IPU Team Leader

St Peter & St James Hospice; Lewes; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent palliative care provider in Lewes is seeking an IPU Team Leader to support clinical staff in delivering high-quality care for patients with life-limiting illnesses. The role requires strong leadership, excellent communication skills, and a commitment to palliative care philosophy. Ideal candidates will have NMC registration and a degree level education. This full-time position offers a salary between £38,682 - £46,580 per annum, reflecting experience and expertise.

Benefits

Enhanced pay for unsocial hours

Supportive work environment

Professional development opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience assessing and planning care for patients.
• Experience coordinating clinical shifts.
• Ability to handle feedback sensitively and timely.

Responsibilities

• Provide patient-centered care, addressing holistic needs.
• Lead in multidisciplinary team collaborations.
• Assess complex symptoms and support end-of-life discussions.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Palliative care expertise

Symptom control knowledge

Education

Registered Nurse with NMC registration

Degree level education (Level 6)

Job description

Are you driven to support and empower clinical team members in delivering compassionate, high-quality care for patients living with life‑limiting illnesses?

At St Peter & St James Hospice, we are seeking an IPU Team Leader to join our dedicated team. This is a perfect opportunity for a compassionate, skilled, and proactive nurse who wants to deliver expert palliative and end‑of‑life care in a supportive and collaborative environment.

Key Details

• Location: St Peter & St James Hospice, Haywards Heath, BN8 4ED
• Salary: Clinical Band 6, £38,682 - £46,580 per annum, dependent on experience
• Contract: Permanent
• Hours: Full‑time, 37.5 hours per week
• Closing Date: Early applications encouraged as we will be shortlisting and interviewing as applications are received.

About us

St Peter & St James Hospice is a leading provider of specialist palliative and end‑of‑life care for our Mid‑Sussex community. People affected by life‑limiting illness are central to everything we do and it is our mission to ensure they receive the best possible care, in the right place, at the right time. Our services are free of charge and can be accessed at home, in a care setting, or at the Hospice in North Chailey.

We achieve our goals through the talented people, by attracting, retaining and developing a highly skilled, diverse and engaged workforce. Over 150 employees and 400 volunteers work in a variety of roles across our Clinical Services, Retail and Support Functions.

Main duties of the job

Your role will involve:

• Deliver high‑quality, patient‑centred care by holistically addressing needs, promoting dignity and independence.
• Collaborate and lead in multidisciplinary teams.
• Use clinical expertise and advanced communication to assess complex symptoms, interpret investigations, and support end‑of‑life discussions and decision‑making.
• Support a range of healthcare professionals and volunteers, overseeing performance, recruitment, and development.
• Providing teaching and mentorship to students and junior staff, supporting professional development.
• Contributing to governance and quality improvement.

Who are we looking for

• Experienced Registered Nurse with NMC registration.
• Educated to degree level (Level 6).
• Commitment to undertake Level 6 study in leadership (if not obtained already).
• Naturally inclined to lead by example, inspiring others and developing their skills to collectively deliver excellent care.
• Ability to demonstrate leadership through engagement with innovation in practice.
• Ability to demonstrate an empathic and collaborative approach to the Team Leader role.

