Specialist Palliative Care Consultant

Mersey And West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Nhs Trust; Knowsley; On-site; GBP 110,000 - 145,000; Full time

Job summary

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust invites applications for a Consultant in Palliative Medicine. This is a new 10-session role, based at MWL, working with the Clinical Lead for PEOLC to deliver safe, effective, patient-centred specialist palliative care.

The post holder will contribute to clinical governance, education and service development, and collaborate with Hospice and Community SPC Teams. NHS terms apply; permanent, full-time contract.

Qualifications

• Full GMC registration and on Specialist Register or within six months of CCT at interview.
• UK-trained applicants must hold a CCT or be within six months of award.
• MRCP or equivalent medical qualification is acceptable.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic and clinical care for PEOLC across MWL.
• Deliver safe, effective, patient-centred palliative care with governance oversight.
• Contribute to education, service development and clinical audit.
• Collaborate with Hospice, Community SPC Teams and MWL workforce.

Skills

Leadership

Clinical governance

Audit

Strategic thinking

Change management

Education

Full GMC registration

Specialist Registration in Palliative Medicine (CCT/CESR or within six months of interview)

MBBS or equivalent medical qualification

Tools

Electronic patient record systems

Job description

Job summary

This post is for a new Consultant in Palliative Medicine. This is a new 10 session role, working alongside the current 0.6 FTE Clinical Lead for PEOLC in Whiston/MWL. The FT lead took partial retirement in February 2026 hence these the existing 6 session post. It is a key leadership role with joint responsibility for the strategic and clinical care in MWL around PEOLC. The post holder will ensure the delivery of safe, effective, and patient centred specialist palliative care, while also contributing to clinical governance, education and service development. They will work in collaboration with the workforce in the other areas of MWL, and with the local Hospices and Community SPC Teams. The post is wholly based within MWL with the contract held by Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Terms and Conditions are those of the NHS. Applicants are required to hold Membership of the Royal College of Physicians or Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners (UK or equivalent qualifications), to be fully registered with the General Medical Council, and to be on the Specialist Register for Palliative Medicine via CCT or CESR route, or due to obtain their CCT within six months of the date of interview.

Main duties of the job

This is a 10 PA Full time post. 1DCC = 4 hours and includes time allocated for clinical administration tasks.

Timetable of Fixed Sessions - subject to agreement with Hospital Chief Medical Officer and Clinical Director for Specialist Palliative Care

The job plan is indicative and management, leadership, educational and clinical responsibilities can vary week to week. 10 sessions - 7.5 DCC/ 2.5 SPA MON TUE WED THU FRI AM DCC Clinical Handover MDT Ward Round Clinical Reviews DCC Clinical Handover Clinical reviews DCC Clinical Handover MDT Ward Round Clinical Reviews DCC Clinical Handover Clinical reviews 0.5 DCC Clinical Handover MDT Clinical Reviews 0.5 SPA PM DCC Outpatient Clinic (Face to face and Telephone DCC Outpatient Clinic (Face to face and Telephone SPA 1.0 (including ES/CS supervision) DCC Outpatient Clinic (Face to face and Telephone 1.0 SPA End of Life Steering Group(Monthly)

About us

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites. Our services: Acute Care Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites. Primary Care Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital. Community Services Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre. Specialist Regional Services We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.

You will be expected to undertake the Trusts' commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

Details

Date posted 10 September 2026 Pay scheme Hospital medical and dental staff Grade Consultant Salary £109,725 to £145,478 a year per annum, pro rata Contract Permanent Working pattern Full-time Reference number 409-S8245178 Job locations Whiston Hospital, Warrington Road, Prescot, L35 5DR, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

On Call The job plan includes a 1:8 non-resident senior on call responsibility (weekday and weekend) which attracts an 5% availability supplement. This provides primarily telephone support to specialty grade doctors for the Hospice in-patient unit, and the Community and Hospital Services via the 24-Hour Advice Line. Should the post holder be required to attend any site they will be compensated with time off in lieu. The locality is seeking to increase the number of consultants for community and hospital services, and this may result in a reduction in on call frequency. This will be subject to a consultation It is a requirement of the post that holders comply with Trust policies and procedures, have (and maintain) GMC registration / licensing and participate in a formal CPD programme (The Trust supports the requirements for Continuing Medical Education as laid down by the Royal College of Physicians and is committed to providing time and financial support for these activities). The post-holders must also participate in regular medical audit and in annual appraisal and job planning with the Clinical Director or one of the other qualified appraisers within the Trust. The Hospice will contribute to appraisal through feedback from the Chief Executive and Medical Director. The Trust supports doctors going through the revalidation process and access to the RCP online CPD scheme. The Trust has a policy to support access to mentorship Please find attached Job Description and Person Specification for main responsibilities and role requirements.

Person Specification

Qualifications Essential Full GMC registration and on Specialist Register or within six months of receipt of Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) at time of interview Applicants that are UK trained, must ALSO be a holder of a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT), or be within six months of award of CCT by date of interview. Applicants that are non-UK trained, will be required to provide evidence of equivalence to the UK CCT on successful application MBBS or equivalent medical qualification MRCP or equivalent medical qualification MD/PHD or equivalent medical qualification

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Experience of the practice of specialist palliative care at a senior level and leadership of the multidisciplinary team
• Knowledge of clinical governance
• Able to lead Clinical Audit
• Proven leadership skills, including experience in managing change and motivating teams
• Understanding of NHS structure and function
• Understanding of the regulations that relate to and the requirements of CQC
• Research experience
• Experience of NHS finance and commissioning
• Experience of clinical networks acting as a representative of an organisation
• Engagement with management training/management course or qualification
• Experience of teaching/educational supervision
• Advanced Communication Skills
• Ability to drive service improvement
• Strategic thinker
• Excellent IT skills and knowledge of electronic patient record systems.
• Commitment to continuous personal development
• Ability to plan and prioritise own workload
• Ability to plan and prioritise own workload
• Commitment to Partnership working

Other

Essential

• Current Driving licence/use of car for work purposes
• Full indemnity cover

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab). From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to