Clinical Director in Kent

The Clinical Director is a key member of the Executive Leadership Team, reporting directly to the Chief Executive, with accountability for the strategic leadership, integration, and optimal performance of the hospice's clinical strategy, governance, and service delivery. The Clinical Director will ensure the provision of outstanding palliative and end-of-life care, aligned with the hospice's mission, values, and regulatory frameworks.

Oversee a multidisciplinary team, including the Heads of all patient-facing services, Associate Director of services for children and young people, Head of Quality Assurance & Safety, and Medical Lead (Consultant doctor), ensuring safe, effective, and innovative services. The role also has regulatory responsibility as the CQC Registered Manager, ensuring compliance with all required standards. The Clinical Director will act as a key ambassador for Hospice in the Weald, building strong relationships with Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), NHS partners, regulators, and external stakeholders to influence local policy and improve palliative and end-of-life care.

Main duties of the job:

• Provide strategic and operational leadership across all clinical services, ensuring safe, compassionate, high-quality care.
• Hold executive responsibility for clinical governance, patient safety, safeguarding, infection control, medicines management, and regulatory compliance.
• Champion person-centred, evidence-based care, equality, diversity and inclusion, and continuous improvement through audit, research, innovation, and feedback.
• Lead service transformation and clinical strategy, ensuring services remain sustainable, responsive, and integrated with NHS and community partners.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, learning, and wellbeing across multidisciplinary teams.
• Provide expert advice to the Board, strengthen partnerships with healthcare organisations and commissioners, and support robust communication, performance management, education, mentorship, and data-driven service improvement.

About us:

Hospice in the Weald was founded in 1980 as a small home-care service in West Kent, born out of local community effort to support people with life-limiting illnesses. Today, more than 40 years on, Hospice in the Weald continues to provide compassionate, personalised care to patients and their loved ones, celebrating life and offering dignity at the end of life for thousands in the local community.

Job responsibilities:

• Be competent in recognising those patients that would benefit from hospice services at an earlier stage.
• Liaise and build relationships with relevant colleagues and clinical experts outside of Hospice in the Weald.
• Work as part of a team to meet joint strategic aims and objectives.
• Competent in palliative care symptom control.
• Attendance at frailty MDTs/board rounds, using this forum to highlight the need for early identification of those approaching the last year of life.
• Engage in and promote the use of all assessment methods available.
• Communicate effectively with patients and their loved ones.
• Provide high-quality information to patients regarding their disease, treatment, and services available.
• Undertake holistic assessments focusing on what matters most to the patient.
• Ensure End of Life Care is planned, delivered, documented, and reviewed to the highest standard.
• Refer any symptom control issues to the hospital palliative care team for management.
• Ensure seamless referrals to local palliative care services.

Management and Leadership:

• Liaise closely with your line manager.
• Be cognizant of the Hospice in the Weald's Three-Year Strategy.
• Be a resource for both the hospital palliative care team and the Outreach team.
• Assist in the development of policies, procedures, and guidelines.
• Support, empower, and act as a role model to volunteers and junior members of the workforce.
• Participate in education programs to educate the workforce regarding Hospice services.

Communications and Teamwork:

• Support the multi-disciplinary team to enable them to provide high-quality care.
• Provide a high standard of sensitive communication with patients.
• Maintain confidentiality at all times.

Audit and Research:

• Ensure all work is evidence-based.
• Develop mechanisms for auditing care within the service.
• Participate in or support nursing and/or collaborative clinical research in palliative care.

Training and Development:

• Actively plan and participate in the provision of supervision/reflective practice.
• Undertake mandatory training and participate in wider training opportunities.
• Act as a role model and an expert professional to colleagues.
• Keep up to date with revalidation and professional registration requirements.

General:

• Maintain professionalism through adherence to recognised Codes.
• Strive for excellence always.
• Engage in the use of information and communication technology (ICT).
• Any other duties that may be reasonably required.

Person Specification:

• Ability to motivate and inspire others.
• Takes the initiative and responds flexibly to change.
• Ability to develop rapport with a wide range of people.
• High level of computer literacy skills.
• Proven track record of contemporaneous clinical practice.
• Experience in Palliative and End of Life Care.
• Prepared and delivered education programmes to other healthcare professionals.
• Ability to interpret situations from different angles.
• Forward thinking and proactive in decision making.
• Applies personal organisation strategies to prioritise workload.

Qualifications:

• Registered Nurse (Level 1) or Registered Paramedic (HCPC) with 3 years post-registration experience.
• Evidence of ongoing Professional Development.
• Principles of End of Life Care masters module.

Personal Attributes:

• Passionate about providing individualised care.
• Dedicated to making a difference.
• Maintains a calm disposition and positive outlook.
• Proactive team player.
• Willingness to travel to varying work locations.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check:

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and will require a submission for Disclosure to check for any previous criminal convictions.