Specialist Palliative Care Team Leader

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT) is committed to equal opportunities and welcomes applications from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics. We are committed to recruiting to our values. Leading One Culture of Care underpins our values by creating an environment, tone, and behaviours across all parts of the Trust that are fundamentally rooted in compassionate care. We are open to considering a wide range of flexible working arrangements. Opportunities to flex the days of the week, hours and times of work, and place of work including part-time, job-share, flexible working hours, and the possibility to work from home when appropriate are available. Please talk to us during the interview process to discuss any flexibility that you may require.

Job overview

The post holder is an experienced nurse with experience in specialist palliative care who, acting within their professional boundaries, will direct specialist holistic care and support for patients with Specialist Palliative Care (SPC) needs, whether at diagnosis, during treatment, or at end of life, within the hospital SPC team. They will direct safe clinical decision-making and expert care for patients within defined guidelines and parameters. They will work collaboratively with the multi-disciplinary team to meet the needs of patients, supporting the delivery of policy and procedures, and providing nurse leadership as required. They will lead, develop, and manage the SPC nursing team. The post holder will work flexibly across Acute Hospital and Community settings, supporting the service according to service demand.

Main duties of the job

• Support the team to obtain a detailed and comprehensive patient assessment and undertake relevant clinical examination and investigations for agreed caseload.
• Lead the team to enable them to make clinical assessments and treatment decisions within clinical guidelines, providing safe, evidence-based, cost-effective, individualized patient care.
• Support the hospital SPC team to assess patients ensuring safe discharge and communication with the Primary Health Care Team or appropriate admission with a clear plan for palliative care needs to be met.
• Lead the team to enable them to support patients and their families communicating very sensitive, complex condition-related information, ensuring they receive required information to enable them to participate in care delivery.
• Support the team to act as a source of specialist nursing advice and support to SPC patients and their families.
• Lead the team to develop, implement, and monitor agreed management plans for each patient.
• Lead the team to enable them to refer patients directly to other services/agencies as appropriate.
• Support the team to maintain accurate clinical records in accordance with NMC, Trust, and medico-legal requirements. Ensure that these standards are met and maintained within the nursing team.
• Support the team to act as a patient advocate when appropriate, ensuring respect for patient confidentiality, privacy, and cultural/ethnic background.

Person specification

QUALIFICATIONS / TRAINING

• RGN Degree level studies or Masters level degree
• Teaching Qualification / experience of mentorship
• Advanced Communication Skills Training

KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE & EXPERTISE

• Recent extensive experience of working in SPC or site-specific CNS with SPC knowledge and skills, working as a band 6 or above in an NHS setting
• Demonstrated leadership and management experience
• Experience of liaison with other health professionals and multi-agency partnership working
• Experience in planning, allocating, and delegating tasks
• Ability to demonstrate sound clinical leadership and clinical decision making
• Proven ability to case-manage patients with complex needs
• Ability to identify own learning needs and engage in self-directed learning
• Demonstrates reflective practice

COMMUNICATION AND RELATIONSHIPS

• Management/Leadership training (or willingness to undertake training)
• Teaching/presentation skills and experience
• High level of personal/professional autonomy and accountability.
• Ability to manage complex situations effectively and influence change
• Excellent communication skills and ability to communicate effectively with people with complex difficulties
• Extensive knowledge of relevant legislation, local & national guidelines and initiatives
• Extensive experience in contributing to service improvement/development
• Proven ability to work within and concurrently lead a team
• Ability to support and coach others

Our vision is to provide One Culture of Care for one another in order that we can provide compassionate care for the people who use our services. We are passionate about creating a workplace where we work together to get results, encouraging colleagues to have their say, in order to co-create the change we want to see. We take pride in the diversity of our workforce, which is why we encourage applications from all. Reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled applicants.

Please ensure your application is submitted with referees who can verify your employment/education history over the last three years and include valid email addresses for them. We will request electronic Factual Employment References from your previous employers. These references will be requested before you are issued with an unconditional offer of employment letter. If you are appointed to a post, information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records system. The Inter-Authority Transfer (IAT) process is a critical and beneficial component of ESR, and following the interview, your previous NHS employment data, if applicable, will be transferred from your current/most recent employer. You may be required to undertake a DBS. The Trust will administer the DBS check on your behalf and will recover the cost (Enhanced £54.40, Standard £26.40 or Basic £26.40) from your salary when you commence in post (including Internal staff). You will also be required to participate in the DBS Update Service and pay the £16 cost per year. This is a condition of your employment.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.