunities Policy.
