Consultant In Palliative Medicine

Garden House Hospice Care; Watford; Sur place; GBP 100 000 - 140 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

Garden House Hospice Care seeks a Consultant in Palliative Medicine to join the Hospice Medical Team. The post offers a chance to contribute to an award-winning hospice shaping future palliative care in North Hertfordshire.

The successful candidate will be part of the Hospice Medical and Pharmacy Team led by the Hospice Medical Director/Deputy CEO. UK sponsorship cannot be provided.

Qualifications

• Comprehensive clinical experience in palliative medicine.
• Ability to take independent responsibility for clinical care.
• Excellent communication with patients and families.
• Understanding disease trajectories in life-limiting conditions.
• Knowledge of GMC standards and safeguarding requirements.

Responsabilités

• Lead consultant level specialist palliative medical oversight for the Hospice Inpatient Unit.
• Chair the weekly Inpatient Unit MDT.
• Ensure high-quality, safe and effective palliative care with strong patient experience.
• Provide clinical oversight for on-call rota.
• Support CNS team with advisory input and case reviews.
• Undertake outpatient clinics and provide specialist advice via the Palliative Advice Line.

Connaissances

Palliative Medicine

Independent practice

Clinical judgment

Communication skills

Evidence-based care

Disease trajectories

Ethical decision making

Basic life support

Formation

GMC registration

MRCP/MRCGP

Specialist Register entry

Further qualifications

Description du poste

Job summary

We are looking for a Consultant in Palliative medicine to join our Hospice Medical Team.

This role offers an opportunity to join an award-winning hospice that is shaping the future of palliative and end of life care.

The successful applicant will be a part of the Hospice Medical and Pharmacy Team, which is led by the Hospice Medical Director/Deputy CEO (Hospice MD).

Please note: Unfortunately we are not able to consider applicants who require sponsorship to work in the UK.

Main duties of the job

You will act as the lead clinician providing consultant level, specialist palliative medical oversight for the Hospice Inpatient Unit, while working with the Hospice MD and Quality and Governance Team, to ensure consistently high quality, safe and effective palliative care is provided and that patients have excellent experience and outcomes when under Hospice care.

About us

At Garden House Hospice Care (GHHC), the successful applicant will be part of a passionate, forward-thinking organisation dedicated to delivering outstanding, specialist care and support to people across North Hertfordshire living with advancing illness, including cancer, organ failure, frailty and multimorbidity.

GHHC fosters a warm, inclusive, and supportive culture where every individual is valued and empowered to make a difference. From the Trustee Board and Chief Executive through to staff and volunteers, the team works together with a shared commitment to delivering exceptional care. There is active investment in professional development, wellbeing, and innovation, staff have the support and opportunities they need to thrive.

As a collaborative organisation, GHHC plays an active role in shaping healthcare across the region. We are working closely with the newly formed Central East Integrated Care Board, partner hospices, local NHS Trusts, primary care providers, and a wide range of stakeholders to improve services, shape the future of palliative care across the region.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a highly respected and ambitious organisation where your expertise, ideas, and commitment will be genuinely valued. In return, you will have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the lives of patients and families, influence the development of services, and help shape the future of hospice care across our community and beyond.

Job responsibilities

• Be the lead clinician providing consultant level specialist palliative medical oversight for the Hospice Inpatient Unit
• Chair the weekly Inpatient Unit MDT
• Work with the Hospice MD, with the support of the Quality and Governance Team, to ensure consistently high quality, safe and effective palliative care is provided and that patients have excellent experience and outcomes when under Hospice care.
• Be involved in providing clinical oversight for the first on call rota
• Support the Hertfordshire Community Trust Specialist Palliative Care CNS team by providing telephone advice and attending case review meetings in the Medical Director's absence
• Undertake outpatient clinics
• Provide specialist palliative medical advice to other healthcare professionals such as local GPs or community nurses through the Hospice Palliative Advice Line
• Act as Clinical Supervisor to GP Trainees and the Specialist Trainees on placement
• Engage in original research with the support of the Hospice MD
• Attend Incident and Safety meetings and be an active participant in quality improvement work
• Work with the Hospice MD to contribute towards the development of the medical aspects of the Hospice annual plan

Please see the Job Description and Person Specification for full details of the role, duties, salary and an example weekly timetable.

This job is offered as 0.6 0.8 WTE/6 8 programmed activities per week, plus 1 in 9 non resident on call.

Basic salary on commencement will be set at a threshold to reflect previous experience.

Person Specification

Experience

• Essential: Comprehensive clinical experience in Palliative Medicine in hospital, community and Hospice settings
• Essential: Ability to take full and independent responsibility for clinical care of patients in all settings
• Essential: Displays sound clinical judgement & exercises sound clinical risk management
• Essential: High level of communication skills with an empathetic, caring approach to patients and families
• Essential: Formulate evidence based, individualised patient management plans for patients
• Essential: Understand the disease trajectories in life limiting conditions of both cancer and non-cancer aetiologies to enable appropriate clinical management decisions to be made
• Essential: Ability to make complex ethical decisions including withdrawal and withholding of treatments
• Essential: Basic life support skills
• Desirable: Attendance at Advanced Communication Skills course or communications skills qualification

Commitment to clinical governance

• Essential: Understanding of the importance of clinical governance and quality improvement with a track record of engaging in clinical governance, audit and quality improvement work
• Essential: Ability to apply research outcomes to clinical problems; ability to critically appraise published evidence
• Desirable: Audit or research presentations at national meetings

Qualifications

• Essential: Full GMC registration with licence to practice
• Essential: MRCP or MRCGP
• Essential: Entry on the GMC Specialist Register for Palliative Medicine via either: CCT in Palliative Medicine (Proposed CCT date must be within 6 months of the appointments committee), Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR), or European Community Rights
• Desirable: MSc, MD, PhD or further higher qualification

Teaching

• Essential: Experience of teaching to those from a range of multidisciplinary professions and experience levels, across different settings and modalities.
• Essential: Completion of a recognised teaching course
• Desirable: Appropriate teaching qualification

Standards

• Essential: Thorough knowledge and understanding of GMC standards in Good Medical Practice including good clinical care, maintaining good medical practice, good relationships and communication with patients, good working relationships with colleagues, good teaching and training, professional behaviour and probity, delivery of good clinical care
• Essential: Training and expertise in adult and children's safeguarding.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Medical Director/ Deputy CEO, Sarah Bell

[e-mail]

07377876254

Closing date

13 November 2026