Palliative Care Inpatient Unit Manager

We are looking for an exceptional and dedicated professional leader to join our Inpatient Unit. This is an exciting opportunity for a passionate professional to lead, inspire, and shape a team of Registered Nurses and Healthcare Assistants, delivering outstanding care to patients and their families. As a key leader within our service you will bring extensive post-registration experience, including a previous leadership/management role in Palliative or a related Community setting, with knowledge of hospice philosophy and the bereavement process. You will combine excellent clinical expertise with confident leadership skills, ensuring the safe and effective assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of high standards of patient care. In addition, you will inspire, lead and manage the Inpatient Unit team, encouraging multi-disciplinary teamworking and providing supervision, support and facilitating staff professional development and learning.

Main duties of the job

• You will play a pivotal role in leading the delivery of safe, high-quality, and compassionate care.
• You will provide both clinical and operational leadership, ensuring the service runs effectively while supporting patients, families, and staff.

About us

We are Garden House Hospice Care, the Hospice for North Hertfordshire. We are a multi award-winning hospice that puts the patient at the heart of everything we do. Patients on our inpatient unit are looked after by our specialist team 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We provide support and care to patients with a wide range of symptoms associated with a life-limiting illness, as well as their families. We support our patients by providing symptom control, psychological support and end of life care. Our high nurse-to-patient ratio ensures that patients are able to get the dedicated support that they might need.

Job responsibilities

• Responsible for patient safety for those referred and receiving care.
• Manage budgets and resources effectively.
• Inspire, lead and manage the IPU team.
• Be committed to the overall strategies of the hospice and use these to inform the work plan for the IPU.
• Implement national and local guidance, legal frameworks and initiatives, new policies, standards and best practice into clinical practice as agreed and required.
• To be responsible for the management of the 24-hour advice line.
• To support with the coordination of referrals within the MDT.
• Handle safeguarding, incident management and risk mitigation.

Person Specification

Experience

• Extensive post-registration experience, including leadership/management within a palliative care or related community setting.
• Experience in specialist palliative and end-of-life care, with a strong understanding of hospice philosophy.
• Experience in supervision, staff development and working collaboratively across services.
• Proven ability to lead, motivate, and support multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience in the safe management of medicines, including controlled drugs.
• Experience of budget and resource management.
• Knowledge of clinical governance, patient safety frameworks, and current legislation (e.g. safeguarding, MCA, best interests).

Qualifications

• First level Registered Nurse.
• Evidence of ongoing professional development.

Other

• A valid NMC registration and the right to work in the UK (no visa sponsorship available).
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise workload and meet deadlines.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with a calm, emotionally intelligent, and non-judgemental approach.
• A commitment to continuous professional development.

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.