Consultant in Palliative Medicine

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust; Maidstone; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in Kent is looking for a Specialist Consultant in Palliative Care to join their team. The role involves providing high standards of care and collaborating with various medical professionals within the trust. The successful candidate will have responsibilities in clinical governance, patient management, and participation in clinical trials. With a commitment to flexible working arrangements, this position offers a generous leave entitlement and membership in the NHS Pension Scheme.

Benefits

Generous annual leave entitlement

NHS Pension Scheme membership

Blue Light card eligibility

Qualifications

• Must have clinical responsibility for patients under care.
• Active participation in clinical governance activities is required.
• Experience in palliative and enhanced supportive care is essential.

Responsibilities

• Provide high standard of care for patients in clinical responsibility.
• Participate in clinical service activities and development.
• Contribute to clinical governance and audits within the department.

Skills

Clinical management

Communication skills

Team leadership

Education

Medical degree

Specialist training in palliative care

Job description

This is a post for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. The successful candidate will work with the existing palliative medicine consultant and support the Specialist Palliative Care (SPC) and Enhanced supportive Care (ESC) services on both sites of the Trust. The post is part of the Oncology directorate and the post will be based at Maidstone hospital, the main site for Kent Oncology services.

1. To provide a high standard of care to any patient for whom you have clinical responsibility. This will include any patients referred to you and cared for by you personally or by members of your team, and, in addition, any patients of consultant colleagues when you are covering on‑call or for annual leave. 2. To participate in clinical and other service activities and development to ensure a high standard of patient care across the Trust. 3. To work in close co‑operation with other medical, professional and managerial colleagues, both within and outside the speciality, to provide high‑quality health care to the Trust’s patients, and to contribute to future thinking about the Trust’s strategic direction. 4. To participate fully in and share leadership of the clinical governance of the speciality covering its Trust‑wide activities. To attend clinical governance half‑days as detailed in the Trust’s Guide to job planning, unless on agreed leave or while attending emergencies. 5. To participate actively in departmental audits, sharing co‑ordination of audit activities within the department and implementation of change.

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust ranks among the top 10 NHS Trusts nationwide and was named the second‑best Trust to work for in the South East in the 2023 and 2024 NHS Staff Survey. We are a large acute hospital trust in south‑east England, providing general hospital services and specialist care to around 600,000 residents in West Kent and East Sussex. With a dedicated and diverse team of over 8,000 staff we are proud to offerspecialised cancer services to over two million people through the Kent Oncology Centre.

Fordcombe Hospital, near Tunbridge Wells, became part of the Trust in October 2024. Specialising in planned care, it offers two operating theatres, 28 inpatient and day‑care beds, diagnostic services (X‑ray, MRI, CT, and endoscopy), and consultation/treatment rooms.

Flexible Working

We are a flexible working‑friendly organisation. Whether it’s adjusting your hours or exploring other flexible arrangements, we want to work with you to find the best solution for you, our patients, and the Trust. Talk to us about how we can accommodate your working needs.

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Benefits

• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Membership in the NHS Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 23.7% and life assurance benefits
• Blue Light card eligibility
• And more, additional benefits can be found in the benefits documents below

Role Accountability

1. The post-holder will be accountable to the Clinical Director, who in turn is accountable to the Medical Director and the Chief Executive.
2. The post-holder will be a member of the Trust Consultant’s Committee and will be expected to represent colleagues at various committees.
3. The post-holder will have full clinical responsibility for patients in their care.
4. The post-holder is expected to communicate widely, including:
   Chief of Service
   Clinical Director
   Consultant Oncologists
   Hospital Consultants
   Lead nurse for Palliative and End of Life Care
   General Manager Kent Oncology Centre
   General Manager Specialist Services Division
   Cancer Lead Nurse
   Oncology Site Managers
   Commissioners of Health Services
   GPs
   Specialist Palliative Care Services
   Agencies concerned with Health Care Services and those representing consumers’ interests.
   Medical Director
   Chief Nurse
   Acute oncology Team
   Cancer site specific Nurses

Clinical Responsibilities

1. To clinically manage patients requiring specialist palliative and enhanced supportive care within MTW.
2. To maintain continuing clinical responsibility for the patients in the post-holder’s charge allowing for all proper delegation to, and training of, medical staff.
3. It is anticipated that in the future that the post holder may wish to rotate to the role of lead palliative care clinician, this will be facilitated through job planning.
4. To participate in and contribute to the Trust and Oncology Centre Clinical Governance programme.
5. To participate in Clinical Trials and R&D programmes in order to ensure that clinical practice is evidence based.
6. To prepare business cases for new / developmental therapies for network / trust approval.

This advert closes on Monday 2 Feb 2026