Senior Speciality/Specialist Doctor

We are looking for an experienced doctor with at least 4 years FTE experience in Palliative Medicine as a distinct specialty, rather than as part of GP experience, who will support the Medical Director in the provision of high-quality palliative care services at St Luke's Hospice, primarily providing medical support for a 10‑bed in‑patient unit. This person will play an important medical role in the delivery of care to inpatients, community and day‑patients in collaboration with the Medical Director, medical colleagues and the wider disciplinary team. The role also involves participation in training and educational activities as well as activities relating to maintaining clinical excellence within the service. There is flexibility for the role to be between 6‑7.5 sessions per week. There is the opportunity to develop into a Deputy Medical Director role within the Hospice with 2 of the PAs, if this is of interest to the candidate, and can be discussed with the individual as part of the application / interview process.

Responsibilities:

• Admitting patients to the inpatient unit and providing the medical component of the multidisciplinary assessment and treatment planning.
• Providing continuity of medical care on the inpatient unit and day services.
• Supporting day care services by consultation and medical assessments of attendees when necessary.
• Supporting hospice community services by consultation with the specialist nursing team and patient medical review as appropriate.
• Liaison with other members of the multidisciplinary team, patients' families, community teams, hospital services and other specialist palliative care teams.
• Working on the on‑call rota and providing out of hours cover to the unit (1 weekday overnight in 5, and 1 weekend in 6).
• To provide high quality specialist palliative care medical advice to health care professional colleagues.
• To participate in the teaching and educational activities of the unit (students, nursing staff, primary health care professionals, patients and families) including the training of junior medical staff on rotation through the centre.
• To participate in activities related to maintaining clinical excellence with the centre and clinical governance e.g. audit of clinical practice, implementation of best practice statements.
• To promote an ethos of audit throughout the services and where possible, under the direction of the medical director, contribute to regular clinical and/or service audit.

About St Luke's Hospice:

At St Luke's Hospice, our ethos is one of service; being of service to our local people and community is central to all that we do. We believe the most important privilege any person can have is the opportunity to comfort and support one’s fellow human beings in their hour of need. This spirit of service at St Luke's extends not only to the patients, but also to family and friends, and we welcome diversity. The founding members of St Luke's Hospice were driven by the same ideals that inspire us today; to reach out a warm and caring hand to those in need and to help relieve their suffering of mind, spirit or body. The founder of the Hospice movement, the late Dame Cicely Saunders, wanted hospices to remain a beacon of hope with a message of care and community. St Luke's is a lively and vibrant Hospice that has a very powerful reason to be here. St Luke's is an incredibly inspiring place to work and volunteer. You will be joining a passionate team, dedicated to delivering care and support to local people and their families. We all share in the sense of privilege and honour that comes from being involved in a local organisation doing such important work and each day we look for new and innovative ways to make a difference to the wider community. Each member of staff is highly valued at St Luke's.

Salary: Depending on experience. Starting salary commensurate with NHS grades.