Specialty Doctor or Clinical Fellow in Palliative Medicine

Job responsibilities

Main Duties of post

1

To undertake clinical care for patients primarily within the in-patient and community settings working collaboratively across the Trinity family of services, performing holistic assessments and reviewing their management plans as required, ensuring effective communication with the patient, their family and the wider teams.

2.

To ensure safe and effective prescribing following guidelines. To support the regular audit of prescribing and contribute to the review of prescribing guidelines.

3.

To carry out clinical procedures such as venepuncture, cannulation or urinary catheterisation within the limits of competency. Initiate clinically appropriate investigations including CT and MRI scans under the guidance of a senior physician.

4.

To deliver and support education and training for all levels of staff, as directed by the senior clinical staff.

5.

To work with key partners around research and audit projects. Where appropriate to become actively involved in research projects under the guidance of the research team and Medical Director

Learning & Development

6.

To maintain your professional development and keep up to date with current medical practice and thinking in palliative care by attending regular updates and training courses. To maintain a record of training and learning using the Royal College of Physicians e-portfolio and participate in regular review with an in-house GMC accredited clinical supervisor. To participate in annual appraisal and effectively maintain a continuous professional learning and development plan agreed with you through the appraisal process and with the support of the SAS doctor development program to support career progression.

7.

To contribute to audit, research, and quality improvement projects and participate in the supervision, teaching and assessments of medical students and more junior colleagues as needed.

8.

To develop an area of specialism in a non cancer related end of life illness and become an expert resource for the hospice in that area.

9.

To be a champion for palliative and end of life care and make a positive contribution to raising the profile of the work of the Hospice locally and nationally including co-operating with fundraising and the charitable aims of the organisation.

General Responsibilities

10.

To comply with all policies and procedures of the hospice in all areas but especially around clinical and health and safety issues. To complete all required mandatory training and HR processes.

11.

To raise concerns around any aspect of hospice activity with an appropriate member of staff as per Trinitys policies and procedures. To promote at all times the Hospice philosophy, values and ways of working as outlined in the person specification.

12.

To be a co-operative and supportive member of the Trinity staff team, ensuring that all members are aware of any issues in the post holders workload, which may affect other members of the Trinity team.

13.

To provide additional support as needed to students on placement with Trinity.

Professional Function

Clinical

14. To maintain training and knowledge about safeguarding issues for vulnerable adults and to support other staff in acting appropriately if safeguarding issues are raised. To complete mandatory training requirements as determined by Trinity which will include a working knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act and Protection of Liberties Safeguards legislation.

15. To ensure all clinical activity undertaken is evidenced base, clinically safe and within the competence of the clinician performing it.

16. To undertake 1st on-call duties for the service overnight and weekends, taking calls requesting advice from hospital, community, covering IPU reviewing, admitting, and supporting the discharges of patients as required under the supervision of the consultant or senior specialty doctor 2nd on-call.

17. To maintain good contemporaneous clinical record keeping and communications necessary to ensure effective coordination and continuity of care.

18. To understand the need for and comply with Trinity governance processes and procedures to ensure patient and colleague safety and best possible care.

19. To comply with GMC guidance and to follow the principals of Good Medical Practice at all times. To alert the Medical Director if your registration or one of the other doctors working for the organisation is brought into question, regardless of the reason for this.

20. To ensure you have sufficient medical indemnity to practice for the hospice.

21. To participate in annual appraisal and all actions needed to meet the requirements for revalidation and have a licence to practice from the GMC

22. To maintain individual and team professional resilience by developing self-awareness and valuing the importance of self-care.

Management

23. To manage and prioritise time effectively, working with the team to ensure patient care is delivered in a timely manner.

24. To keep an ongoing record of all training and teaching and be prepared for revalidation as needed.

Qualifications

Essential

• MBBS, MBChB or equivalent
• Full GMC registration and license to practice
• At least 4 years post registration
• training
• Eligibility to work in the UK

Desirable

• Certificate / Diploma in Palliative Care
• MRCP/MRCGP

Communication Skills

Essential

• Effective interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively (written, verbal and non-verbal communication) with patients/relatives and carers and all members of the multi-disciplinary team
• Ability to work collaboratively with other teams.

Desirable

• Advanced communication skills training

Personal Attributes

Essential

• Able to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Ability to work flexibly and adapt to changing needs of patients, team and service.
• Ability to work autonomously but awareness of limits of own knowledge and when to seek help
• Effective time management skills and ability to prioritise workload effectively
• Flexible approach to work
• Ability to manage a caseload independently
• Effective time management skills and ability to prioritise workload effectively
• Flexible approach to work
• Effective time management skills and ability to prioritise workload effectively
• Flexible approach to work
• Demonstrates initiative and resilience

Desirable

• Leadership & management experience
• Willingness to develop clinical skills to support delivery of strategic and operational plans

Skills and Knowledge

Essential

• Excellent clinical skills in history taking and examination
• Evidence of fulfilling GMC good medical practice domains
• Understanding of clinical governance

Research, Audit and Quality Improvement

Essential

• Understands principles of research, Audit and Quality Improvement
• Evidence of participation in audit cycle
• Evidence of participation in quality improvement

Desirable

• Evidence of participation in clinical research & publications

Education and Teaching

Essential

• Evidence of interest and experience in education across settings
• Committed to continuing personal development and medical education

Desirable

• PGCE

Experience

Essential

• Knowledge of symptom control in palliative care including malignant and non-malignant disease
• Ability to manage a caseload independently
• Ability to manage a caseload independently

Desirable

• Experience in Oncology/ Care of the Elderly / General Practice.
• Knowledge and experience of multi-disciplinary specialist palliative care within hospital, community and hospice settings

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).