Specialist Palliative Care Nurse in Whitehaven

Would you like to join a centre of excellence in rural and remote healthcare?

Main area Palliative Care - 203230 Grade NHS AfC: Band 7 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday 08.30 - 16.30. Not required to work weekends or bank holiday working) Job ref 262-A-26-8101846

Site West Cumberland Hospital Town Whitehaven Salary £49,387 - £56,515 Per Annum Salary period Yearly Closing 13/10/2026 23:59

Job overview

The Clinical Nurse Specialist in Palliative care is a key member of the Specialist Palliative Care Team, working closely with the Palliative Care Consultants and the wider multidisciplinary team to provide expert assessment, advice and specialist palliative care for patients with life-limiting illness in the acute hospital setting.

The post holder supports the management of complex symptoms, advance care planning, ethical decision-making and end-of-life care, while providing expert guidance and education to hospital teams to promote high-quality, person-centred care. Working in partnership with specialty teams, ward staff, allied health professionals and discharge services, the Specialist Palliative Care Nurse helps ensure patients receive the right care in the right place at the right time.

The role also involves close collaboration with community palliative care teams, primary care, hospices and other external partners to facilitate seamless transitions of care, support timely and safe discharge, avoid unnecessary hospital admissions where appropriate, and ensure continuity of care across organisational boundaries.

Main duties of the job

Deliver high-quality specialist palliative care to patients and their families across West Cumbria.

Act as a senior member of the Clinical Nurse Specialist team, providing expert advice, leadership, and support to colleagues.

Contribute to service development and redesign to meet patient needs and improve care pathways.

Undertake and facilitate education, training, and mentorship for staff across the service.

Coordinate and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to ensure safe, effective, and patient-centred care.

Maintain accurate patient records, reports, and documentation in line with governance and clinical standards.

Occasionally cover wider areas of the service depending on operational requirements

Working for our organisation

At NCIC, we have an ambition to deliver outstanding healthcare services to the population of North Cumbria. The Trust is committed to creating a centre of excellence in providing rural and remote healthcare and provides a wide range of community and acute services throughout our county.

Our 5 key principles demonstrate our belief in the delivery of ‘safe, high quality care every time':

• Being a clinically led organisation
• Quality and safety at the heart of our Trust
• A positive patient experience every time
• A great place to work
• Managing our money well

As an organisation we are serious about supporting a diverse workforce that reflects our local community and are very much focused on being an inclusive and compassionate place to work.

Across the North East and North Cumbria we are working together to deliver our ambition to be the greenest region in England by 2030. All staff are expected to support sustainability.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

JOB DESCRIPTION :

Please see attached job description and person specification for further information regarding the role and the essential and desirable criteria required to be met by applicants.

CERTIFICATE OF SPONSORSHIP

Please note, due to changes implemented by the Government to the UK immigration policy, individuals who require a Health and Care Visa or a Skilled Worker Visa may no longer be eligible for sponsorship where the UKVI salary threshold is not met or if the occupation is not included in the updated Immigration Salary List (ISL). Applicants must check their eligibility to be employed in any role they are interested in applying for, prior to completing an application for employment. Any applicants who do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be progressed. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

If you are applying under the Disability Confident Scheme or Armed Forces Covenant and you meet all the essential criteria for a post, you will be guaranteed an interview.

Relocation assistance may be available for successful applicants moving to the region for certain posts. Please see our Policy for eligiblevacancies.

AHP - Return to Practice Job Advert information.This role may be suitable for individuals Returning to Practice. Please speak to the recruiting manager for more information.

Disclosure and Barring Service:

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.

The cost of the DBS must be met by the successful candidate(s) through salary deduction. DBS charges are as follows if applicable to the post:

Standard Check: £21.50 + Administration cost of £5.90 = £27.40. Deducted from salary over a 4 month period or a one-off payment.

Enhanced Check: £49.50 + administration cost of £5.90 = £55.40. Deducted from salary over a 4 month period or a one-off payment.