Job description

Job responsibilities

1. Work collaboratively with other health‑care professionals to provide patient care which promotes best practice and maintains the patient’s optimum independence.
2. Use outcome and complexity measurements (OACC) competently and understand the importance of accurate data management for care services.
3. Work with patients and families to create management plans addressing their individual physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs reflecting the holistic principles of palliative care and always promoting dignity.
4. Demonstrate specialist clinical knowledge and expertise in palliative care to provide excellent patient care and to recognise the need for, instigate and interpret complex information and clinical investigations to address reversible causes of symptoms.
5. Demonstrate knowledge in symptom control to ensure the patient’s symptoms are addressed, and to guide other members of the health‑care team.
6. Demonstrate advanced communication skills with patients, carers and other health‑care professionals both face‑to‑face and via the telephone to share and gather information, offer support and advice and initiate conversations with patients and their families to enable them to make informed decisions about their care at end of life. Initiate and lead conversations surrounding advance care planning ensuring patients and carers are aware of choices at each stage.
7. Recognise signs of dying to initiate anticipatory prescribing so that symptoms can be addressed.
8. Ensure clinical competencies are maintained and attend annual mandatory clinical update training.
9. Maintain practical skills such as venepuncture, management of PICC lines, and male / female catheterisation and intravenous drug administration.
10. To complete the Team Leader competencies within an acceptable period and provide competency folder for validation when requested.
11. To participate in own clinical supervision ensuring personal wellbeing and resilience and safe practice.
12. To ensure adequate ordering to control stocks of medical supplies and drugs.
13. To maintain accurate records, written and computerised. To maintain minimum data requirements for accessing and recording information in accordance with St Peter and St James documentation standard, NMC Guidelines for Records and Record Keeping (2009), NMC Code of Professional Conduct (2008) and hospice Information Governance Policies.
14. To always maintain confidentiality and to comply with the Hospice policy on Information Governance, thus ensuring security in the management and use of information.
15. Work within the boundaries of a multi‑disciplinary team, instigate, lead, and contribute to multi‑disciplinary discussions, including multidisciplinary team meetings, and refer to other members of the team to enhance patient care.
16. Plan, organise and allocate staff according to competencies, workload, and patient dependency to provide excellent patient care and best use of resources, across all hospice services.
17. Frequently undertake the role of the nurse in charge.
18. To supervise Registered Nurses and Health Care Assistants and support them in areas in which they need development to enable the team to provide an excellent standard of care.
19. To undertake personal development review meetings with designated RNs and HCAs, planning their objectives and monitoring progress.
20. To monitor and manage staff absence in line with hospice policies and procedures.
21. To develop skills in managing poor practice and, in conjunction with Nurse Managers, develop, implement, and evaluate personal development plans.
22. To take part in the recruitment and induction of new staff.
23. Represent the hospice by attending and participating in internal and external meetings providing a level of expertise that will enhance its credibility.
24. To be flexible within the hospice and within working hours to provide appropriate delivery of service on a rolling seven‑day rota basis.
25. To take part in the senior nurse on call rota.
26. To promote a culture of collaboration across all hospice services, including flexibility to work in other areas where demand requires.
27. To demonstrate best practice in approaches to diversity and inclusion.
28. To contribute to close working relationships with all personnel and to help to build an open and honest culture that facilitates learning, creativity, and excellence.
29. To be empathetic and courteous to patients and their relatives, always treating them with care and consideration and referring any issues or incidents directly to management/nursing staff.
30. To undertake any other duties at the request of the line manager which are commensurate with the role including project work and absence cover.
31. To take part in clinical audit and undertake risk assessments in line with the hospice clinical governance processes.
32. To demonstrate leadership through engagement with innovation in practice.
33. Support in the management of ward support volunteers.
34. To participate in teaching and education programmes and assist in mentoring junior staff, student nurses and nursing assistants.
35. To take part, under supervision, in investigations into complaints or incidents, completing the relevant sections of the accident, incident and near‑miss reports.
36. To maintain active registration on the Nursing and Midwifery Council register and meet the requirements of nurse revalidation.
37. To always comply with the policies and procedures of St Peter and St James Hospice.
38. Demonstrate presentation skills to actively contribute to education and training both internally and externally as part of sharing good practice to enhance patient care.
39. To undertake mentorship of student nurses and return to practice nurses.
40. To undertake training as necessary in line with development of the post.
41. To participate fully in the performance management process and undertake Continuing Professional Development as required.
42. To achieve and demonstrate agreed standards of personal and professional development within agreed timescales.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Experienced Registered Nurse with NMC registration.
• Educated to degree level (Level 6).

Desirable

• Mentorship qualification.
• Level 6 Leadership qualification or commitment to undertake level 6 study in leadership (if not obtained already).

Experience

Essential

• Experience of assessing and planning care for patients.
• Experience of co‑ordination clinical shifts.

Desirable

• Evidence of practice in a palliative care setting.
• Evidence of recent professional development.

Other Knowledge, skills and personal qualities

Essential

• Ability to handle feedback from patients and carers, including complaints, sensitively and in a timely manner.
• Demonstrable knowledge in symptom control to ensure the patient’s symptoms are addressed, and to guide other members of the health‑care team.
• Ability to maintain accurate written and computerised records, and minimum data requirements for accessing and recording information in accordance with NMC Guidelines for Records and Record Keeping (2009) and Code of Professional Conduct (2008).
• Strong leadership and effective delegation skills.
• Empathetic and courteous, always treating patients and their loved ones with care and consideration.
• Ability to work flexible shifts and take part in the senior nurse on call rota to provide appropriate delivery of service on a rolling seven‑day rota basis.
• Willingness to participate in own clinical supervision ensuring personal wellbeing and resilience and safe practice.
• Ability to demonstrate leadership through engagement with innovation in practice.
• Ability to demonstrate leadership through engagement with innovation in practice.

Desirable

• Post‑registration education in a relevant subject.

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 details

Employer name

St Peter & St James Hospice

Address

North Common Road

North Chailey

Lewes

East Sussex

BN8 4ED

Employer's website

https://stpjhospice.org/ (opens in a new tab)

£38,682 to £46,580 a year Clinical Band 6, plus enhanced pay for unsocial hours