Locum Consultant in Palliative Medicine

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of c£2.1 billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year and more than 14,000 staff based across 5 main sites in South East London. The Trust provides a full range of local hospital services across its different sites, and specialist services from King’s College Hospital (KCH) sites at Denmark Hill in Camberwell and at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) site in the London Borough of Bromley.

We encourage all our staff to have a healthy work/life balance. In doing so, you can apply for flexible working from the beginning of your employment. We offer a range of options which are designed to suit different circumstances and priorities in line with service requirements.

We are delighted to offer an exciting opportunity to work as a Consultant in Palliative Medicine within the King’s College Hospital Specialist Palliative Care Service. This is a replacement post to join the team based at Denmark Hill. The palliative care team offers an advisory service to patients with palliative care needs and promotes excellence in end-of-life care across the Trust. We are seeking to appoint an enthusiastic individual to join our team, supporting this busy, dynamic, multi-professional team and building on partnerships across the locality. It is envisaged that the appointee will contribute to the delivery and development of specific aspects of the service, depending on their interests and experience, and support general team activities. They will also contribute to teaching and training. The post will sit within a collaborative network across our Clinical Academic Group within King’s Health Partners. A wealth of opportunities exist to be involved in research via established links with the Cicely Saunders Institute.

Main duties of the job

• To provide senior palliative care medical leadership to support skilled decision making and support to patients, palliative care and Trust colleagues, particularly in cases of complexity.
• To lead, deliver and represent excellent palliative care through innovation, collaboration and education.
• To support 24/7 specialist palliative care advice across KHP. The On-Call commitment is for a 1:16 rota, which is classed as Category B.
• On-call telephone advice is provided to health professionals across King’s, St Thomas’, Guys and Lewisham Hospitals and Guys and St Thomas’ community palliative care teams.

Working for our organisation

The Trust provides a full range of local and specialist services across its five sites. In June 2026, we launched our new strategy for 2026-31. Our vision is to transform healthcare, and we have agreed six strategic ambitions to help us improve care for patients, and the working lives of our staff.

• Delivering high-quality patient care;
• Creating a great place to work;
• Leading pioneering research, innovation and education;
• Building strong and successful partnerships;
• Providing timely and efficient care;
• Ensuring long-term financial sustainability.

We have also agreed four new organisational values – Caring, Collaborative, Inclusive, Innovative – and these underpin everything we do, and how our teams interact with the patients under our care.

King’s is committed to delivering Sustainable Healthcare for All via our Green Plan. In line with national Greener NHS ambitions, we have set net zero carbon targets of 2040 for our NHS Carbon Footprint and 2045 for our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus. Everyone’s contribution is required in order to meet the goals set out in our Green Plan and we encourage all staff to work responsibly, minimising their contributions to the Trust’s carbon emissions, waste and pollution wherever possible.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of our dedicated workforce and to join one of the largest and most successful Foundation Trusts in the UK, with an international reputation for innovation and a desire to make a difference.

You must be fully registered with the GMC and hold a Licence to Practice and be on the Specialist Register, or within three months of attaining your CCT or equivalent, to be eligible for interview. Informal visits are welcome.

The postholder will have regular contact with vulnerable adults and/or children (0-18 years), therefore, 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 to check for any previous criminal convictions.

• Together with other colleagues, to provide a high-quality care service to patients. This includes all aspects of treatment and relevant management duties for the proper functioning of the Care Group.
• Shared responsibility with other colleagues for providing 24 hours, 7 days a week cover for the Unit on a rota basis. Responsible also for covering colleagues’ periods of annual leave and short-term sickness as detailed in your contract.
• Provide clinical supervision of junior medical/dental practitioners as a shared responsibility with other consultant colleagues.
• Responsible for carrying out teaching, examination, and accreditation duties as required and contributing to CPD and clinical governance initiatives.
• Responsible for outpatient clinic commitments in peripheral hospitals as agreed with the Care Group’s management team, where part of the service structure.
• Contribute to the Care Group’s research interests in accordance with the Trust’s R&D framework.
• Contribute to the audit programmes, Morbidity and Mortality, Clinical Governance programmes and Learning from Deaths.
• Take an active role in the formulation, implementation, and monitoring of the Care Group’s Business Plan. This may include assisting with discussions regarding service plans and developments with internal and external agencies.
• Conduct all activities within the contracted level of service and operating plan for service(s).
• Exercise professional leadership for all staff working in the specialty. This will include fostering and developing projects focused towards these ends and ensuring that the momentum of post-qualification professional education and other appropriate training is maintained.
• Work in conjunction with clinical and other professional colleagues to ensure that the productivity of staff within the specialty is maintained and their job satisfaction is enhanced. This may include involvement in the appraisal process for peers and/or junior colleagues.
• Undertake Care Group management duties as agreed with the Care Group/Departmental Manager/Clinical Director.
• Be aware of, and comply with, all Trust infection prevention and control policies, to include hand hygiene, personal hygiene, environmental and food hygiene.
• Prepare for and undertake the protective interventions that you are responsible for in a manner that is consistent with evidence-based practice and maintains patient safety.
• King’s is committed to providing consultant-led 7-day services, and in the event of future developments, the post holder would be expected to contribute equally with other Consultant colleagues.

Person specification

• Qualifications
• MRCP, MRCGP or equivalent
• Other higher degree or diploma (e.g., MD)
• Registration
• Full Registration with GMC
• Name on GMC Specialist Register on date of taking up appointment
• On the day of interview applicants must be within 6 months of CCT, in final stages of their portfolio pathway application, or be fully registered on the GMC Specialist Register. Any applications not meeting these criteria will not be considered.
• Training and Experience
• Wide experience in all aspects of palliative care, culminating in award of CCT or equivalent
• Specialist training in Palliative Care.
• Previous experience working in an acute Trust
• Administration
• Experience in day-to-day organisation of Palliative Care services in a busy Teaching Hospital
• Familiarity with information technology and general computer skills
• Familiar with current structure of UK National Health Service and conversant with recent initiatives and changes
• Management and Leadership
• Able to demonstrate leadership capability within multi-disciplinary teams
• Management course and/or qualification
• Audit and Quality Improvement
• Thorough understanding of principles of medical audit. Must have undertaken and completed audit projects.
• Research and Publications
• Experience of conducting or supporting clinical research.
• Keeps up to date with relevant palliative care and related research developments in the field.
• Relevant research experience in one or more aspects of palliative care.
• Publication of relevant review articles or case reports.
• Teaching
• Experience of undergraduate and post-graduate teaching and exam preparation.
• Teaching skills course/qualification
• Personal Skills and Attributes
• Effective communicator, able to work in a close-knit team and co-operate with all medical and paramedical staff
• Flexible, able to cover colleagues’ absence
• Professional attitude towards work, reliability, good record of attendance and tidy personal appearance
• Able to demonstrate an understanding of Kings Values.