NCIC can offer successful future employees the following benefits:

27-day holiday scheme rising to 33 after 10 years

NHS Discounts*

Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work*

Vivup is a free, confidential counselling and information service to assist with personal or work-related problems

*Subject to eligibility

Please ensure that you document evidence of meeting all the essential criteria in the supporting information.

If sufficient response is received this post could be closed earlier than the specified closing date, please apply as soon as possible to ensure that your application is considered.

Candidates who have been successfully shortlisted for interview will be asked via an email notification to log on to their Trac account to select an interview time. This will usually be within 2 weeks of the closing date.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Registered Adult Nurse with current Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) registration.
• Degree in Nursing or a health-related subject, or equivalent level of knowledge and experience.
• Evidence of continuing professional development relevant to specialist palliative and end of life care.
• Postgraduate qualification in Specialist Palliative Care (Postgraduate Certificate or equivalent) or willingness to undertake within an agreed timeframe.
• Advanced communication skills training.
• Practice Assessor/Supervisor qualification (or willingness to achieve in line with NMC requirements).
• Independent and Supplementary Non-Medical Prescribing Qualification (V300)
• Advanced Clinical Assessment qualification
• Teaching or Education qualification

Knowledge and Experience

• Extensive knowledge of specialist palliative and end of life care
• Advanced knowledge of pain and complex symptom assessment and management.
• Knowledge of national policy, guidance and standards relating to palliative and end of life care, including NICE guidance, the Ambitions Framework for Palliative and End of Life Care and CQC standards
• Knowledge of advance care planning, treatment escalation planning and end of life decision-making
• Understanding of safeguarding adults and mental capacity legislation
• Knowledge of clinical governance, quality improvement and risk management
• Understanding of audit and service evaluation methodologies
• Knowledge of multidisciplinary and multi-agency working across health and social care
• Substantial experience working within specialist palliative and end of life care
• Experience of managing patients with complex palliative care needs.
• Experience of working autonomously and making complex clinical decisions
• Experience of multidisciplinary team working across organisational boundaries
• Experience of teaching and supporting the learning and development of healthcare professionals.
• Experience of clinical supervision, mentorship or supporting staff development
• Experience of participating in audit, service evaluation or quality improvement projects
• Knowledge of quality improvement methodologies
• Knowledge of change management principles.
• Understanding of NHS operational and performance frameworks.
• Experience of line management or day‑to‑day supervision of staff.
• Experience of service development or implementing change
• Experience of Non-Medical Prescribing
• Experience of working across acute, community and hospice settings

Skills and Aptitudes

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to undertake sensitive and complex conversations
• Highly developed assessment, clinical reasoning and decision‑making skills
• Ability to manage a complex and unpredictable clinical workload
• Ability to prioritise competing demands and work effectively under pressure
• Ability to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Demonstrates compassionate, inclusive and collaborative leadership
• Ability to influence and support practice across professional groups
• Effective organisational and time management skills. Competent in the use of electronic patient records and Microsoft Office applications
• Ability to analyse and interpret complex clinical information to support decision‑making.
• Commitment to evidence‑based practice and continuous quality improvement
• Demonstrates the Trust's values and behaviours
• Compassionate, caring and patient‑centred.
• Professional, approachable and resilient
• Flexible and adaptable to meet service needs.
• Motivated with a commitment to lifelong learning
• Able to work effectively in emotionally demanding situations
• Acts with integrity, accountability and professionalism
• Committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion

Other Requirements

• Ability to travel across Trust sites and community settings as required
• Flexible approach to working hours to meet the needs of the service
• Satisfactory Occupational Health clearance
• Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearance
• Full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle where required for community working

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

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.

Name Alison Kitson Job title CNS Specialist Palliative Care WCH Email address Alison.kitson@ncic.nhs.uk Telephone number 07971903743

If you have problems applying, contact

Address South Parkhouse Building
Baron Way
Kingmoor Park
Carlisle
Cumbria
CA6 4SJ
Telephone 01228936281

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